What Does HO6 Not Cover?
Flood, earthquake, and the HOA's master policy items are the big gaps, plus damage from neglect or normal wear.
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Where the master policy stops
An HO-6 picks up where the building's master policy leaves off. If the HOA's policy is a bare-walls type, your HO-6 covers flooring, cabinets, and fixtures you'd otherwise assume are the building's. Check the HOA's policy to see the split before assuming what's yours.
Flood and earthquake
A standard HO-6 excludes flood damage, whether it comes from a storm, a burst water main, or groundwater. Earthquake is usually excluded too. Both need separate policies. If your unit sits in a flood zone or an area with quake risk, this gap matters more than most others.
Loss assessment gaps
When the HOA's master policy doesn't fully cover a shared loss, like a damaged roof or lobby, it can bill each owner a special assessment. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 pays your share up to a limit, but only for perils your policy covers, not for an HOA budget shortfall.
Wear, neglect, and maintenance
An HO-6 doesn't pay for damage from gradual wear, mold that built up over time, or problems you knew about and didn't fix, like an aging water heater. Insurers treat these as maintenance issues the owner was responsible for, not sudden, covered losses.
If a pipe fails in your unit, the gap between what the HOA's master policy pays and what you actually owe depends on your HO-6 limits, your loss assessment coverage, and whether flooding or earthquake was involved at all. Two owners in the same building can carry very different protection. Comparing policies now shows where that gap sits for your unit.
What about liability if someone gets hurt in your unit
An HO-6 includes personal liability coverage, which pays if someone is injured inside your unit and sues you, or if you're found responsible for damage to someone else's property. This is separate from the building's master policy, which covers the HOA's liability for common areas like hallways, elevators, and the pool deck. If a guest slips on your kitchen floor, that's your liability, not the HOA's.
What it doesn't cover is injury tied to something the HOA is responsible for fixing. A fall on a cracked stairwell outside your door is usually a master policy claim against the association, not your HO-6. The line gets blurry with limited common elements, like a balcony or patio assigned only to your unit. Some HOA agreements make you responsible for maintaining those spaces even though the master policy insures the structure, so a guest injury there could involve both policies depending on what caused it.
Liability coverage also stops at intentional acts. If you cause damage on purpose, or injure someone in a fight, no HO-6 policy pays for that. It's built for accidents, not conduct. And it has a limit, typically a flat dollar amount you choose when you buy the policy. A serious injury claim can exceed that limit fast, which is why some owners add an umbrella policy on top. An HO-6's liability limit is a number worth checking against what a lawsuit in your area could actually cost.
There's also no coverage for business activity run out of the unit. If you rent out a room short-term or run a business from home, injuries connected to that activity typically fall outside a standard HO-6 and need a separate endorsement or commercial policy. Check your declarations page for the liability limit and ask whether your use of the unit, guests, rentals, home office, falls inside what the policy assumes.
What happens to personal belongings and loss of use
Personal property coverage on an HO-6 pays to replace what's inside the unit after a covered loss, furniture, clothes, electronics, the things that make the unit yours rather than the building's. It doesn't cover everything, though. High-value items like jewelry, art, or a serious camera collection often run into category limits that are lower than what they're actually worth. If you own anything expensive, check the limit on the policy against what the item would cost to replace, not what it's insured for by default.
There's also a gap between replacement cost and actual cash value. Replacement cost pays what it takes to buy the item new. Actual cash value subtracts depreciation, so a five year old couch gets paid out at what a five year old couch is worth, not what a new one costs. Some HO-6 policies default to actual cash value on personal property unless you pay for replacement cost coverage. The declarations page says which one applies.
Loss of use coverage is the other piece people forget until they need it. If the unit becomes unlivable after a covered loss, a fire or burst pipe severe enough to force you out, this pays for a hotel or a rental while repairs happen. It doesn't apply if you choose to move out for unrelated reasons, and it doesn't cover the repairs themselves. It also has a limit, usually tied to a percentage of the dwelling coverage or a flat dollar cap, so a long repair timeline on a contested claim can run past what the policy pays.
None of this covers damage to the items from flood or earthquake either, since those exclusions apply to personal property the same way they apply to the structure. A flooded unit means the furniture and electronics inside are excluded along with the flooring, unless separate flood coverage is in place. Checking the personal property limit, the replacement cost terms, and the loss of use cap against how the unit is actually furnished and used is worth doing before a loss, not after.
Before you compare policies
Pull up your HOA's master policy and your current HO-6 declarations page side by side. Check where the master policy's coverage ends, what your loss assessment limit is, and whether flood or earthquake coverage is missing entirely.
