Florida Condo Insurance (HO-6)
A Florida condo is insured in two layers. The association’s master policy covers the building, and your HO-6 policy covers the inside of your unit, your belongings, your liability, and your share of certain association losses. Where one layer stops and the other starts follows your governing documents and Florida’s condominium statute, so an HO-6 sized around what your association actually carries is the difference between paying for coverage twice and finding a gap after a claim. We compare 20+ Florida carriers that write condo unit policies, in every county in Florida, and a licensed agent walks you through the split.
Condo coverage at a glance
Why Florida condo insurance works differently
A single-family home is insured by one policy. A condominium is insured by two, and the second one is not yours to write. Under Florida’s condominium statute, the association carries a master policy on the building and the common elements, and that policy leaves out the things inside your unit that you own: floor, wall, and ceiling coverings, built-in cabinets and countertops, appliances, water heaters, electrical fixtures, and window treatments, along with your personal property. Your HO-6 policy picks up where the master policy stops, and the line between them is set by the statute and your association’s governing documents rather than by any carrier.
That split is why a condo quote starts with the association’s paperwork. Working with your agent, the first step is getting a copy of the association’s insurance certificate or master policy declarations and reading what it covers, what its deductible is, and whether it insures the building on a replacement-cost basis. Florida law no longer requires a unit owner to carry an HO-6, but most lenders do, many associations do, and the interior of a Florida condo costs more to rebuild than most owners guess.
Cornerstone Insurance is a family-owned and operated Trusted Choice® independent personal lines agency writing in every county in Florida. Because we represent many carriers rather than one, your unit is priced across 20+ Florida carriers that write condo policies, and a licensed agent explains where the coverage sits before you choose. Our HO-6 guide goes deeper on what walls-in really covers.
Your deed decides the policy form
Townhome, villa, and high-rise are words for how a building looks. The form of ownership decides the policy. If your deed holds the unit as a condominium, the policy is almost always an HO-6. If you own a fee-simple attached home, a townhouse where you own the structure and the land beneath it, an owner-occupied home belongs on a homeowners form (HO-3 or HO-5), and a unit you rent out belongs on a dwelling-fire form (DP-3), whatever the building looks like from the street.
Fee-simple attached communities carry the most common Florida mistake. Many of their homeowner associations fund reserves for roofs, paint, and landscaping, and owners assume that includes insurance on the building. Most of the time it does not. Maintenance reserves are not a master insurance policy, and an HO-6 written on a fee-simple home without an actual master policy behind it may carry far too little coverage for the structure you own. The check is simple: ask your association for its insurance certificate rather than its budget. If a master policy exists, a fee-simple owner has a choice between an HO-6 with the carrier’s underwriting approval and a full HO-3. If none exists, an owner-occupied home belongs on an HO-3 with full dwelling coverage.
When a master policy does exist, here is what to look for when you get your copy: confirm the building coverage includes both wind and the other perils, confirm the exact building and unit appear on the coverage, and divide the total building limit by the number of units in the building to sanity-check what your share represents. Request your copy so you know the coverage and deductibles it carries, go through those four checks together with your agent, and they make the HO-6 conversation a short one.
What an HO-6 policy is written to cover
Dwelling coverage on an HO-6, often called Coverage A or building property, covers the unit from the walls in: flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, built-ins, and the improvements a previous owner or you added. The limit should reflect what it would cost to rebuild that interior after a fire or a pipe failure upstairs, which for a renovated Florida unit is often well into six figures. Where the master policy stops at bare walls, this limit carries more; where the master policy covers finishes as well, it can carry less, and your documents settle which case is yours.
Personal property covers what the unit holds: furniture, clothing, electronics, appliances that are yours, and the rest of your belongings. Replacement-cost settlement on contents keeps depreciation from shrinking a payment, and it is one of the endorsements a quote from us shows with and without. Personal liability covers injuries to visitors and damage you, a resident family member, or a pet cause to others, up to its limit; working with your agent, the aim is as much liability protection as you qualify for and can comfortably afford, with an umbrella policy above it for households that want more.
Two coverages are specific to condo living. Loss of use pays for somewhere to stay while the unit is uninhabitable after a covered loss, subject to the policy’s terms. Loss assessment coverage is designed to help with your share when the association assesses unit owners for a covered loss to common property, such as the clubhouse or a shared building, that exceeds the master policy’s limit or falls within its deductible. Master-policy deductibles in Florida have grown, and a large wind deductible on the building can become a five-figure assessment per unit, so the loss assessment limit deserves a deliberate number rather than the form’s minimum. One caution from the fine print: docks and piers often carry special exclusions under loss assessment coverage, so a waterfront association’s documents are worth a close read.
What drives a Florida condo insurance quote
The building comes first. Carriers price the age and construction of the structure, the floor the unit sits on, the roof and its age, and the building’s wind-mitigation features, all of which are facts about the association’s property rather than your unit. A concrete high-rise from the 1980s, a two-story wood-frame garden building from the 1990s, and a new mid-rise each read differently to an underwriter, and each carrier rates those building types on its own claims record. Your own numbers come next: the interior rebuild limit, the contents limit, the liability limit, the loss assessment limit, and the deductibles you choose, including the separate hurricane deductible every Florida property policy carries.
Water is the claim condo carriers see most, because a unit shares pipes, walls, and ceilings with its neighbors. A supply line that fails two floors up can damage three units, and how the master policy, its deductible, and each owner’s HO-6 respond depends on the documents and each policy’s terms. We encourage clients to carry as much water-damage coverage as they can qualify for, with the honest caveat that a building’s age, its plumbing, and prior water claims can limit or exclude water coverage with some carriers. Prior claims work the way they do on any Florida property policy: a past claim usually does not raise the rate by itself, but it can shrink the list of carriers willing to quote the unit for a time and cost you the claims-free discount, typically 2 to 10 percent.
Discounts round it out: a gated or secured building, a monitored alarm, water shut-off or leak-detection devices, a newer roof with documentation, and a bundle with your auto policy through the same carrier. Because each of the 20+ carriers we quote weighs all of this differently, the same unit gets a range of prices, and we quote that whole range.
Flood, wind, and the coverage around your unit
Neither the master policy nor a standard HO-6 covers flood, and Florida condos flood from the ground floor up, from the parking garage, and from storm surge along the coast. Flood coverage for a condo owner is bought three ways: an NFIP policy, a private flood policy, or a flood endorsement where the carrier offers one, and the split between the association’s building flood policy and your own contents and interior coverage follows the same documents as everything else. The question is how much coverage fits the unit, never whether, and our condo flood guide walks through where the association’s coverage stops. We price flood alongside the HO-6, and our Florida flood insurance page covers the routes in detail.
Hurricane wind on the building belongs to the master policy, and its deductible belongs to every owner through loss assessment. Your HO-6 carries its own hurricane deductible for the interior and contents, usually a percentage of the dwelling limit, and a higher percentage lowers the premium if you could pay it the week after a storm. If the association’s wind coverage sits with Citizens, note that Citizens ties flood insurance to wind coverage under a statewide requirement phased in through January 1, 2027, and our Citizens guide explains what that means for a unit owner.
A condo you rent out is written differently from one you live in, with landlord liability and rental-income considerations that a standard owner-occupied HO-6 does not address, and a seasonal unit that sits empty part of the year raises occupancy questions carriers ask about up front. Tell your agent how the unit is used; the right form follows from the answer. Pairing the condo policy with auto through the same carrier often earns multi-policy credits on both, and we show the bundle and the split side by side.
How a condo quote works here
Tell us about your unit once, and have the association’s insurance certificate handy. Our one-entry quote request runs your unit across the carriers we represent, and a licensed agent works with you as a team from the first question to the bound policy.
Step 1
Get a quote
A licensed Florida agent asks about the building, the unit’s interior and updates, how it is used, and what the master policy covers. Those answers decide which carriers compete for it and how the limits get set.
Step 2
Review your options
Because we’re independent, your unit is priced across 20+ Florida carriers writing condo policies, with the options side by side and the loss assessment, contents, and liability limits shown in plain English.
Step 3
Switch with ease
We handle the paperwork with you, send proof of coverage to your lender or association, help wrap up the old policy, and stay a call or text away as your needs change.
Frequently Asked Questions About Florida Condo Insurance
What does Florida condo insurance cover?
An HO-6 covers the unit from the walls in, including flooring, cabinets, fixtures, and built-ins, plus your personal property, your personal liability, loss of use if the unit becomes uninhabitable after a covered loss, and loss assessment for your share of certain association losses, each subject to the policy’s terms. Get a copy of your association’s master policy and check how much of the structure it covers, then share what you find with your agent so the HO-6 is sized around what the association does not insure.
Is condo insurance required in Florida?
Florida law no longer requires a unit owner to carry an HO-6, but a lender with a mortgage on the unit almost always does, and many associations require proof of coverage in their governing documents. Beyond the requirements, the interior of a Florida condo, your belongings, and your liability are yours to protect, and the master policy covers none of them.
What does the association’s master policy cover?
Under Florida’s condominium statute, the master policy insures the building and common elements, and it excludes the items inside your unit that you own: floor, wall, and ceiling coverings, built-in cabinets and countertops, appliances, water heaters, electrical fixtures, window treatments, and your personal property. Your HO-6 is written for exactly those items. When you get your copy, confirm the building coverage includes wind, confirm your building and unit appear on it, and note the deductible, because a large master deductible can reach unit owners through assessments.
What is loss assessment coverage?
When an association suffers a covered loss to common property, such as a shared building or the clubhouse, that exceeds the master policy’s limit or falls within its deductible, it can assess unit owners for the shortfall. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 is designed to help with your share, up to the limit you choose and subject to the policy’s terms. With Florida master-policy wind deductibles as large as they are, the limit deserves a deliberate number, and docks and piers often carry special exclusions worth reading in a waterfront association’s documents.
I own a townhouse. Do I need an HO-6 or a homeowners policy?
Your deed answers it. If the townhouse is held as a condominium, an HO-6 is the form. If you own it fee simple, meaning you own the structure and the land under it, an owner-occupied home belongs on an HO-3 or HO-5 with full dwelling coverage, unless the association carries an actual master insurance policy on the building, in which case you have a choice. Ask the association for its insurance certificate, not its budget, because maintenance reserves are not a master policy.
Does condo insurance cover flood damage?
Neither the master policy nor a standard HO-6 covers flood. A unit owner buys flood coverage three ways: an NFIP policy, a private flood policy, or a flood endorsement where the carrier offers one, and the split between the association’s building flood coverage and your own interior and contents coverage follows your documents. Every Florida unit, including upper floors whose contents sit in storage or whose garage floods, has a flood question worth answering, and it is how much rather than whether.
How much does condo insurance cost in Florida?
It is priced unit by unit. The building’s age, construction, roof, and wind-mitigation features come first, then your interior rebuild limit, contents limit, liability limit, loss assessment limit, and deductibles, then the building’s claims history and your own. Each of the 20+ carriers we quote weighs those facts differently, which is why the same unit gets a range of prices and why we show the whole range.
Do I need a different policy if I rent out my condo?
Yes. A unit you rent to tenants needs a policy written for a landlord, with liability for the rental exposure and coverage for lost rental income after a covered loss, rather than an owner-occupied HO-6. A seasonal unit you use part of the year raises occupancy questions carriers ask about up front. Tell your agent how the unit is used and the right form follows.
Which condo insurance carriers do you work with?
Because we’re independent, carriers compete for your unit. We quote 20+ Florida carriers that write condo policies, including:
- American Integrity
- Tower Hill
- Progressive
- Florida Peninsula
- Edison
- Universal
- Olympus
- + more Florida carriers
What other types of insurance do you offer?
Nearly every policy a household carries, across 25+ carriers in our personal lines:
Related Florida condo insurance guides
What walls-in really covers, and how the limits get sized around the master policy.
Read the HO-6 guide →Where the association’s building flood policy stops and the unit owner’s begins.
Read the condo flood guide →The HO-3 and HO-5 forms for fee-simple homes, and what drives the premium.
Homeowners insurance →How a rented unit or home is written, and what a landlord policy adds.
Read the landlord guide →The liability layer above your condo and auto limits, quoted across 5+ carriers.
Umbrella insurance →What it means when the association’s wind coverage sits with the state-backed insurer.
Read the Citizens guide →Carrier lineups and risk profiles for all 67 Florida counties.
Browse the county guides →How percentage deductibles work on a property policy, and how the calendar-year rule applies.
Run the numbers →
