Florida Condo Insurance: What an HO-6 Policy Really Covers
July 7, 2026 · 8 min read · By Onias Derilus, Broker
A Florida condo insurance policy fills the gap between where the association's master policy stops and where your personal responsibility begins. Here is how an HO-6 works and how to size it.
Florida condo insurance confuses more buyers than any other coverage type, because two separate policies protect one building. The association carries a master policy on the structure and shared areas, and each owner carries an individual HO-6 policy on everything inside their unit. Knowing where one stops and the other starts is the whole game. Buy too little and a burst pipe or a special assessment lands on you. Buy blindly and you pay for coverage the master policy already provides. This guide explains what a Florida condo insurance policy covers, how it interacts with the master policy, and how to size each piece so you are neither exposed nor overpaying.
Key takeaways
- An HO-6 policy covers your unit's interior, personal property, liability, and loss assessment; the master policy covers the building and common areas.
- Read the association's declaration to learn whether the master policy is "bare walls" or "all-in," because that decides how much interior coverage you need.
- Loss assessment coverage protects you when the association bills every owner for a shared loss the master policy did not fully pay.
- Wind and flood are usually handled at the association level, but confirm it rather than assume it.
- An independent agent who knows Florida condo law can match your HO-6 to your specific building's master policy.
How the two policies split responsibility
Every condo association carries a master policy funded by owner dues. It covers the physical building, the roof, the exterior walls, elevators, hallways, the pool, and the rest of the common elements. Your HO-6 policy picks up where that ends, at the boundary of your unit. The exact boundary depends on the association's governing documents, which is why the declaration is the first thing to read before you buy a policy.
There are two broad master-policy styles. A "bare walls" master policy covers the structure out to the unfinished interior surfaces, meaning you are responsible for flooring, cabinets, fixtures, built-ins, and often interior drywall finishes. An "all-in" or "all-inclusive" master policy covers the original interior finishes too, so your HO-6 mainly needs to cover upgrades, personal property, and liability. The difference can swing your interior coverage need by tens of thousands of dollars, so it is not a detail to skip.
What a Florida condo insurance HO-6 policy covers
A standard HO-6 bundles several coverages into one policy. Dwelling coverage (sometimes called building property or Coverage A on an HO-6) pays to repair the interior of your unit, including anything the master policy leaves to you. Personal property coverage replaces your belongings. Personal liability protects you if someone is injured inside your unit or you cause damage to a neighbor's. Loss of use pays for somewhere to stay if a covered loss makes the unit uninhabitable.
The coverage unique to condo life is loss assessment. When a covered loss exceeds the master policy limits or falls inside the master policy deductible, the association can assess every owner their share of the shortfall. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 pays your portion, up to the limit you choose. In Florida, where a single hurricane can trigger a large master-policy deductible spread across all owners, this coverage earns its keep.
How to size each coverage
Start with interior dwelling coverage. If the master policy is bare walls, price out what it would cost to rebuild your unit's interior from the studs: flooring, cabinets, counters, fixtures, appliances, and finishes. If it is all-in, you mainly need to cover improvements you made and the deductible gap. Personal property coverage should reflect the replacement cost of your belongings, not their resale value, so choose replacement-cost settlement rather than actual cash value where you can.
For loss assessment, look at the master policy deductible and the number of units. A hurricane deductible on a coastal building is often a percentage of the insured value, which can translate to a meaningful per-owner assessment. Many Florida owners carry higher loss assessment limits than the default for exactly this reason. Liability limits should match your assets; umbrella policies are inexpensive if you need more.
Wind, flood, and the Florida wrinkles
In most Florida condo buildings, windstorm and flood coverage sit at the association level, because they insure the structure. That is usually good news for owners, but you should confirm it in writing rather than assume it. Some associations exclude wind and buy it separately, and a few pass more risk to owners than you would expect. Flood is its own separate policy category everywhere in the country; the association typically carries building flood coverage, but your personal property inside the unit may need your own contents flood policy if you are on a lower floor. Our guide to Florida flood insurance explains how contents-only flood coverage works.
Because condos are governed by the same underwriting realities as houses, the choices you make about deductibles, carriers, and coverage form follow the same logic as any other Florida home. If you want the broader picture of how coverage forms are named and structured, our overview of Florida homeowners insurance policy types puts the HO-6 in context alongside the HO-3 and DP3 forms.
Questions to ask before you close
Before you buy a unit, request the association's insurance declaration page and the governing documents. Ask whether the master policy is bare walls or all-in, what the wind and flood arrangements are, what the master deductible is, and whether there are any open assessments. A good buyer's agent will gather these during due diligence, and an independent insurance agent can then quote an HO-6 that fits the specific building rather than a generic template. If you are weighing a condo purchase in South Florida, we can connect you with an agent who does exactly this.
Buying a condo in South Florida? We help buyers read the association's master policy and line up the right HO-6 coverage before closing. Get connected with a Florida condo insurance specialist or reach out to our team for a referral.
Frequently asked questions
Is condo insurance required in Florida?
The state does not legally require an HO-6, but your lender almost always will, and many associations require owners to carry a minimum interior and loss assessment amount. Even without a lender, going without leaves you exposed to interior damage and special assessments.
Does my HO-6 cover hurricane damage to the building?
No. Damage to the building's structure is the master policy's job. Your HO-6 covers your unit's interior, your belongings, your liability, and your share of any loss assessment the association passes on after a storm.
What is loss assessment coverage and how much do I need?
It pays your share when the association assesses owners for a loss beyond the master policy's limits or inside its deductible. Size it against the master policy's hurricane deductible and the building's unit count; coastal buildings often warrant higher limits.
Do I need separate flood insurance for my condo?
The association usually carries building flood coverage, but your personal property may not be covered, especially on lower floors. A contents-only flood policy fills that gap.
The association's deductible is the number that reaches you
Unit owners study their own deductible and almost never ask about the association's, which is usually the larger exposure by a wide margin.
The master policy insures the building, and it carries its own hurricane deductible calculated on the building's insured value. On a large structure that is a substantial sum, and the association has to fund it before the policy pays anything. Where reserves do not cover it, the shortfall is raised from owners as an assessment.
So a hurricane can produce a bill for you even if your unit is untouched, because your share of the building's deductible is still your share. That is the mechanism people discover after a storm rather than before.
Ask for the master policy declarations page before you buy. Not the summary in the listing, the declarations page itself, which states the insured value, the deductibles and the coverage form. Very few buyers request it and it is the single most informative document in the transaction.
Loss assessment is the coverage most owners underbuy
Loss assessment coverage on your own policy responds when the association assesses owners for a covered loss. It is inexpensive relative to what it does, and it is routinely carried at a token limit.
The way to size it is to work from the exposure rather than from a default. Find the master policy's hurricane deductible, divide by the number of units to get a rough share, and compare that against the loss assessment limit on your policy. Owners who do this arithmetic once usually raise the limit immediately.
Two cautions. Loss assessment responds to assessments arising from covered losses, so an assessment for deferred maintenance or a reserve shortfall is generally not covered, and those are common. And there can be separate treatment of assessments arising from the master policy deductible itself, so ask your agent that question specifically rather than assuming.
Read your association's governing documents alongside this, because they determine how assessments are apportioned and what the association is obliged to insure. The insurance question and the governing documents are one question, not two.
Establish where the master policy stops
The boundary between what the master policy covers and what your policy covers is set by the association's documents and by the coverage form, and it varies between buildings.
Broadly, the building structure and common elements sit with the master policy and the interior of your unit sits with yours. What "interior" includes is where buildings differ: original fixtures, cabinetry, flooring, appliances and any improvements can fall on either side depending on the form and the documents.
Ask three questions in writing. Which form does the master policy use. Does it cover original installations inside the unit or only the bare structure. And are improvements made by previous owners covered by it, since you inherit those.
Then insure to the answer rather than to a guess. Owners who assume a broad master policy and discover a narrow one at claim time are covering the difference themselves.
Water is where condominium claims actually happen
Hurricanes get the attention. In practice a large share of condominium losses come from water inside the building, and the coverage questions are different.
A supply line, a water heater or an appliance failure in one unit can damage several below it. Establish now, not later, whose policy responds to damage you cause to another unit and whether your liability coverage is adequate for it. In a multi storey building this exposure is considerably larger than it looks.
Ask about water damage sublimits on your own policy as well, because this is the area where policies diverge most sharply and where a low limit is easy to overlook.
Flood is separate again. A ground floor or low lying unit has genuine flood exposure that neither the master policy nor a standard unit policy addresses, and the association's flood coverage, where it exists, insures the building rather than your contents and interior.
What to establish before you close
Five items, all obtainable during the inspection period, and each one is a document rather than an opinion.
- The master policy declarations page, with insured value, deductibles and form.
- The association's reserve position and most recent financial statements.
- Any assessment history and any assessment currently contemplated.
- Recent board meeting minutes, which frequently disclose what the financial summary does not.
- A quote for your own unit policy at the loss assessment limit you actually intend to carry.
If any of these is slow to arrive, treat that as information rather than an inconvenience.
More common questions
Can I be billed after a storm if my unit was not damaged?
Yes. Your share of the association's deductible and of any uncovered repair cost can reach you as an assessment regardless of your own unit's condition.
How much loss assessment coverage should I carry?
Size it against the master policy's hurricane deductible divided across the units, rather than against a default limit.
Which document tells me the most?
The master policy declarations page, followed by the board meeting minutes. Ask for both before closing.
