Who Owns the Roof in a Townhouse?
Usually the HOA, through its master policy, but check your governing documents since some townhome associations assign roof ownership to unit owners.
Free to compare
Your roof, your HOA's policy, or both
Most townhome associations own the roof and insure it under the master policy, since it's part of the building structure shared with neighbors. Your HOA's governing documents, specifically the CC&Rs, say which it is. Some associations shift roof responsibility to owners, especially in detached or semi-detached townhomes where each roof only covers one unit. If the master policy is a bare walls policy, it may cover only the structure. Interior damage from a roof leak, like ceiling drywall or flooring, would then fall to your HO-6 policy. If it's an all-in or single-entity policy, more of that interior damage may already be covered there. Either way, your HO-6 should cover your personal property and any interior finishes the master policy excludes. A roof leak rarely stops at the ceiling.
If the master policy pays only part of a roof claim, or your HOA issues a special assessment to cover the rest, your HO-6 policy is what responds. Loss assessment coverage limits vary by policy, and a low one can leave you paying thousands out of pocket. Comparing policies now means knowing the gap is covered before a roof leak turns into a bill with your name on it.
What an HO-6 policy actually covers
An HO-6 policy is built for condo and townhome owners, and it starts where the master policy stops. It typically covers your personal property, the interior structure of your unit such as drywall, flooring, cabinets, and built-in fixtures, and any upgrades you've made beyond what the unit had when it was built. It also includes loss assessment coverage, liability coverage, and loss of use if your unit becomes unlivable after a covered event. The exact lines depend on your policy, but those are the pieces most HO-6 policies share.
How much interior coverage you need depends on what your master policy already insures. A bare walls policy leaves more for you to cover, since it insures only the building's structure and nothing inside the unit. An all-in or single-entity policy covers more of the interior, including original fixtures and finishes, which means you may need less coverage on your own policy. Your HOA can tell you which type it carries, and your policy's declarations page shows what you've bought to cover the rest.
Water from a neighbor's unit is one of the most common claims townhome owners file, and who pays depends on where the water started and why. If a pipe bursts inside your neighbor's unit and water comes through your shared wall, their HO-6 liability coverage may pay for your damage if they were negligent, such as ignoring a known leak. If no one was at fault, your own HO-6 policy typically covers the damage to your unit, and you'd file under your own coverage rather than waiting on a neighbor's claim. If the water came from a shared pipe or the building structure itself, the master policy may be the one that responds. These claims often involve more than one policy, which is part of why knowing your coverage ahead of time matters.
Loss assessment coverage is worth checking closely, since it's the part of your policy that pays when the HOA bills unit owners directly after a claim. If a roof claim exceeds what the master policy pays out, or the association's deductible on that policy is large, the shortfall often gets split among owners as a special assessment. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 reimburses you for your share, up to your policy's limit. Limits vary widely between policies, and the default amount may be lower than what a major roof or structural claim could require. Reading your HOA's master policy documents, including its deductible and coverage limits, gives you a sense of how much loss assessment coverage makes sense for your own policy.
What counts as a special assessment, and why the HOA's deductible matters
A special assessment isn't automatic every time there's a roof claim. HOAs typically assess owners when the master policy's payout falls short of the repair cost, when the association's reserve fund can't absorb the gap, or when the master policy's deductible is high enough that spreading it across owners makes more sense than draining reserves. Some associations carry deductibles of $10,000, $25,000, or more on their master policy, especially for roof and water damage claims, since insurers price those deductibles lower when they're higher. That deductible itself can become the special assessment, divided among units however the CC&Rs specify, usually by square footage or an equal per-unit split.
Reading the HOA's master policy, not just asking whether one exists, tells you more than the HOA's own summary might. The declarations page of that policy lists the deductible and the coverage limits for the roof and other structural elements. If the deductible is high relative to what a roof replacement would cost, a special assessment becomes more likely after a major claim, and your own loss assessment coverage becomes more important to get right. Some HOAs will share this document on request, and some post it with annual meeting materials. It's worth asking for directly if you're buying into a townhome, since it shapes what your own policy needs to cover.
The size of a likely assessment also depends on how many units share the building and how the HOA's bylaws split costs. A roof that covers four attached units divides a special assessment four ways. A roof shared across twenty units spreads the cost thinner per owner, though the total claim may be larger to begin with. Neither case means you're fully exposed, since loss assessment coverage on an HO-6 policy pays toward your share regardless of how the HOA calculates it, up to your policy's limit.
None of this is predictable to the dollar, since it depends on the specific claim, the HOA's reserves at the time, and decisions the board makes about how to cover a shortfall. What is predictable is the mechanism. A gap in the master policy's payout becomes a bill to owners, and loss assessment coverage is what stands between that bill and your own finances. Checking your policy's limit against what a worst-case roof claim might cost, using the master policy's deductible as a rough floor, is a reasonable way to judge whether your current limit is enough.
Before you move on
Pull up your HOA's master policy deductible and your own loss assessment limit side by side. If the deductible is higher than what your HO-6 would reimburse, that gap is worth closing now.
