HO-6 Policy • Miami Condo Unit Owners • Citizens & Private Carriers
The HO-6 policy is the standard condo unit owner’s insurance in Miami. Most unit owners don’t know exactly what it covers — and that confusion costs thousands when water damage hits.
HO-6 covers your unit interior. The HOA master policy covers the building. The gap between them is where disputes happen.
Your HO-6 policy covers improvements and betterments to your unit, personal property, loss of use if the unit is uninhabitable, and your personal liability if water damage you caused spreads to another unit. It does NOT cover the original building structure or common elements — that is the HOA’s master policy.
The HO-6 (condominium unit owners) policy is structured around what the HOA’s master policy does NOT cover. Under Florida Statute 718.111(11), the HOA must insure the condominium property as originally installed — which means anything you upgraded or installed is your responsibility under your HO-6.
This is where many Miami condo owners are underinsured. When the HOA suffers a major loss (a roof failure, common area flooding, an elevator shaft fire suppression activation), it may levy a special assessment against all unit owners to fund the repairs beyond the master policy limits. Your HO-6 loss assessment coverage pays this special assessment — but most standard HO-6 policies cap it at $1,000–$5,000. After Hurricane Ian and the SB 4D structural finding wave, many Miami buildings have levied assessments of $20,000–$100,000+ per unit. Review and increase your loss assessment sublimit.
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Your neighbor’s HO-6 liability coverage should cover your damage — if their negligence caused the pipe failure. If the pipe was a shared riser (common element under the HOA’s responsibility), the HOA’s master policy is the primary coverage. In practice, you should file with your own HO-6 carrier first and let them subrogate against the responsible party. Without thorough documentation of source and damage, these disputes can last months.
Only when the mold resulted from a covered water damage event. Most HO-6 policies have a mold sublimit of $10,000 — often insufficient for significant mold remediation in Miami. If you delay and the mold worsens, the carrier may argue the damage was from failure to mitigate.
The HOA master policy covers the building as originally built — structure, common elements, original finishes. Your HO-6 covers everything from “the bare walls in” — your upgrades, your contents, your liability. Water damage disputes almost always occur at this boundary: whether the affected material was original (master policy) or an improvement (HO-6). Thorough documentation of what is original vs. upgraded — ideally maintained before any damage occurs — is the best protection.