Your one stop for condo insurance.
Stop calling agent after agent for one quote each. One call, and a licensed agent shops your HO-6 with several insurance companies, A-rated options included, then lays the offers side by side. You pick.
You are in the right place. Keep reading for the answer, or call and let the shopping start now.
Sizing an HO-6, part by part
How Much Condo Insurance
The licensed agent behind this site sizes an HO-6 one part at a time, because no single number answers the question. Walls-in comes from what the master policy leaves you, contents from what you own, and liability and loss assessment from what you could owe others.
Tap your master policy type below, then total your walls-in number with the estimator.
- One call, not ten
- Several companies shopped for you
- No obligation: a quote never binds
Compare my condo quotes
Several companies, side by side. You decide.
Jersey City waterfront towers at Exchange Place and along the Hudson River at sunset, seen from above. Photo: Alfred Twu, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
See which layers of your unit are yours to insure
Tap your master policy type to see your starting line: every layer marked yours needs a limit on your HO-6.
- Bare walls: nearly the whole interior is yours
- All-in: often just upgrades and belongings
- The declaration has the final word
Go deeper: the three master policy types, and what state condo acts say
Master policies are often described in three broad types, and the labels are used loosely. All-in usually covers interior finishes and fixtures, such as cabinets and floor coverings, and often owner improvements as well. All-in excluding improvements covers the original finishes but not upgrades an owner or a prior owner added. Bare walls leaves nearly everything inside the unit's perimeter to you.
Under all-in, you may need little Coverage A once you confirm how it treats improvements. Under all-in excluding improvements, Coverage A may only need to reach your upgrades. Under bare walls, it usually has to rebuild the whole interior: drywall finishes, flooring, cabinets, counters, fixtures, built-in appliances and the labor to put them back.
What state condo acts say the master policy must cover
- Florida: the association policy must exclude personal property in the unit, and floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, water filters, built-in cabinets and countertops, and window treatments that serve only that unit1. That list is the starting point for a Florida owner's Coverage A. See the Florida page.
- Illinois: the association policy covers the units, and unless the board decides otherwise, that includes each unit's bare walls, floors and ceilings2. Get the board's decision in writing. See the Illinois page.
- Pennsylvania: the required association policy covers units exclusive of improvements and betterments installed in units3, for condominiums created after the act's 1980 effective date4. See the Pennsylvania page.
- North Carolina: the association policy has to include the units where reasonably available, and may leave out improvements and betterments that owners installed5, under the act that governs condominiums created after October 1, 19866. See the North Carolina page.
- New Jersey: the association insures all common elements and all structural portions of the condominium property7; the master deed and bylaws set the rest. See the New Jersey page.
- New York and Virginia leave more to the documents. In an ordinary New York condominium the board insures the building only if the declaration, the bylaws or a majority of owners require it8, and Virginia's act lets the condominium instruments require a master policy rather than requiring one itself9. See the New York and Virginia pages.
How Much Condo Insurance: total your walls-in number now
Total what it would cost to rebuild the parts of your unit the association does not insure.
- Start from a ready-made list of interior items
- Enter your own replacement cost per line
- Add the per-unit master deductible, if any
Coverage A is for the permanently installed parts of the unit that the association's coverage does not already pick up10. The estimator adds your own figures line by line; it does not price anything.
Walls-in estimator
List what you would have to rebuild inside your unit if the master policy stops at the bare walls. Enter your own replacement cost for each line. The tool adds; it does not price anything.
Check your estimate against the lender's floor
With a mortgage, your lender often sets a minimum. Your estimate should clear it; a floor is not the target.
- The minimum tracks your uncovered interior
- A per-unit master deductible can raise it
- Get your lender's rules in writing
On a loan that follows Fannie Mae's guide, the borrower has to carry a unit owners policy if the master policy leaves any part of the unit interior or its improvements uncovered, or if it has a per-unit deductible11.
The minimum amount is the greater of enough to restore the uncovered interior and improvements to their pre-loss condition, or the master policy's per-unit deductible if it has one12.
Go deeper: deductible caps and other minimums
The deductible on your own policy can be no more than the greater of 5% of the unit policy coverage amount or $2,50013.
Other loan programs have their own condo rules, and a lender can ask for more than a program minimum. Ask your lender for its insurance requirements in writing before you set the limit.
Virginia also sets a regulatory floor: insurers there must give a condo unit at least $5,000 of limit for the owner's share of the dwelling and fixtures14. A floor is not a target; rebuild cost is.
Size each part of the policy on its own
An HO-6 is several coverages with separate limits, and getting one right does nothing for the others.
- Walls-in and belongings are separate limits
- Loss of use pays for a place to stay
- Liability protects you from other people's claims
Coverage A: walls-in
Rebuild cost of what the master policy leaves you. Use the estimator above.
Coverage C: personal property
What it would cost to replace your belongings, counted room by room.
Coverage D: loss of use
The added cost of living somewhere else, over your normal expenses, while covered damage keeps the unit uninhabitable15.
Coverage E and F: liability
What you could owe if someone is hurt or their property is damaged.
Loss assessment limit
Your share of an association bill after a covered loss to common property.
Go deeper: where these definitions come from
The plain-language definitions on this page paraphrase New Jersey's regulatory summary of the condo form. Your own policy's wording controls.
Count your belongings instead of accepting a percentage
A contents limit set as a slice of some other number rarely matches what you own. A room-by-room count does.
- List each room, closets included
- Keep built-in items apart
- Watch the limits on valuables
Coverage C should match what it would cost to replace your belongings, not a percentage someone picked for you.
The condo contents calculator walks you through a list, keeps built-in items (usually Coverage A) apart from portable ones (Coverage C), and shows where jewelry and other valuables may need their own coverage.
Set liability to what a lawsuit could actually reach
Liability helps protect what you own if you are held responsible for a guest's injury or a leak into a neighbor's unit.
- Size it to what you could lose
- Add an umbrella if you have more to protect
- Your association may require some
Coverage E funds your defense against certain lawsuits and pays when you are found legally responsible for harm to someone else or their property16. Coverage F, medical payments, handles the medical bills of people hurt on your property17.
Set the limit from what you would stand to lose in a lawsuit: your cash, your home equity, your future income.
Go deeper: umbrella policies and association rules
Owners with more to protect often pair the HO-6 with an umbrella policy, which usually expects a minimum liability limit underneath.
Associations can also have a say. An Illinois board may require owners to insure their personal liability and damage their unit causes to another unit18. See the Illinois page.
Leave room for your share of the association's bill
When owners split the bill for a covered loss, this limit caps what your policy can put toward your share.
- Start from the master deductible times your share
- Add headroom above that
- Check for a state minimum
Loss assessment can pay your share, up to its limit, if the cause is one your policy covers. Size it from the master-policy deductible times your ownership share, then allow room above that.
Florida's legal minimum is $2,000 of loss assessment protection for all assessments from one direct loss of a covered type19. The loss assessment calculator runs your share.
Put every limit in front of several companies at once
Many owners never had their walls-in, liability or loss assessment limits reviewed. One side-by-side quote covers all three.
- The same limits across companies
- Forms and endorsements compared
- You choose; nothing binds until you accept
Bring your declarations page, the master policy summary, the declaration's insurance section and a list of improvements you or a prior owner made. The agent behind this site compares limits and forms across multiple carriers, and you decide what to carry.
No quote binds coverage; a policy takes effect only after you accept it and it is issued.
Condo coverage amount questions
How much dwelling coverage do I need for a condo?
Enough to rebuild what the master policy leaves to you. Find the master policy type and your declaration's insurance section, list the interior items that are yours, and total their replacement cost. If you have a mortgage, the lender's minimum is the floor, not the answer.
What is unit owners Coverage A special coverage?
It is an endorsement some unit-owner programs offer. Where used, it generally moves Coverage A from named perils to open-perils coverage, so the parts you insure are covered for direct physical loss unless the wording excludes the cause. North Carolina's Coastal Pool lists the HO 32 34 unit-owners Coverage A special coverage endorsement20 among its forms. Wording varies, so ask whether your quote includes it.
Does my lender set a minimum for condo walls-in coverage?
Often, yes. Fannie Mae's rules set the minimum at the greater of the cost to restore the uncovered interior and improvements, or the master policy's per-unit deductible12. Your lender will tell you its own requirement.
How much HO-6 coverage does a row-house condo owner need when the association insures the structure?
Start with where the association's policy stops. If it covers the structure only, your Coverage A may need to rebuild the interior finishes, floors, cabinets and fixtures. If it covers original finishes, Coverage A may only need to reach your upgrades. Check the declaration, then use the estimator on this page.
Does a per-unit master deductible change how much Coverage A I need?
It can. A per-unit deductible means the association's policy does not pay the first part of a loss to your unit. Under Fannie Mae's guide, your unit owners coverage has to reach at least that per-unit deductible if it is larger than the cost to restore your uncovered interior12.
Before you renew, make one call.
A licensed agent compares several companies on the same limits. Asking changes nothing on your policy, and a quote never binds you.