What Is an HO6 Policy?
It's the policy for condo or co-op owners, covering your unit's interior, belongings and liability where the HOA's master policy leaves off.
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Where the HOA's policy ends and yours begins
The HOA's master policy covers the building itself, the roof, the exterior walls, the land. Your HO-6 picks up everything inside your unit. That means the drywall, cabinets, flooring, any upgrades you've made, plus your furniture and personal belongings. Where the exact line falls between the two depends on the HOA's bylaws, since some master policies cover original fixtures only while others cover more. If a pipe bursts in the unit above and water comes through your ceiling, your HO-6 pays for your damage regardless of fault, and your insurer may seek reimbursement from the neighbor's policy separately. If the HOA levies a special assessment after a shared loss, like storm damage to the roof, loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 can help cover your share. Check your HOA's governing documents and your declarations page to see where your coverage needs to start.
What a bare-bones HO-6 pays out and what it actually costs to replace your cabinets, flooring and belongings after a loss are often two different numbers. Coverage limits, loss assessment amounts and deductibles vary a lot between policies, and the HOA's bylaws affect how much you need. Comparing quotes shows what different insurers would cover for your unit and what that protection costs.
How much dwelling coverage does a unit actually need
There's no flat number that works for every unit, because it depends on what your HOA's master policy leaves out. Some bylaws cover the building down to the studs, meaning drywall and wiring are the association's responsibility and your HO-6 mainly needs to cover flooring, cabinets, and fixtures you've added. Other bylaws only cover the bare structure as it was originally built, which pushes more of the rebuild cost onto your policy, including any upgrades a previous owner made before you bought the place. Read the HOA's governing documents first. That's what tells you which version applies to your building.
A common mistake is setting dwelling coverage to what the unit would sell for, or what's left on the mortgage. Neither number has much to do with what it costs to rebuild the inside of a unit after a fire or burst pipe. Rebuilding costs are tied to materials and labor in the area, not resale price, and a unit in a desirable neighborhood can be cheap to rebuild even if it's expensive to buy. If you've renovated the kitchen or added built-ins, factor that in too, since the HOA's master policy almost never covers upgrades made after the building went up.
Loss assessment coverage works differently and is easy to underestimate. If the roof is damaged in a storm and the master policy's deductible is high, or the damage exceeds what the master policy pays, the HOA can bill every unit owner for the shortfall through a special assessment. Loss assessment coverage on an HO-6 reimburses the owner for their share, up to the policy's limit. Many policies default to a modest amount, often a few thousand dollars, which can fall short if the building has a large deductible or an expensive shared system like an elevator or a parking structure. Buildings with aging roofs, shared amenities, or a history of claims tend to carry more special assessment risk, so a higher loss assessment limit is worth considering even if it costs a little more.
Townhome insurance sits in between a condo policy and a standalone house policy, and which one applies depends on ownership, not the building's shape. If there's no HOA and the owner holds the land and the whole structure, a standard homeowners policy covering the full structure is usually the fit, similar to a detached house. If a townhome is part of an association with a master policy covering shared walls or the roof, an HO-6 is usually the right form, the same as a condo. The declarations page from the HOA, or a quick question to the property manager, settles which situation applies before coverage is chosen.
What limits and deductibles actually apply to a unit
An HO-6 policy has its own deductible, separate from whatever deductible applies to the HOA's master policy. If a claim involves both, like a fire that damages the shared roof and the inside of one unit, the unit owner's deductible applies to their own policy's payout and the master policy's deductible applies to the building repair, often split among owners through the loss assessment piece. The two deductibles don't offset each other. A unit owner could end up paying their own deductible and a share of the master policy's deductible in the same event.
Personal property coverage is usually a separate limit from dwelling coverage, and it needs its own look. Furniture, electronics, clothing and anything else not attached to the unit falls under this limit, and insurers calculate payouts either at actual cash value, meaning depreciated for age and wear, or at replacement cost, meaning what it costs to buy new today. Replacement cost coverage costs more but pays out more after a loss, and the difference matters most for anyone with higher-value belongings. The declarations page states which one applies.
Liability coverage on an HO-6 protects the owner if someone is injured inside the unit or if the owner is found responsible for damage to someone else's unit, like a slow leak that ruins a neighbor's flooring. This is separate from whatever liability coverage the HOA carries for common areas like hallways or the pool. Standard liability limits run in set increments, and an owner with significant savings or assets to protect may want a higher limit than the policy default, or a separate umbrella policy layered on top.
Loss of use coverage, sometimes called additional living expenses, pays for a hotel or temporary rental if the unit becomes uninhabitable after a covered loss. This matters more for condo owners than it might seem, since repairs to shared systems like plumbing or electrical can take weeks when the HOA has to coordinate work across multiple units. Checking that this limit is enough to cover a month or two of temporary housing, not just a few nights, is worth doing before a loss happens rather than after.
Before you compare
Pull your HOA's governing documents and find the master policy's deductible and what it covers below the surface. That number, plus your own loss assessment limit, tells you whether your unit is actually protected.
