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.
Condo owners who rent out a unit
Rental Condo Insurance
The licensed agent behind this site treats a rented condo as its own case, because a standard owner-occupied HO-6 is written for an owner living in the unit. Once you rent it out, you usually need a landlord version of the policy or a rental endorsement, and your tenant insures their own belongings with a renters policy.
Below: what changes on the policy, how a lease differs from short-term guests, what an empty stretch does, and how to get the rental quoted right.
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Oceanfront high-rise buildings along the beach at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, VA. Photo: Greyfiveys, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Why an owner-occupied HO-6 falls short for a rental
The standard unit-owners form assumes you live in the unit. Hand the keys to a tenant and several parts of it stop fitting.
- Contents in a rented unit can drop out
- Theft from the rented space is narrowed
- Liability turns on the business wording
The NAIC's consumer guide frames the condo unit-owners form as a policy for owners who live in their units, and points renters to a separate tenants form for their own belongings1.
The wording inside the form follows that design. Three parts shift once a tenant moves in: personal property, theft and liability. Find each one in your own policy before you sign a lease.
Go deeper: where the standard form treats a rented unit differently
Rental condo contents under Coverage C
In ISO's 2011 edition of the standard unit-owners form, Coverage C leaves out the belongings of roomers, boarders and other tenants (except roomers and boarders related to an insured) and property in an apartment an insured regularly rents or holds for rent2. That second part can reach the sofa and beds you leave behind for a tenant.
Theft in a rented condo
The same form's theft peril does not reach theft from the part of the premises an insured rents to someone who is not also an insured3. Ask how a landlord version or a rental endorsement handles theft.
Landlord liability and the business exclusion
The form's liability section excludes business activity, with narrow exceptions for renting the unit occasionally as a residence, or renting part of it as a residence, office, school, studio or garage4. A full-time lease or a steady run of paying guests may sit outside those exceptions, so check your policy.
North Carolina's rate bureau rules for policies starting on or after Jan. 1, 2019 went further: a unit-owners policy there had no personal property or liability coverage for a unit regularly rented to others unless the policy is endorsed to add it back, theft included5. Other states and companies differ.
Landlord condo insurance for a long-term tenant
A leased unit usually needs a landlord version of the HO-6 or a rental endorsement, sized to what you still own.
- Walls-in items stay your job
- Your liability as the owner
- Lost rent, where a company offers it
Companies write a leased condo in different ways. Some attach a rental endorsement to the unit-owners form. Others move you to a landlord or dwelling form built for property the owner does not live in. Ask which one a quote uses and what it changes.
Idaho's insurance department lists what landlord property insurance typically includes: the structure, fair rental value if a covered loss forces the tenant out (sometimes optional or extra), liability for accidentally hurting a tenant or damaging their property, and at times the landlord's own furniture and appliances6.
Go deeper: landlord forms, lost rent and what still sits with you
Walls-in coverage on a landlord condo policy
Coverage A reaches what is permanently installed in the unit and not already insured by the association7. A tenant moving in does not shift that job. Flooring, cabinets and upgrades are still yours to insure. If your landlord form offers it, compare open-perils Coverage A with the named-perils version.
Loss of rent versus loss of use
On an owner-occupied HO-6, Coverage D pays your extra living costs above normal while covered damage makes the unit unlivable and you have to move out for a while8. A landlord loses something else during repairs: the rent. Ask whether the policy pays fair rental value or lost rent, for how long, and whether it is included or extra.
Dwelling fire forms for a rental condo
North Carolina's insurance department describes a dwelling fire policy as an option for rental, vacant, seasonal and vacation property the owner does not live in, and notes that it typically leaves out liability9.
It names three forms: DP-1 and DP-2 cover named perils, DP-3 covers the structure on an open-perils basis with personal property still on named perils, and fair rental value or loss of rent can be included10.
If the form you are offered leaves out liability, ask how an endorsement or a separate policy fills that gap before the lease starts.
Tenant insurance vs condo insurance: who covers what
Your policy protects your part of the unit. The tenant's belongings and the tenant's own mistakes are the tenant's to insure.
- Your policy skips the tenant's things
- A renters policy skips the building
- Put the requirement in the lease
Pennsylvania's insurance department tells renters plainly that the landlord's policy does not cover their belongings, and that a renters policy (the Form 4 contents form) protects their property against damage or theft and can cover injuries in the space they rent11.
Idaho adds the other half: a renters policy covers the tenant's contents and usually liability and extra living costs, but does not cover the structure being rented12.
The two policies barely overlap. Yours answers for what you own and for you as the owner. Theirs answers for their things and their own accidents.
Go deeper: why many owners require renters insurance in the lease
Montana's insurance regulator notes that many landlords require tenants to buy fire legal liability coverage, which comes inside renters policies and covers a tenant's responsibility for fire damage to the space they rent13.
A lease clause can ask the tenant to keep a renters policy in force for the whole term, carry a liability limit you name, and send proof at move-in and each renewal. Some owners also ask to be listed as an interested party, so they hear about a lapse.
Have a lawyer review the wording and check your association's rules on tenants. The tenant's policy is a backstop, not a substitute for your own liability coverage.
Furnished condo rental: list what you own, not theirs
Rent the unit furnished and the beds, sofa, dishes and electronics you leave are your property to insure.
- Your furnishings: your policy
- The tenant's clothes and laptop: their policy
- Confirm your form covers furnishings in a rental
Coverage C pays when furniture, clothing, computers and TVs in the unit are damaged, destroyed or stolen in a covered loss14. In a rental, whether your furnishings qualify turns on the landlord form or endorsement, so get that answer in writing.
Run the calculator on your furnishings only and leave out anything the tenant brought. The condo contents calculator page explains replacement cost and actual cash value.
Room-by-room contents list: is it A or C?
Add what is in each room and what it would cost to replace. Tag each item built in (usually Coverage A) or portable (Coverage C). Check your policy: forms differ. Nothing leaves your browser.
Vacation condo rental insurance for nightly and weekly guests
Short-term guests are a different risk from a lease, and many standard policies limit or exclude it unless you add coverage.
- Collecting fees can make it a business
- Endorsement or a separate policy
- Association rules come first
A 2016 NAIC paper on home-sharing warns that if a unit-owners policy excludes business use and renting for a fee counts as a business, claims may be denied or the policy cancelled or nonrenewed; it tells owners to check association rules and ask about endorsements or a landlord policy15.
Before you list the unit, read the declaration, bylaws and rules. Many associations restrict rental terms or lease lengths, and a fine for breaking a rule is generally not something insurance pays.
Go deeper: what regulators have told home-sharing hosts
Home-sharing endorsement or landlord policy
In a 2015 consumer page, the District of Columbia's insurance department warned hosts that homeowners and renters policies are not built for accidents tied to renting and may deny those claims; it said an occasional host may get an endorsement, while frequent or long-term renting may call for a landlord policy16.
A 2017 Maryland Insurance Administration release said regularly renting out rooms for profit may be treated as a home-based business, and that in some cases a homeowners policy may not cover damage a paying guest causes or a guest's injury, and it pointed to a surplus lines home-share business policy sold by non-admitted insurers outside the Commissioner's oversight17.
Under North Carolina's homeowners program, for policies starting on or after 2019, a unit-owners policy carries a home-sharing endorsement that limits or excludes some platform rentals unless the owner buys broadened home-sharing coverage18.
Those statements are dated. Ask the company quoting your unit how its current form treats nightly and weekly guests.
Short-term rental through the association's rental office
Some resort-style buildings run their own rental program. Ask whether the program carries insurance, what it covers and what it expects your own policy to carry. Its coverage usually does not replace yours.
Protect the unit between tenants, not just during a lease
A unit that sits empty while you look for the next tenant can lose parts of its coverage under the vacancy wording.
- Ask what is suspended, and when
- Some tests look at the whole building
- Keep someone checking the unit
Maryland's homeowners guide warns that leaving a home or apartment vacant or unoccupied can cost you all or part of your coverage, and suggests asking the insurer which coverages pause during a move or any other vacancy19.
Between leases, keep the heat or air running, shut off water to appliances where you can, and have someone look in on a set schedule. Tell your insurer if the gap runs long.
Go deeper: how the standard form words vacancy
Vacancy wording on a condo policy
In the standard unit-owners form, vandalism and the water or steam discharge peril do not pay for loss to the unit once the building containing it has been vacant for more than 60 days in a row before the loss; a building under construction does not count as vacant20.
That test looks at the building, which is rarely empty. Landlord forms and state endorsements can word vacancy differently, so read the terms in the exact form you are quoted.
The master policy still insures the building around you
Renting the unit does not change the association's policy. It still covers what the declaration assigns to the association, and nothing more.
- Structure and common areas: the association
- Finishes and upgrades: often you
- The master deductible can still reach you
Owners often ask whether the master policy plus the tenant's renters policy leaves nothing for them to insure. Usually it leaves plenty: the master policy stops where the declaration says your part begins, and the tenant's policy answers only for the tenant.
Ask the manager for the master policy summary and see where its coverage ends. How the condo master insurance policy works explains the common types.
Go deeper: assessments and leaks when you are the landlord
Loss assessment on a rental condo
When the association bills owners after a building loss, the bill comes to you as the owner, not to your tenant. Keep loss assessment on the landlord policy and size it to your share of the master deductible. See condo special assessments and the loss assessment calculator.
Water damage from a rented unit
If water from your rented unit reaches a neighbor, the declaration, the master policy and each owner's policy decide who pays. A landlord policy that matches the real use is what responds for you. For the neighbor's side of it, see water damage from the unit above.
Get a condo rental insurance policy that matches the lease
A quote is only as accurate as the occupancy it rests on, so tell each company exactly how the unit is used.
- Long-term lease, short-term guests or empty
- Furnished or unfurnished
- Several companies on the same limits
Have ready: the lease or your rental plan, the association's rental rules, the master policy summary, your current declarations page, and a list of improvements and furnishings.
The agent behind this site asks several companies to quote the same limits for the use you describe, so you see how each one writes a rented unit. Ask every company which discounts or credits your rental qualifies for.
Request rental condo quotes. A quote binds nothing; coverage starts only once you accept a policy and it is issued.
Go deeper: why the occupancy line matters at claim time
An application that says owner-occupied while a tenant lives there can give an insurer grounds to deny a claim or cancel the policy. Check the occupancy line on your declarations page whenever your use changes.
Use also feeds pricing; see what moves a condo insurance premium. Weighing a house too? Read condo insurance vs homeowners insurance. For how the unit-owners form is built, see the HO-6 policy form explained and the HO-6 insurance guide.
Rental condo insurance questions owners ask
Do I need condo insurance if I rent it out?
In most cases yes, though usually not the policy you had while living there. A leased unit typically needs a landlord version of the HO-6 or a rental endorsement that covers your walls-in items, your liability as the owner and, where offered, lost rent. Your bylaws or your lender may require coverage too.
My insurer will not switch my policy to a rental. How do I get insurance for a condo I rent out?
Some companies do not write rented condo units, or write them only on a different form. Ask other companies for a landlord or dwelling policy on the unit, and say whether you will own another home, since that can change which forms they offer. Comparing several companies on the same limits shows who will write it.
If the master policy covers the building and my tenant has renters insurance, do I still need landlord condo insurance?
Usually yes. The master policy stops where the declaration hands the unit to you, and the tenant's policy covers the tenant, not you. Your finishes and upgrades, your furnishings, your liability as the owner and any assessment billed to you fall outside both.
What happens if I rent my condo out without telling my insurer?
A policy written for an owner who lives in the unit may not respond the way you expect. Once the insurer learns about the tenant, it may deny a claim or cancel the policy. Whether it can revisit claims it already paid depends on the policy and state law, so ask your state insurance department. Update the occupancy before the lease starts.
Will the landlord's condo policy upstairs pay if their rented unit leaks into mine?
That depends on the other owner's policy, the cause of the leak and how your declaration splits repairs. Start with your own HO-6 and the association. If your insurer pays, it may pursue the other owner's insurer. Water damage from the unit above walks through the order.
Where do owners find vacation condo rental insurance for a unit rented by the night or week?
Ask several companies whether they write short-term rental units, and ask the association's rental program what insurance it carries. Owners often end up with a home-sharing endorsement, a landlord or dwelling form, or a specialty short-term rental policy. Describe the booking pattern honestly so each quote matches the real use.
Does renting out part of my condo short term change what my policy pays?
It can. Many unit-owners forms narrow contents, theft and liability for space rented to others, and renting for a fee may count as business use. Locking your things in one room does not change how the form treats the rented part. Tell your insurer before guests arrive and ask what an endorsement restores.
Tenant insurance vs condo insurance: what is the difference?
Condo insurance (HO-6) is the owner's policy for walls-in property, the owner's belongings and the owner's liability. Tenant insurance, often called renters insurance or HO-4, covers the renter's belongings and the renter's liability, but not the unit itself. When a condo is rented out, both usually belong in place.
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.