Condo coverage checker

Published 2026-09-24 · Last updated 2026-09-24.

Condo coverage checker

What condo cover means

HO-6 vs master policy — the boundary in plain words

Master policies fall into broad types, and the type decides how much walls-in cover you need. Under a bare-walls arrangement, the master policy covers the bare structure and common areas, and everything from the drywall inward — flooring, cabinetry, fixtures and improvements you made — is yours to insure. Under an all-in or single-entity arrangement, the master policy may also cover original fixtures and finishes, but your personal property and liability still sit outside it, and improvements you added after purchase usually sit outside it too. The exact line is set by your building's documents, not by a general article, which is why this page gives you questions to take to those documents rather than a universal boundary. Loss assessment is the companion gap: when a shared loss exceeds the master policy, the shortfall can be divided among owners as a special assessment, and loss-assessment cover exists for exactly that bill.

Your checker result — how to read it

Use the companion working tool, condo-checker.html, in this folder. You answer only about your own unit: master-policy type as shown in your documents (or "not sure"), whether you have made improvements since purchase, an inventory band for belongings, and whether loss-assessment cover is shown on your current policy. The tool returns a gap checklist — walls-in, belongings, liability, loss of use, loss assessment — marked as covered, unclear or missing on the answers you gave. It stores no insurer rate, produces no premium and does not read your documents for you. A result of "unclear" is a useful result: it tells you which document to open next, and which question to put to your association or agent in writing.

What the checker does not cover

Flood is the largest exclusion to name plainly: HO-6 policies do not cover flooding, and a condo near the coast or in a flood zone needs a separate flood policy, covered on the flood pages in this cluster. Earthquake cover is likewise separate in most states. The checker also does not value your unit, settle a dispute with an association, or interpret bylaws as legal advice. If your building is a condo-hotel or short-term-rental unit, the rules can differ further — that is a flag to check your declaration and local rules specifically, not a case this general checker decides.

Condo by state and city links

Next steps after your check

Take the gap checklist to your association's documents first, then to an agent with the master-policy summary in hand. Ask three questions: what exactly does the master policy cover inside my unit, what is my loss-assessment exposure if a shared loss exceeds it, and what limits on my HO-6 close the remaining gaps without duplicating what the master policy already pays? Duplication wastes money; a gap wastes far more. Re-run the checker after any renovation, because improvements you add are the most common reason a once-adequate HO-6 quietly stops matching the unit it insures.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE — not a policy fact

A condo owner answers the checker with illustrative inputs only: master policy type "bare walls", a renovated kitchen added since purchase, belongings in a mid inventory band, and no loss-assessment cover shown on their current policy. The checker returns: walls-in — check flooring and cabinetry, including the renovation; belongings — match the limit to the inventory band; loss assessment — missing on the answers given, ask about it. No premium, limit or coverage decision is produced. The example's value is the pattern it shows: renovation plus bare walls plus no loss-assessment cover is a combination worth questioning before a claim, not after one.