Condo Insurance

Schneiderman Insurance Agency has you covered!

Your condo association insures the building, but that master policy usually stops at your walls. An HO6 policy covers what is yours: interior finishes, belongings, and personal liability. We help California condo and townhome owners fill the gap between the HOA policy and their own responsibility.

What does condo insurance (HO6) cover?

Interior structure, including flooring, cabinets, fixtures, and built-ins; personal property such as furniture, electronics, and clothing; personal liability if a guest is injured in your unit; loss of use if a covered event forces you to live elsewhere; and loss assessment coverage for your share of certain HOA charges.

Who needs it?

Condo and townhome owners whose HOA carries only a master policy, buyers whose lender requires an HO6 policy at closing, owners who have upgraded interiors beyond the original build, and anyone wanting liability protection tied to their unit.

It is worth confirming whether your master policy is walls-in, which covers original interior fixtures, or bare-walls, which stops at the unfinished structure, because that determines how much your HO6 needs to cover. Loss assessment matters too, since an HOA may pass a shared cost on to unit owners.

We review your HOA master policy and CC&Rs, identify whether it is walls-in or bare-walls, and help you set HO6 limits that fit the gap. In a claim, we help coordinate between your policy and the HOA and advocate on your behalf.

What does California law fix about the split between you and the association?

Three things that decide where an HO-6 policy starts. Under Civil Code section 4775, unless the declaration provides otherwise, the association repairs and maintains the common area and the owner is responsible for the separate interest; the CC&Rs say where that line falls in your building, and the HO-6 covers from that line inward. Under section 5805, a tort claim arising only from your ownership share in the common area must be brought against the association rather than against you, but only if the association carries general liability of at least $2,000,000 for a development of 100 or fewer separate interests, or $3,000,000 above that. If the master policy is below that figure, the shield does not apply and your own liability limit matters more. And under Insurance Code section 10081, because section 10087 defines an individually owned condominium unit as residential property, your insurer must offer you earthquake coverage; the association's earthquake decision does not satisfy that offer for your unit, and the CEA writes a condo-specific policy for it.

The Civil Code and Insurance Code provisions cited here are as published by the California Legislative Counsel at the time of writing. The Legislature amends them from time to time, and that office publishes the current text.

Schneiderman Insurance Agency makes the process of finding Condo Insurance convenient for you. Tell us about your situation, we review your risks and options with you, we help you put the right coverage in place, and we stay with you at renewal.

The association's master policy decides where your responsibility begins, and that line changes what the rest of the household's policies need to do.

A condo policy picks up where the association's master policy stops, and the master policy's deductible is the number most owners have never seen. Earthquake is excluded and sits on earthquake insurance; a unit you rent out is landlord coverage instead. The wider program is on our personal insurance page.

What does the Davis-Stirling Act actually require your HOA to insure?

Less than most unit owners assume. The Act does not order an association to insure the building at all. Its insurance numbers are liability thresholds that unlock legal protection. Under Civil Code section 5800 the volunteer directors are shielded only if the association carries general liability and directors and officers coverage of at least $500,000, or $1 million for more than 100 units. Under section 5805 you, the owner, are shielded from personal liability for a common-area injury only if the association carries at least $2 million of general liability, or $3 million for more than 100 units. Property coverage on the structure comes from the CC&Rs and from lenders, who require a master policy at full replacement cost. So the first question is not "does the HOA have insurance" but "what do the governing documents make it insure, and to what value."

What must the HOA tell you about its insurance every year?

A summary, in writing, before each fiscal year ends. Civil Code section 5300 requires the annual budget report, sent 30 to 90 days before year end, to list the association's property, general liability, earthquake, flood and fidelity policies. Each entry shows the insurer, the type, the limits and the deductibles. It must also carry a bold statement that the association's policies may not cover your property and that even for a covered loss you may be responsible for all or part of the deductible. You can inspect the policies themselves on request. Section 5810 adds that the board must notify owners individually if a policy lapses, cancels, or changes significantly, including a higher deductible. If your file does not have the current summary, ask the manager for it before you renew your own policy, because your HO6 should be built around what it says.

Who pays the master policy deductible, and does loss assessment cover it?

You may, and the standard answer is smaller than people expect. The master deductible on a California condo building can run into six figures after a large water loss, and the CC&Rs or a board policy decide how it is allocated among owners. Statute does not. Loss assessment coverage on a standard unit-owner form starts around $1,000. Even when you buy a higher limit, many forms keep the portion that pays a master deductible at $1,000 unless a higher deductible amount is specifically purchased. Check both numbers on your own form. Two more limits matter. Standard loss assessment does not respond to an earthquake assessment unless the policy covers earthquake. Under Civil Code section 5610 a board can also levy an emergency assessment without a member vote. That happens when a repair addresses a threat to health or safety or a cost that could not have been foreseen. That is exactly when the assessment lands on you.

How do the CC&Rs and the condominium plan decide where the HOA's coverage stops and yours starts?

By defining what you own. Civil Code section 4185 sets the default. Unless the declaration or condominium plan says otherwise, the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors and outlets are part of your unit. The rest of the walls, floors and ceilings are common area. Section 4145 makes balconies, patios, exterior doors, screens and windows serving one unit exclusive-use common area, which the association repairs and you maintain under section 4775. "Bare walls," "walls-in" and "all-in" are industry labels for how far the master policy reaches. What the labels hide is whether the owner's upgrades, the remodeled kitchen and the hardwood, are the association's or yours. The controlling documents are the CC&Rs, the condominium plan and the master policy's definition of covered property. Read those three before choosing your dwelling limit; the label alone will mislead you.

Does the CEA condo policy cover the building, or just your unit?

Your unit and your share of the building's earthquake bill, within limits. California requires your insurer to offer earthquake coverage on a condo unit policy, at issuance and at least every other year after, under Insurance Code sections 10081 and 10083. The California Earthquake Authority's condo unit policy has four pieces. Building property inside the unit runs $25,000 to $100,000, and personal property starts at $5,000. Loss of use has no deductible, and loss assessment pays up to $100,000 of your share of an earthquake assessment the association levies. The gap it addresses is that the Davis-Stirling Act does not require the association to carry earthquake coverage, and the annual summary must tell you whether it does. In a building with no master earthquake policy, the repair cost for the structure is divided among the owners, and loss assessment coverage is what answers. A FAIR Plan condo policyholder cannot buy a CEA policy, because the Authority sells only alongside a participating insurer's policy.

What happens when water from a neighbor's unit damages yours?

Your own HO6 pays first for your interior and your contents, and everything after that depends on documents and fault. No California statute assigns a between-units water loss. The default repair duty under section 4775 puts your separate interest on you and the common area, including pipes inside shared walls, on the association. That is why the master policy and its deductible usually come into play for the building elements. Recovering from the neighbor requires showing negligence; a failed supply line with no warning is often nobody's fault in the legal sense. If the loss is large enough that you cannot live in the unit, loss of use on a unit-owner form is commonly limited to a percentage of the personal property limit. Set that limit with the rent on a Granada Hills apartment in mind. And if the loss follows a declared state of emergency, Insurance Code section 2060 sets additional living expense at no less than 24 months.

Can you keep an HO6 if you rent out your condo?

Only if the form allows a tenant, and most owner-occupied forms do not. An HO6 generally assumes the named insured lives in the unit. A tenant-occupied unit is usually written with a rental endorsement or on a dwelling form, and the tenant needs their own renters policy for their belongings. On the association side, Civil Code section 4741 stops an HOA from unreasonably restricting long-term rentals or capping them below 25 percent of units, but expressly lets it prohibit stays of 30 days or less. Nightly rentals also run into the Los Angeles Home-Sharing Ordinance, which allows hosting only in your primary residence. Our landlord insurance page covers the tenant-occupied case.

What do SB 326 balcony inspections mean for a unit owner?

An assessment risk that insurance does not cover. Civil Code section 5551 requires associations with three or more units to have exterior elevated elements inspected by a licensed engineer or architect at least every nine years. Those are balconies, decks and walkways more than six feet up and supported by wood. The first inspection was due by January 1, 2025, and that deadline was not extended; the 2024 extension applied only to non-HOA apartment buildings. Findings of an immediate threat go to local code enforcement within 15 days. The repairs are deferred maintenance, not a covered peril, so loss assessment coverage does not pay them; they are funded by special or emergency assessments under sections 5605 and 5610. Ask the board whether the inspection was done and what it found before you buy, and budget for the answer. If you are comparing a condo purchase against a house, or your renewal came with a new master deductible, bring the CC&Rs and the annual summary. We will read them with you and set the HO6 to match. Some units we can place directly and quickly. Others need underwriting review or a wholesale market, and those take longer. Either way you know which applies before you decide. Start a condo quote or call the Granada Hills office.

Civil Code and Insurance Code citations current as of September 2026. Loss assessment sublimits, CEA limits and form language vary by carrier and edition; your own policy and your CC&Rs control.