Everything inside — the floors you chose, the cabinets, the appliances, the countertops, your furniture, your clothes — sits on your side of the line. So does the water heater. The electrical fixtures. The window blinds. And in Florida right now, the line between what the association covers and what lands on you isn’t just a coverage question. It’s a financial one.
A & J Insurance Services has been writing condo policies for Florida owners since 2007. Independent, licensed statewide, one office in Lake Worth Beach. We shop multiple A-rated carriers, and we read the master policy first — because what you need depends on what it says.
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Florida law is specific about this. Under F.S. 718.111(11), the association’s master policy must cover the building “as originally installed” — and must exclude, and make the unit owner responsible for, a defined list: floor, wall, and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, water filters, built-in cabinets and countertops, and window treatments that serve only the unit. That exclusion list is your HO-6. But the exact line shifts depending on your association’s declaration and the type of master policy it carries:
The association covers only the bare structure — drywall, plumbing, wiring in the walls. You insure everything from the walls in. It reads “we cover the bones.”
The association covers the original build-out — floors, cabinets, and fixtures as installed. You insure your improvements and betterments above that. It reads “we cover what was here when the building opened.”
"I found out I only need to be paying for an HO-6 policy (condo) because our HOA has a master policy."
— A real example from r/homeowners. That owner had been paying for a full homeowners policy for six years. The opposite mistake — assuming the master covers everything and skipping an HO-6 entirely — costs people far more when a loss happens.These are not the same policy, and they don’t produce the same HO-6 requirement. Read your specific declaration — or call us and we’ll help you sort it.
F.S. 627.714 requires that every Florida HO-6 policy include at least $2,000 in property loss assessment coverage, with a deductible of no more than $250 per direct loss. That’s a statutory floor — not a recommendation. Here’s how it works: the association’s master policy has limits and deductibles. When a covered peril damages the common elements and the payout falls short, the association makes up the gap through a special assessment on all unit owners. Loss-assessment coverage pays your share, up to your policy limit.
"My HOA has increased the Master policy's deductible for water only damages to 50K."
— One owner on Reddit. That owner's share of a $50,000 deductible in a 100-unit building would be $500. In a 20-unit building, $2,500. The $2,000 statutory minimum doesn't cover either scenario in full. Higher limits are available as buy-ups — what you need depends on your building's master deductible.Loss assessment coverage responds to assessments triggered by a covered-peril loss to the common elements. It does not respond to assessments for:
That distinction matters right now, because most of the big assessments Florida condo owners are receiving in 2025 and 2026 fall into the second category.
After the 2021 Surfside collapse, Florida law changed significantly for older condominium buildings. Understanding what changed helps a condo owner understand why an assessment may have arrived — and what their HO-6 does and doesn’t cover when it does.
Buildings three or more habitable stories under condominium ownership must have a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year the building turns 30 — based on the certificate of occupancy date — and every 10 years after. A local enforcement agency may determine that local conditions (such as proximity to salt water) warrant an earlier trigger at year 25 — but that decision belongs to the local agency, not an automatic rule.
Associations for buildings three or more habitable stories must complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study at least every 10 years. The December 31, 2026 backstop is hard — DBPR’s own published guidance states that under no circumstances may the SIRS be completed after that date. Reserves for structural items (roofs, load-bearing walls, foundations, waterproofing) can no longer be waived for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024.
Gave associations some flexibility — SIRS deadlines can be extended up to two budget cycles after a milestone inspection, reserves can be funded through assessments, loans, or lines of credit, and the reserve threshold rose from $10,000 to $25,000.
"an outrageous special assessment fee for the 40 year, that no one can afford"
— one Florida owner on Reddit"I'm on the Space Coast and just got hit with a 13K special assessment bill"
— a Space Coast ownerThe honest read: these are maintenance-and-reserve assessments — they are not covered losses under a standard HO-6 loss-assessment rider. What an HO-6 does cover is the hurricane-and-fire scenario: a covered peril hits the common elements, the master policy is exhausted, and owners share the shortfall. Those are different events. Knowing which is which before a loss matters.
Florida condo unit-owner policies are personal lines residential policies under F.S. 627.4025, which means they carry a hurricane deductible under F.S. 627.701: $500, 2%, 5%, or 10% of the dwelling limit — applied once per hurricane season, not per storm.
F.S. 718.111(11)(j) makes the master policy's deductibles and uninsured shortfalls a common expense — meaning the association can special-assess unit owners for their share. A master policy on a high-rise coastal building might carry a 5% hurricane deductible; on a $50 million master policy, that's $2.5 million spread across the units. Loss-assessment coverage may respond to your share, subject to your limit and the policy language.
"Her insurance includes regular homeowners, and windstorm component, and it just went up to $5000 yearly from $3000."
— One owner on r/Insurance describing a Miami high-rise situation. That's the wind exposure in the Florida coastal market. It's not going away.Whether your loss-assessment coverage responds to your share of the master deductible, and how much it pays, is a policy-language question worth asking before hurricane season — not after.
Water is the most common condo claim. A burst supply line, a failed water heater, an AC condensate line — in a stacked building, whatever originates in your unit can find its way into the unit below. F.S. 718.111(11)(j) is direct: when a loss to another unit or the common elements is caused by a unit owner’s “intentional conduct, negligence, or failure to comply with the declaration or rules,” that owner is responsible for the costs not paid by insurance — “without compromise of the subrogation rights of the insurer.” That means the downstairs neighbor’s insurance company can come after you. HO-6 personal liability (Coverage E) is what responds to that subrogation claim.
| Gap | Where it falls |
|---|---|
| The building structure and common elements | The association's master policy — read the declaration for the exact split |
| SIRS reserve funding and milestone-driven structural repairs | Largely uninsured — loss assessment coverage is for covered-peril losses, not maintenance |
| The owner's share of the master hurricane deductible | Loss-assessment coverage, subject to policy language and your limit |
| Flood (rising water, storm surge) | Separate flood policy — we place flood through Wright Flood |
| Building code upgrades to the unit after a loss | Ordinance-or-law endorsement, if offered — the homeowners statute (F.S. 627.7011) applies only to homeowners policies and does not govern HO-6 |
| Sewer or drain backup | Usually a separate endorsement |
| Short-term rental / business use | A rented unit needs a landlord form, not an owner-occupied HO-6 |
| Wear, gradual deterioration, neglect, pests | Excluded — maintenance is the owner's and association's responsibility |
Flood deserves its own line: HO-6 does not cover flood. It never has — that’s the structure of the standard condo policy nationwide. For ground-floor units, lower-floor coastal high-rises, or any unit in or near a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, the exposure is real. We place flood coverage through Wright Flood, one of the largest NFIP administrators in the country. Florida Flood Insurance →
Citizens Property Insurance writes condo unit-owner policies as Florida’s state-created insurer of last resort (F.S. 627.351(6)) — available to owners who can’t find private coverage at a comparable rate. For 2026, Citizens’ personal-lines rates decreased an average −2.6% statewide — the first personal-lines decrease since 2015 — with three of five policyholders seeing an average reduction of about −11.5%, or roughly $359. Condo unit-owner policies are personal lines and fall within that average; a condo-specific figure was not broken out. The rates are set by the Office of Insurance Regulation. This is Citizens and OIR market context. It is not a guarantee of your rate, and it is not an A&J quote.
"It jumped from $1700 to $12000!!"
— One owner near Miami, describing a quote after a nonrenewal"I can't seem to find any companies that offer condominium insurance coverage for my Brickell Condo!!"
— Another owner, seeking coverage in BrickellThese are real conditions in the coastal high-rise market. Florida has one of the largest condo markets in the United States — commonly estimated at more than 27,000 associations and roughly 1.5 million units. Cost questions are valid. But publishing a premium range wouldn’t serve you — it varies too much by unit value, building age, location, construction type, deductibles, and loss-assessment limits to mean anything reliable. What we can do is run your specific situation through multiple carriers and show you what’s available.
A captive agent writes one carrier’s policies. An aggregator site runs your information through a quote engine and sells it. Neither reads your association’s declaration. An independent agent does. Before recommending a dwelling limit, a competent HO-6 review starts with the master policy — what type it is (bare walls vs. all-in), what its hurricane deductible is, and what the declaration identifies as the owner’s responsibility. That reading determines what your HO-6 Coverage A needs to be, whether the $2,000 statutory loss-assessment minimum is adequate for your building, and where the gaps are.
We’ve been doing this since 2007. We shop multiple A-rated carriers. We re-shop at renewal — because the Florida market moves, and the policy that was competitive last year sometimes isn’t this year.
Florida Homeowners Insurance → if you own the structure, HO-3 is the form · Florida Flood Insurance → the flood gap in every HO-6, placed through Wright Flood · Landlord Insurance → renting your unit out changes the form entirely
We’ve been writing property and casualty insurance for Florida families and businesses since 2007. Independent, family-owned, and licensed statewide. One office in Lake Worth Beach — serving condo owners throughout Florida. We shop multiple A-rated carriers, we re-shop at renewal, and we read the master policy before we recommend an HO-6 limit, because the declaration is where the real answer lives.
A & J Insurance Services, Inc.
807 Lucerne Ave. East Unit
Lake Worth Beach, FL 33460
(561) 586-4955 · aj@ajinsuranceservices.com
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm · Sat 10am–4pm
English and Spanish.
A & J Insurance Services, Inc. · FL License #L051810 · NPN 9894692
Roberto Ramos Jr. · Licensed 2-20 P&C Agent · FL License #P111106 · NPN 9567168
Serving clients throughout Florida
Coverage questions specific to your unit, your association’s declaration, or a specific assessment, claim, or loss — those answers depend on your particular policy and circumstances. The information on this page is educational; for guidance on your individual situation, speak with your agent and insurer directly. Page reviewed and updated July 2026.
