Does the HOA master policy cover my unit interior?

There is no single answer to whether the HOA master policy covers your unit interior, because condominium master policies are written to one of three different reaches, and which one applies to you is set by the recorded declaration that created the community. The insurance is supposed to follow that document, not the other way around.

The three reaches are bare-walls, single-entity, and all-in. Bare-walls insures the building structure and common elements but stops at the unfinished interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings, leaving everything inward of the drywall to you. Single-entity extends to the interior installations as originally built by the developer, but not to upgrades an owner made afterward. All-in, also called all-inclusive, covers those original installations plus fixtures and improvements. So the honest answer to a unit owner asking the question is: read your declaration first, because it is the control document, and only then read the master policy to confirm the two agree.

On a bare-walls basis, the master policy responds to the studs and the unfinished side of the perimeter surfaces and no further. After a covered fire or water loss, the drywall, the flooring, the cabinets, the countertops, the interior doors, the light fixtures, the built-ins, and every finish in the unit is your responsibility to repair or replace, not the association's.

This is the basis owners most often misread, because it feels intuitive that a policy the association pays for and calls the master policy would cover the home you live in. It does not. Where the declaration is bare-walls, the interior gap is large, and it is entirely on your HO-6 unit-owner policy to fill. If you assumed the association had you covered and carried only a token HO-6 dwelling limit, a kitchen fire can turn into a five-figure to six-figure uninsured repair that lands on you personally.

Single-entity coverage is the middle basis and the one many state frameworks lean toward. It insures the interior as it was originally installed by the developer, walls, standard flooring, the builder-grade cabinets and fixtures that came with the unit, so after a covered loss the master policy will rebuild the unit to roughly its as-built condition.

The trap in single-entity is upgrades. If you tore out the builder-grade kitchen and put in stone counters and custom cabinetry, or replaced carpet with hardwood, the master policy on a single-entity basis generally pays to restore the original installation, not your improved version. The difference between what the master pays and what your renovated interior actually cost to rebuild is a betterments-and-improvements gap that your HO-6 policy is meant to carry. Florida Statute 718.111(11) frames the association obligation as insuring the property as originally installed or replacement of like kind and quality, which lines up with this single-entity reach, but your specific recorded declaration still governs the detail.

All-in is the broadest of the three. The master policy covers the original installations plus fixtures and improvements, so on this basis a renovated interior is largely picked up by the association's coverage after a covered loss, including many owner upgrades that single-entity would leave out.

Even on all-in, the master policy does not cover everything about your unit. It does not cover your personal property, the furniture, clothing, electronics, and belongings inside the walls. It does not cover your loss of use or additional living expense if you have to move out during repairs. It does not cover your personal liability. And it still does not respond to the master-policy deductible, which the association can pass through to owners as a special assessment after a covered common-element loss. Those pieces remain on your HO-6 regardless of how far the master reaches inward.

Do not rely on a neighbor, the sales brochure, or the one-page declarations summary from the master policy. Pull the recorded declaration and read its insurance article, then read the valuation language on the current master policy, and confirm the two describe the same reach. They drift apart more often than boards realize, because 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.

If you want a plain-English confirmation, ask the association or its manager one direct question: is the master policy bare-walls, single-entity, or all-in, and does that match the recorded declaration. A board that cannot answer that quickly has a live problem worth flagging, because the gap between the policy and the declaration is invisible until there is a loss and the adjuster pays against whichever basis the policy actually carries.

Once you know the basis, your HO-6 unit-owner policy is what fills the remainder, and the right dwelling and betterments limit is a function of the basis. Under bare-walls, your HO-6 has to insure the full interior, so it carries the most work. Under single-entity, it needs to cover your upgrades over the original build. Under all-in, the interior structure need is smallest, but you still need personal property, loss of use, personal liability, and loss assessment coverage.

Loss assessment coverage is the piece owners most often leave at a low default. It pays your share of a special assessment the association levies after a covered common-element loss, including a passed-through master-policy deductible, and on a policy with a percentage wind or hurricane deductible that per-unit share can be large. Ask the association for the master deductible in dollars, then size your loss assessment limit above your per-unit share of it rather than leaving it at whatever came standard. Sizing the HO-6 to the specific gap the master basis leaves, rather than guessing, is the whole point of knowing which basis you have.