Purchasing a homeowner policy often called an HO6, for a unit-owner is not difficult if you understand your association master policy. When the condominium buys a master policy it may cover unit improvement or it may not; it may have a high building deductible or it may not.  The master policy will never cover your personal belongings or negligence claims against unit-owners. These master policy gaps are why unit-owners must buy homeowner insurance. The HO6 policy for condominium unit-owners should be designed to wrap around the master policy.

 

Your first step in purchasing unit-owner insurance is to determine if the master policy covers unit improvements and betterments, so you know how much dwelling coverage you should buy. In other words, if you improved your unit is it your responsibility to insure the improvements or is it the responsibility of the trustees under the master policy? To simplify this, we have coded every condominium certificate to clearly state how each master policy is structured. See our sample condominium certificate and our definitions; "All-in", "All-in the per Condo Documents", "

 

You should also determine the  dollar amount of the master policy deductible. This is also listed on the condominium certificate. It's not unusual to find master policies with $10,000 deductibles, percentage wind deductibles and additional water deductibles. If set up correctly, the homeowner policy can reduce the master policy deductible. Some insurance companies try to pro-rate the master policy deductible. .Our office only recommends insurance companies that honor deductible claims.