Condo insurance that matches your HOA master policy

What the HO-6 actually covers

Six coverage buckets do the work. California's Department of Insurance describes condominium unit-owners insurance as covering personal property, loss of use, personal liability and medical payments to others, plus damage to the interior of the unit and the improvements the owner is responsible for maintaining under the association's rules (California DOI residential guide).

Walls-in improvements deserve their own conversation

If you remodeled, your upgrades are almost always your problem. Under a single-entity or all-in-excluding-betterments master policy, the association restores the unit to its original finishes only. Washington's OIC gives the concrete examples: swapping original laminate countertops for granite, or replacing original carpet with tile, or repairing a skylight a previous owner added. All of that lands on your HO-6 building property limit, along with the community deductible.

Price the replacement cost of your interior honestly. In most metro markets, rebuilding a mid-grade condo interior runs $80 to $150 per square foot, which puts a 1,200 square foot unit somewhere between $96,000 and $180,000 before you count upgrades. That is the number your building property limit should be near if you own a bare-walls association unit.

Loss assessment and the master policy deductible

These are two different exposures and you need both handled.

Loss assessment pays your share when the association charges every owner for a covered loss. Washington's OIC gives the classic example: wind damage to the roofs of several buildings exceeds the master policy limits, so the board levies a special assessment on the members. Wisconsin's OCI adds the liability version: someone is injured on common property such as the pool, and the judgment exceeds the association's liability coverage. The base limit on most HO-6 forms is $1,000, which is nowhere near enough. Increasing it to $25,000 or $50,000 typically costs a modest amount of annual premium and is the single best value on the policy.

Deductible assessment is separate. When the master policy has a $25,000 deductible and the loss starts in your unit, many associations charge that deductible back to you under their bylaws. Some HO-6 forms cover it under loss assessment, some require a specific endorsement, and some exclude it. Ask the question in writing before you bind.

What the HOA policy will never cover

Even an all-in master policy leaves a defined set of holes. These are the ones that generate claims disputes:

• Your belongings. No master policy covers your furniture, electronics, clothing or bike. That is entirely your Coverage C.
• Your liability. The association covers injuries in common areas. An injury inside your unit, or water you send into the unit below, is your Coverage E.
• Your temporary housing. Loss of use is on your policy, not the association's, and it is usually capped at 40% of your personal property limit.
• The master policy deductible. Increasingly $10,000 to $50,000 and charged back to the owner where the loss originated.
• Flood. Excluded from every homeowners and condo form. NFIP coverage for a unit owner runs up to $250,000 on the building side and $100,000 on contents. See our flood insurance page.
• Earthquake and earth movement. Excluded unless separately endorsed, and California DOI specifically advises checking whether your loss assessment coverage includes earthquake at all.
• Sewer and drain backup. Triple-I notes backups are covered by neither the condo policy nor the flood policy without a water backup endorsement.
• Special assessments for deferred maintenance. Loss assessment responds to covered losses, not to a board finally funding the roof it should have replaced in 2019.

Two coverages worth adding while you are already on the phone. Flood insurance, because roughly a third of NFIP claims come from outside high-risk flood areas, and umbrella insurance, which Triple-I calls an inexpensive way to get broader liability protection than a standard condo policy provides. If you rent rather than own your unit, renters insurance is the right form instead.