What is the difference between bare-walls, single-entity, and all-in condo insurance?

Every condominium master policy sits in one of three coverage baskets, and the difference is entirely about where the master policy stops and the unit owner picks up.

Bare-walls coverage insures the building structure and common elements but stops at the unfinished interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings. Everything inward of the drywall, the cabinets, flooring, fixtures, and interior finishes, is the unit owner responsibility. Single-entity coverage extends to the interior installations as originally built by the developer, but not to owner upgrades made afterward. All-in, also called all-inclusive, covers the original installations plus fixtures and improvements.

The most important point is that the recorded declaration, the governing document that created the condominium, is supposed to control which basis applies. The insurance policy is meant to follow the declaration, not the other way around.

In practice the two drift apart. A declaration amended after a renovation or a developer turnover can change the required basis while the master policy renews on autopilot against the old one. Florida Statute 718.111(11) frames the obligation as insuring the property as originally installed or replacement of like kind and quality, which lines up with single-entity coverage, but the specific declaration still governs the detail.

The gap between these bases is invisible until there is a loss. After a covered fire or water event, the adjuster pays according to the policy basis. If the policy is bare-walls but owners assumed the association covered their interiors, those owners face a large uninsured repair, and the association faces angry members and sometimes litigation.

The reverse also happens: a policy written broader than the declaration requires means the association is paying premium to insure interiors that the declaration makes the owner responsibility, and unit owner HO-6 policies may be duplicating that coverage.

Pull the recorded declaration and read the insurance article, then read the valuation language on the current master policy, and confirm they match. Do not rely on the prior year renewal file or the declarations page summary alone.

Tell unit owners which basis applies so they can size their HO-6 coverage, including loss assessment coverage, to fill the exact gap the master policy leaves. Where the declaration is bare-walls, the owner HO-6 has to do the most work; where it is all-in, the owner still needs personal property and loss assessment coverage but less interior structure coverage.