Start with what the association must insure
The association's coverage question starts with a boundary, not a limit. For condominium projects subject to Fannie Mae's cited Selling Guide requirements, the project's legal documents determine whether the association master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures. Where a master policy is required for a Fannie Mae-backed condo loan, the lender or servicer must verify coverage for both common elements and residential structures.[1]
A unit owner may still need an individual policy for interiors, improvements, and other unit-owner interests that the master policy does not cover. The declaration and bylaws assign responsibilities, but the master policy, endorsements, and applicable unit-owner policy wording control the actual division of coverage.[1][3]
Nationwide's consumer guide describes a condo association or master policy as generally addressing shared areas, amenities, the building exterior, and association premises liability. It distinguishes bare-walls, single-entity, and all-in master-policy approaches, so identify the approach used by the association's own policy before assuming where interiors sit.[3]
Philadelphia Insurance Companies describes its condominium-association offering as a property and liability policy, with listed special causes of loss for buildings, contents, income, and extra expense. That is one carrier's product summary, not a description of another carrier's form.[4]
| Interest | What the source says | Buyer check |
|---|---|---|
| Residential structures | For condo projects subject to Fannie Mae's cited requirements, the project's legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover them. | Match the declaration and bylaws to the master policy and endorsements. |
| Shared areas, amenities, building exterior, and association premises liability | Nationwide says these are generally addressed by a condo association or master policy. | Confirm the policy's definitions, limits, and exclusions. |
| Interiors, improvements, and other unit-owner interests | Fannie Mae says a unit owner may still need an individual policy for interests the master policy does not cover. | Identify what remains for an applicable unit-owner policy. |
| Common elements and residential structures on a Fannie Mae-backed condo loan | When a master policy is required, the lender or servicer must verify coverage for both. | Confirm whether the cited Fannie Mae requirements apply to project loans. |
Fannie Mae Selling Guide master property insurance requirements for project developments and Nationwide's condo association insurance guide.[1][3]
Match the master policy to the declaration and bylaws
Review the declaration, bylaws, master policy declarations page, endorsements, and applicable unit-owner policies together. Fannie Mae says a condominium project's legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures; Nationwide notes that policy wording and governing documents can allocate interiors, fixtures, improvements, and deductibles differently.[1][3]
- Residential structures: identify whether the legal documents place them with the master policy or individual unit policies.[1]
- Shared areas, amenities, and building exterior: Nationwide says a master policy generally addresses these interests, along with association premises liability.[3]
- Interiors, improvements, and other unit-owner interests: identify what a master policy does not cover and may remain for an individual policy.[1]
- Personal belongings and unit-level liability: Nationwide says the unit-owner policy remains relevant for these interests.[3]
- Bare-walls, single-entity, or all-in approach: Nationwide distinguishes these approaches; confirm the approach in the association's actual policy wording.[3]
- Outdoor and grounds items: Philadelphia Insurance Companies includes pools, walkways, and fences in the building definition for its condominium-association product. Read the building definition in the association's own form instead of assuming the same result.[4]
Coverage questions in this guide
A shared record keeps related coverage questions in one place.
- Master property on common elements and residential structures
Nationwide says a condo association or master policy generally addresses shared areas, amenities, the building exterior, and association premises liability. For condo projects subject to Fannie Mae's cited requirements, Fannie Mae says legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures.[3][1]
Review: Which structures, interiors, and fixtures the declaration and bylaws assign, and how the master policy and endorsements respond.
- Business income and extra expense
Philadelphia Insurance Companies lists special causes of loss for buildings, contents, income, and extra expense as features of its condominium-association product. That describes one carrier product rather than an automatic inclusion.[4]
Review: The quoted income and extra-expense definitions, limits, waiting periods, and exclusions.
- General liability
Distinguished's community-association package combines property and general liability in one program, and Philadelphia describes its condominium-association offering as a property and liability policy. Limits, eligibility, and issued terms come from the quoting carrier.[5][4]
Review: The occurrence and aggregate limits quoted, and whether liability is packaged with property or written separately.
- Crime and fidelity
Distinguished identifies Crime as a separate submission path from its community-association package. Philadelphia lists optional real-estate-manager coverage within crime coverage for its condominium-association product.[5][4]
Review: Whether the proposal includes crime coverage and how it addresses the management company and people handling association funds.
- Directors and officers liability
Distinguished identifies D&O as a separate submission path alongside its community-association package. That describes the cited program's submission structure, not an industry-wide policy arrangement.[5]
Review: Whether D&O is included, submitted separately, or not quoted, and the terms shown in the proposal.
- Umbrella
Distinguished lists Umbrella as a separate submission path from its community-association package rather than as an automatic part of it.[5]
Review: Which underlying policies the umbrella quote sits above and the underlying limits shown in the proposal.
- Flood
FEMA provides a separate NFIP Summary of Coverage for Residential Condominium Building Association Policies. An eligible NFIP RCBAP is one separate flood contract, and its declarations and issued terms control. Distinguished also identifies a separate Flood submission path rather than stating that its package includes flood.[8][5]
Review: Whether the association has a separate flood policy and what its declarations page shows for limits and deductibles.
Compare replacement cost, settlement terms, and deductibles together
For condo projects subject to its requirements, Fannie Mae says the master property limit must equal at least 100% of estimated replacement cost for project improvements, including common elements and residential structures. It also says the policy generally must settle covered building losses on a replacement-cost basis, meet stated maximum per-occurrence or per-unit deductibles, and address listed required perils plus ordinance-or-law and equipment-breakdown requirements when applicable.[2]
Those terms apply within the cited Fannie Mae loan context and do not establish the terms of a specific association policy. Compare every proposal against the same valuation support and record its settlement wording, deductibles, and endorsements before comparing premium.[2]
Related: Replacement cost on commercial property, Commercial property insurance basics
| Comparison field | What to record for each proposal | Evidence context |
|---|---|---|
| Property limit and valuation support | Property limit, statement of values, valuation date, and the support used for replacement cost. | Fannie Mae requires at least 100% of estimated replacement cost for specified project improvements only for condo projects subject to its cited requirements. |
| Replacement-cost and roof-settlement wording | Whether covered building losses settle on a replacement-cost basis and the quoted roof-settlement wording. | Fannie Mae generally requires replacement-cost settlement in its cited loan context; the evidence does not establish a standard roof-settlement term. |
| Deductibles | Each applicable per-occurrence, per-unit, wind, hail, water, and other catastrophe deductible. | Fannie Mae sets stated maximum per-occurrence or per-unit deductibles only within its cited requirements. |
| Ordinance or law and equipment breakdown | Whether each is included, endorsed separately, or omitted, with the applicable limit or terms. | Fannie Mae requires these to be addressed when applicable within its cited requirements. |
| Program features | Whether a proposal includes special-form property coverage, extended replacement cost, ordinance-or-law coverage, water-backup coverage, or deductible options. | Distinguished lists these as features of its community-association program, subject to program and state eligibility. |
Fannie Mae Selling Guide master property insurance requirements and the Distinguished Programs community-association package page.[2][5]
- Ordinance or law coverage
Fannie Mae requires the master policy to address ordinance-or-law requirements when applicable for condo projects subject to its cited Selling Guide section. Distinguished lists ordinance-or-law coverage among its community-association package features. Neither record establishes that a particular association policy includes it.[2][5]
Review: Whether the quoted policy includes ordinance-or-law coverage and the stated limit or terms.
- Equipment breakdown
Fannie Mae's cited condo-project requirements say the master property policy must address equipment-breakdown requirements when applicable. That is a loan requirement in that context, not proof of specific policy terms.[2]
Review: Whether equipment breakdown is included, endorsed, or absent from the quoted policy.
Review catastrophe gaps outside the basic property comparison
Flood is addressed in a separate NFIP contract in FEMA's resource library. FEMA provides an NFIP Summary of Coverage for Residential Condominium Building Association Policies and says the brochure explains the declarations page, items covered and not covered, and the claims process for that flood policy.[8]
The saved FEMA resource identifies the summary and its subjects without reproducing every coverage term. The issued flood policy, declarations, limits, deductibles, exclusions, eligibility rules, and current NFIP materials control an association's flood coverage.[8]
- Wind and hail: compare the covered-peril wording and any separate wind or hail deductible for each proposal. The cited Fannie Mae section requires listed perils only for condo projects subject to its requirements; the saved evidence does not establish wind or hail terms for a particular policy.[2]
- Water and water backup: record the quoted water terms, exclusions, sublimits, and deductible. Distinguished lists water-backup coverage as a feature of its program, not as a term of every association policy.[5]
- Earthquake: confirm whether it is included, excluded, endorsed, or quoted separately, along with the applicable deductible. The cited Fannie Mae section does not itself establish earthquake coverage under the master property policy.[2]
- Flood: confirm whether there is a separate flood policy and review its declarations page. Distinguished identifies a separate Flood submission path and routes flood through a partner platform rather than stating that its package includes flood.[5][8]
- Catastrophe deductibles: place every applicable deductible on the same proposal schedule rather than relying only on the all-other-perils deductible. Fannie Mae's cited requirements set stated maximum per-occurrence or per-unit deductibles only in their loan context.[2]
Place liability, crime, board, and employee risks beside the property policy
Distinguished describes a community-association package that combines property and general liability, while its page identifies separate Crime, D&O, Umbrella, and Flood submission paths. Confirm which lines a particular proposal includes, which lines are quoted separately, and which lines are not quoted.[5]
Philadelphia Insurance Companies describes its condominium-association offering as a property and liability policy. Its listed features include optional real-estate-manager coverage within crime coverage and landscape coverage that includes vandalism; those features describe that carrier's product rather than issued terms for another association.[4]
- General liability: record whether it is packaged with property or written separately, then compare the quoted limits and exclusions.[5][4]
- Crime or fidelity: confirm whether it is included, submitted separately, or not quoted. Distinguished identifies Crime as a separate submission path, while Philadelphia lists optional real-estate-manager coverage within crime coverage for its product.[5][4]
- Directors and officers liability: confirm whether it is included, submitted separately, or not quoted. Distinguished identifies D&O as a separate submission path in its program structure.[5]
- Cyber: mark whether cyber is included, available separately, or not quoted; do not assume it is part of the property package.
- Workers compensation: confirm whether it is requested or quoted separately. AmTrust's supplemental application asks about workers compensation.[7]
- Umbrella: confirm whether it is included, submitted separately, or not quoted, and identify the underlying policies and limits shown in the proposal. Distinguished identifies Umbrella as a separate submission path in its program structure.[5]
AmTrust's saved supplemental application shows facts that its form asks an association to provide, including association type and management, unit mix and occupancy, commercial space, amenities, special events, maintenance contractors, certificates and additional-insured practices, association roads, workers compensation, and loss-related exposures.[7]
Build one association file before comparing quotes
Build one association file so every market receives the same property description, valuation support, requested coverage lines, limits, deductibles, and loss information. Carrier and program document requests vary, but a common file makes differences between proposals easier to identify.[6][7]
- Statement of values, association financials or a reserve study, and a plat map: Distinguished lists these as required documents for its manual community-association submissions and says additional information may be required.[6]
- Declaration and bylaws, plus the current master policy declarations and endorsements: Fannie Mae says a condominium project's legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures.[1]
- Replacement-cost support behind the building limit: Fannie Mae requires at least 100% of estimated replacement cost for project improvements, including common elements and residential structures, for condo projects subject to its cited Selling Guide requirements.[2]
- Building count and construction, building-system updates, development work, fire protection, security, and amenities: AmTrust's supplemental application asks about these facts.[7]
- Unit mix, occupancy, individual HO-6 requirements, commercial space, special events, association roads, maintenance contractors, certificates and additional-insured practices: AmTrust's supplemental application asks about these facts.[7]
- Prior-loss information and other loss-related exposures: include the same history for every market. AmTrust's supplemental application asks about loss-related exposures.[7]
- Requested lines, limits, and deductibles: provide the same property, general liability, crime or fidelity, D&O, cyber, workers compensation, umbrella, flood, wind, hail, earthquake, water, and catastrophe-deductible questions to every market.
Each document list belongs to the carrier or program that published it. Another market may ask for fewer, different, or additional records.[6][7]
Property Covered is a property insurance marketplace operated by Switchboard Risk Technologies Inc., a licensed insurance producer. It has access to more than 400 carriers and market options, though that does not mean 400 carriers will quote one association. Carriers make the final eligibility, pricing, binding, policy, and claims decisions. To discuss or initiate a free, no-obligation quote request, call licensed support at (888) 693-8980.
Boards that also own rental apartment buildings, non-condominium commercial property, or a group of locations can review related insurance topics below.
Related: Start a quote request, Apartment building insurance, Property portfolio insurance
Sources
- 1.Fannie Mae, Master Property Insurance Requirements for Project Developments, Selling Guide, overview and master policy determination sections (August 5, 2026)
- 2.Fannie Mae, Master Property Insurance Requirements for Project Developments, Selling Guide, required perils, coverage sufficiency, maximum deductible, and special coverage sections (August 5, 2026)
- 3.Nationwide, What Does Condo Association Insurance Cover?
- 4.Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Condominium Associations product page
- 5.Distinguished Programs, Community Association Package Insurance program page
- 6.Distinguished Programs, Community Association Package Insurance, manual submissions and required documents
- 7.AmTrust Financial, Homeowners, Townhome & Condominium Association Supplemental Application, form MKT0140 6/17
- 8.FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP Summary of Coverage for Residential Condominium Buildings resource listing (May 31, 2024)
Common questions
The answer depends on the association's governing documents and the quoted policy wording. Nationwide says a condo association or master policy generally addresses shared areas, amenities, the building exterior, and association premises liability. Distinguished describes one community-association package that combines property and general liability while using separate Crime, D&O, Umbrella, and Flood submission paths. For condo projects subject to Fannie Mae's cited requirements, legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures, and where a master policy is required for a Fannie Mae-backed condo loan, the lender or servicer must verify coverage for common elements and residential structures. Reconcile the declaration and bylaws with the master policy, endorsements, and applicable unit-owner policies before deciding what is included or remains to be arranged separately. [3][5][1]
It depends on the documents and policy wording. For condo projects subject to Fannie Mae's cited requirements, legal documents determine whether the master policy or individual unit policies cover residential structures, and a unit owner may still need an individual policy for interiors, improvements, and other unit-owner interests not covered by the master policy. Nationwide distinguishes bare-walls, single-entity, and all-in approaches and says unit-owner coverage remains relevant for personal belongings, unit-level liability, and property the master policy does not cover. [1][3]
The sources reviewed here treat flood as a separate coverage question. FEMA provides a separate NFIP Summary of Coverage for Residential Condominium Building Association Policies, which addresses that policy's declarations page, items covered and not covered, and claims process. Distinguished identifies a separate Flood submission path rather than stating that its community-association package includes flood. The cited Fannie Mae section does not itself establish flood coverage under the master property policy, so review the association's own flood-policy declarations and issued terms. [8][5][2]
For condo projects subject to its requirements, Fannie Mae says the master property limit must equal at least 100% of estimated replacement cost for project improvements, including common elements and residential structures. The policy generally must settle covered building losses on a replacement-cost basis, meet stated maximum per-occurrence or per-unit deductibles, and address listed required perils plus ordinance-or-law and equipment-breakdown requirements when applicable. These terms apply only within the cited Fannie Mae loan context and do not establish the terms of a particular association policy. [2]
It varies by market. Distinguished lists a statement of values, association financials or a reserve study, and a plat map as required for its manual community-association submissions, and says additional information may be required. AmTrust's supplemental application asks about association type and management, unit mix and occupancy, individual HO-6 requirements, commercial space, building count and construction, building-system updates, development work, fire protection, security, amenities, special events, maintenance contractors, certificates and additional-insured practices, association roads, workers compensation, and loss-related exposures. Provide the same requested coverage lines, limits, deductibles, and loss information to every market for a cleaner comparison. [6][7]
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