GUIDES: RENTERS, CONDO AND LANDLORD
Renters, condo owners and landlords: who insures which part
When more than one person has an interest in a building, the insurance splits along the same lines. A tenant insures belongings and liability; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' figures, published by the Insurance Information Institute, put the average renters premium at $171 in 2022. NAIC's report on 2023 data, read directly, puts the countrywide renters (HO-4) average at $173. A condo owner insures from the walls in. A landlord insures the structure and the rental income. Each policy assumes the others exist.
The guides here map those hand-offs. The renters guide explains the HO-4 form and why the landlord's policy never pays for a tenant's things. The condo guide shows how to read the association's master policy to find where your HO-6 has to start. The landlord guide covers the owner who moves out and leases the house, when the homeowners policy stops fitting. Read the one that matches your role, then the one that matches the person on the other side of the lease or the association, because most gaps appear exactly at the boundary between two policies.
Each guide cites the regulator or industry source behind its figures, with the date it was checked.
A quick way to find your own gap is to list the people with an interest in the building and the policy each one holds. A rented condo unit, for example, can involve the association's master policy, the owner's HO-6, and the tenant's HO-4, all at once. If a fire starts in that unit, each policy answers for a different part of the loss: the common structure, the owner's walls-in improvements, and the tenant's belongings and liability. A missing policy in that chain becomes someone's uninsured bill, so ask the other parties for proof of their coverage when a lease or purchase begins.
General information, not insurance advice and not a quote. Lease terms, association documents and your policy decide who pays.
Renters insurance (HO-4)
Belongings, liability and living costs, never the building. The coverage line by line, and a worked inventory comparing replacement cost with actual cash value.
HO-6 vs HO-3
Why a condo policy starts at the walls, and how to find where the association master policy stops.
Landlord insurance vs homeowners
What changes when you lease your home to a tenant: liability, property on site, and lost rental income.
Condo loss assessment coverage
Your share of the association's deductible or uninsured loss: a sizing worksheet and Florida's statutory rules.
HOA master policy explained
What the association must insure, Fannie Mae deductible caps, liability and fidelity rules, and what you still have to insure yourself.
Renters insurance cost by state
NAIC HO-4 averages for every state and by coverage amount, and what most renters actually insure.
Condo insurance cost (HO-6)
NAIC HO-6 averages for every state and coverage band, Florida's statutory split between the association and the owner, and a quote checked against the data.
Short-term rental hosting
When paying guests switch on the business exclusion: the HO-3 tests, Virginia's seven-day and $2,500 line, and endorsement vs landlord policy.
Liability questions that cross every role, such as a dog bite or a guest injury, are covered in the liability guides. The full list is on the guides page.