What is the difference between an HO-6 and an HO-4 policy?

An HO-6 is a condominium unit-owner policy. It covers the owner's interior structure — the walls-in improvements, fixtures and cabinetry — plus personal property, liability and loss assessment. An HO-4 is a renter's policy. It covers the tenant's personal property and liability but includes no structural coverage, because the renter does not own the unit. An HO-4 does not satisfy an association requirement placed on a unit owner.

Does a wind-only policy satisfy a condo association's insurance requirement?

Not by itself. A wind-only policy covers windstorm and hurricane peril alone, with no liability, no personal property and no non-wind structural coverage. It satisfies a requirement only when paired with an HO-6 that excludes wind. The pair together provides what a single all-perils HO-6 would provide; either one alone leaves a gap.

If an owner rents out their condo, do they still need an HO-6?

Yes, the owner still needs owner-side coverage — either an HO-6 endorsed for rental use or a dwelling fire policy such as a DP-3, depending on the carrier and how often the unit is rented. The tenant's HO-4 covers only the tenant's belongings and liability and does nothing for the owner's structural interest. Associations should track both separately.

Policy forms

HO-6 vs. HO-4 vs. Wind-Only

An HO-6 is the condominium unit-owner policy. An HO-4 is the renter's policy. A wind-only policy covers windstorm and hurricane peril and nothing else. Only the HO-6 satisfies an association requirement on its own — and in Florida it often has to be paired with a wind-only policy to actually cover the peril that matters.

Last reviewed: September 2026 · First published 2026-08-01 · General information, not insurance advice · Coverage varies by carrier, form edition and endorsement

The forms side by side

Typical scope by policy form. Specific coverage always depends on the policy as written.
	HO-6 Unit owner	HO-4 Renter	Wind-only	DP-3 Landlord
Who buys it	Condo unit owner	Tenant	Owner, alongside a wind-excluded policy	Owner renting the unit out
Interior structure (Coverage A)	Yes	No	Wind peril only	Yes
Personal property	Owner's	Tenant's	No	Owner-supplied only
Personal liability	Yes	Yes	No	Yes (premises)
Loss assessment	Yes	Rarely	No	Sometimes
Loss of use / rents	Yes	Yes	No	Loss of rents
Wind / hurricane	Usually — but often excluded in coastal Florida	Contents only	Yes, that is the point	Varies
Satisfies an owner requirement alone?	Yes	No	No	Often, for rented units

HO-6 — the condominium unit-owner form

The HO-6 exists because a condominium splits ownership. The association's master policy covers the building; the owner's HO-6 covers the part of the unit the owner is responsible for, which in most declarations is everything from the walls in.

An HO-6 typically provides:

Coverage A — interior structure: improvements, betterments, floor and wall coverings, built-in cabinetry, fixtures
Coverage C — personal property
Coverage D — loss of use / additional living expense
Coverage E — personal liability
Loss assessment — the owner's share of a post-loss special assessment

Loss assessment is the line most owners underestimate. When an association takes a large uninsured loss and levies a special assessment across every unit, this is the coverage that responds. Florida associations increasingly set a minimum for it in the declaration.

HO-4 — the renter's form

Short answer

An HO-4 covers the tenant's belongings and the tenant's liability. It contains no structural coverage, because a renter owns no structure. It never satisfies a requirement placed on a unit owner.

This is one of the most common bad submissions an association receives, and it is an understandable mistake: an owner who rents their unit out asks the tenant for proof of insurance, the tenant forwards their HO-4, and the owner passes it along. The document is real and current — it just answers a different question.

Associations that allow rentals generally need to track two policies per rented unit: the owner's HO-6 or DP-3, and the tenant's HO-4. They are separate obligations with separate expiration dates.

Wind-only — and the pairing that trips people up

Short answer

A wind-only policy covers windstorm and hurricane peril and nothing else — no liability, no contents, no fire, no water. It satisfies an association requirement only in combination with an HO-6 that excludes wind. Together the pair covers what a single all-perils HO-6 would. Either alone leaves a hole.

In much of coastal Florida, the admitted market will write an HO-6 only if wind is stripped out, with wind placed separately — historically through Citizens Property Insurance or a specialty carrier. The owner ends up holding two dec pages that are each incomplete and only meaningful together.

Mortgage lenders treat the pair the same way. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide lists windstorm among the perils a unit-owner policy must cover, and says that if the policy excludes or limits a required peril, the borrower must obtain an acceptable stand-alone policy for it (Selling Guide B7-3-04, version of August 5, 2026).

Where associations get this wrong — in both directions

False failure: a compliance review sees "wind excluded" on the HO-6, marks the unit non-compliant, and chases an owner who is in fact fully covered by a companion wind-only policy nobody asked for.

False pass — the dangerous one: a review sees a valid, current HO-6, marks the unit compliant, and never notices the wind exclusion buried in the endorsement list. The unit sits green in the records with no hurricane coverage at all, in Florida, and nobody finds out until a claim.

The practical rule: a wind exclusion on an HO-6 is not a failure and not a pass — it is a prompt. It means "look for the second policy." Treat the pair as one compliance state with two documents and two expiration dates, because the wind policy can lapse independently of the HO-6.

Which form does a given unit need?

Situation	Owner needs	Occupant needs
Owner lives in the unit	HO-6	—
Owner rents it out long-term	HO-6 endorsed for rental, or DP-3	Tenant: HO-4
Owner rents short-term	Usually a DP-3 or a specialty short-term-rental form; a standard HO-6 often excludes it	—
Unit is vacant / under renovation	Vacancy or builder's-risk endorsement — standard forms restrict coverage after a vacancy period	—
Coastal building, wind stripped from the HO-6	Wind-excluded HO-6 plus wind-only policy	—

For boards writing requirements

Requirements written as "owners must carry an HO-6" quietly fail in three of the rows above. Language that specifies the coverage outcome — structural interior, liability at a stated limit, loss assessment at a stated limit, and windstorm peril however placed — survives the edge cases better than language that names a single form number. Have counsel draft the actual text.

Not sure which policy — or pair — you need?

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