Texas Condo Insurance: Your HOA's bad day becomes your bill.

An HO-6 policy covers your world from the drywall in: your unit's interior and improvements, your personal property, your personal liability, loss of use if the unit becomes uninhabitable, and loss assessment — the piece almost everyone under-buys.

It does not cover the roof, exterior, hallways, pool, or parking; those belong to the HOA's master policy, and the boundary between the two is drawn by your declaration and bylaws, not by either insurance policy.

When a loss exceeds the master policy limits or triggers a large master deductible, the board can levy a special assessment and divide the bill among all owners. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 pays your share.

The catch: many policies default to $1,000, while many Texas master policies carry percentage wind and hail deductibles that can reach six figures on the building. Raising the limit to $50,000 or more typically costs very little, and it is the best value on the policy.

Bare walls-in covers the structure but nothing inside your unit. Single entity covers the unit as originally built, but not your upgrades.

All-in covers interior fixtures and finishes too. Which one your building carries determines how much dwelling coverage you personally need. In Texas, condos created after January 1, 1994 fall under the Uniform Condominium Act, which by default requires the association to insure the units excluding your improvements — close to single entity — but declarations can and do vary, so read yours.

In Texas, master policies typically carry a wind and hail deductible calculated as a percentage of the building's value, often 2 to 5 percent. After a major storm, that deductible is real money — 3 percent of a $15 million building is $450,000 — and associations commonly assess it to owners.

Here is the fine print that matters: many HO-6 policies cap the portion of an assessment that arises from a master policy deductible, often near $1,000, regardless of your overall loss assessment limit. Ask that question specifically before storm season.

No HO-6 covers rising water. The association insures the building against flood through an RCBAP — a Residential Condominium Building Association Policy — with limits up to $250,000 per unit times the number of units, and if the building is underinsured, the shortfall can come back to owners as an assessment.

Your belongings need a separate contents flood policy, which is inexpensive for a condo owner. On lakefront and creek-adjacent buildings, we check both layers.

The most common dispute in condo living, and it is fact-specific: it turns on where the water came from, who owns the plumbing that failed, and negligence.

Roughly, water from HOA-owned lines is the association's responsibility for the structure, though your interior may still fall to your HO-6 depending on master policy type. Water from a pipe inside your unit is yours, and if it floods the units below, your liability coverage answers for their damage.

Not by state law. By your lender, almost certainly, if you have a mortgage.

And often by your declaration or bylaws, which can require unit owners to carry an HO-6 with minimum limits. Even without a requirement, going without means your interior, belongings, liability, and share of any assessment all sit uncovered.

It depends entirely on the master policy type. Under bare walls-in, you insure everything from the studs in — flooring, cabinets, fixtures, interior walls — which is a substantial number.

Under single entity or the Texas statutory default, you insure your improvements and betterments at what they would cost to redo today. Under all-in, you need relatively little dwelling coverage. Start with the master policy declarations page, then build the HO-6 to fit the gap.

Typically a few hundred to around a thousand dollars a year depending on the dwelling limit the master policy leaves you, your location, and the building's wind and hail exposure.

High-exposure buildings price higher. Bundling with auto trims both policies, and as your local agent, we price the same unit across every available option rather than quoting one.

Ownership. A renters policy (HO-4) covers belongings and liability but no part of the structure, because you own none of it.

A condo policy (HO-6) adds dwelling coverage for the interior you do own, plus loss assessment for your share of the association's shortfalls. If you rent out a condo you own, you need a landlord policy instead, and your tenant needs renters insurance.

Three documents before you fall in love: the master policy declarations page (which type, and every deductible, especially wind), the declaration and bylaws (where the association's responsibility ends and yours begins, and any insurance requirements on owners), and the reserve study (an underfunded association is a future assessment with your name on it, and no policy covers maintenance).

We read the insurance pieces with buyers routinely, free.

Bring us the notice.

When a master policy shrinks — higher wind deductible, lower limits, a switch from all-in to bare walls — that risk does not evaporate; it relocates to the owners as bigger assessments and bigger personal coverage needs. Ten minutes with the new declarations page tells you exactly what changed for you, and what your HO-6 needs to absorb it.