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Two types of insurance generally cover condos: the condo association’s master policy and the condo owner’s individual policy.
Condo hazard insurance is part of the individual policy you buy to deal with property damage to the physical parts of your condominium. Your insurer will spell out what’s included as a covered loss, just as they would with a traditional home insurance policy.
Here’s what you need to know about the hazard portion of your condominium insurance.
An HO-6 policy for condos is similar to the single-family coverage you’d receive with a standard HO-3 policy.
As a unit owner, you need to get an individual policy to cover the structure of your condo in the event of common hazards or perils that can damage your unit.
Your HO-6 insurance policy can cover loss of use while your condo undergoes repairs.
What is condo insurance?
When you buy a condo, one of your financial decisions is whether to get insurance for it. Generally, condo insurance covers what you’d expect with a traditional homeowners policy. This includes damage to your personal belongings as a result of certain natural disasters and other issues, as well as the cost of repairs to the interior walls and other structural elements of the condo unit.[1]
Your condo insurance can also cover liability claims, medical costs due to injury, and other covered losses.
Condo insurance provides you with financial assistance to make repairs and cover the replacement cost of damaged or destroyed personal items. This can greatly reduce your financial risk in the event of a covered loss.
Condo insurance vs. HOA master policy
The main difference between your individual condo insurance and the homeowners association master policy is that the condo association’s master policy generally covers shared community amenities — such as the tennis courts, parking lots, and pools. On the other hand, your individual condo insurance policy is what you’re responsible for inside your own unit.
You can choose from three main types of insurance coverage for condo association policies or a co-op insurance master policy:
Bare walls: The condo association covers shared areas and structures, but you’re responsible for interior walls and fixtures.
Single entity: This condo insurance coverage includes shared areas and structures and fixtures that were part of the condo’s original construction.
All-inclusive or walls-in: A condo association can use this comprehensive policy to cover even the interior walls of your unit. As such, you don’t have to worry about separate policies unless you want your own condo insurance policy to take care of your personal belongings, because walls-in coverage doesn’t include them.
What does condo hazard insurance cover?
Hazard insurance is part of the coverage for the physical structure of a home or condo.[2] With a single-family home, this is called an HO-3 policy. Condo owners have an HO-6 policy, while renters insurance is often referred to as an HO-4 policy.
In any case, the hazard insurance portion of the policy covers 15 main perils:
Lighting or fire
Smoke damage
Hail or windstorm
Riots
Explosions
Aircraft damage
Falling objects
Theft
Vandalism
Volcanic eruption
Vehicle damage