Georgia Condo Insurance: Your HOA's bad day becomes your bill.

An HO-6 policy covers your world from the inside: your improvements and whatever part of the interior the master policy leaves to you, your personal property, your personal liability, loss of use if the unit becomes uninhabitable, and loss assessment — the piece almost everyone under-buys.

It does not cover the roof, exterior, hallways, pool, or parking; those belong to the HOA's master policy. The Georgia Condominium Act (O.C.G.A. 44-3-107) sets the baseline, and your declaration and bylaws draw the detailed boundary between the two.

When a loss exceeds the master policy limits or triggers a large master deductible, the association can assess the cost to owners. Loss assessment coverage on your HO-6 pays your share. In Georgia, if the condo documents allow it, the association can pass up to $5,000 of its deductible to each affected owner per loss (O.C.G.A. 44-3-94).

The catch: many policies default to $1,000, which does not even cover that $5,000 share, let alone an assessment for a loss above the master policy limits. Raising the limit is usually inexpensive, and it is the best value on the policy.

Bare walls-in covers the structure but nothing inside your unit. Single entity covers the unit as originally built, but not your upgrades.

All-in covers interior fixtures and finishes too. Which one your building carries determines how much dwelling coverage you personally need. In Georgia, the Condominium Act requires the association to insure the buildings at full insurable replacement cost, less deductibles, including in-unit items like HVAC, drywall, floors, plumbing and built-in cabinets, and lets it exclude improvements owners made. Unfinished shell units and declarations can change that, so read yours.

It depends on your association's documents. Georgia law lets the association, if the condo instruments provide for it, allocate a reasonable deductible between itself and the affected unit owners, up to $5,000 per owner per casualty loss (O.C.G.A. 44-3-94). Anything above that stays with the association, which may still raise dues or levy other assessments.

Here is the fine print that matters: some HO-6 policies cap the portion of an assessment that arises from a master policy deductible, regardless of your overall loss assessment limit. Ask that question specifically before tornado season, which runs roughly March through May.

No HO-6 covers rising water. Flood is a separate policy: the association decides how to insure the building, and your belongings need their own contents flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private carrier. NFIP contents coverage goes up to $100,000, and a 30-day waiting period typically applies.

Sewer and drain backup is different from flood and is not covered by a standard HO-6 or by flood insurance. It needs a backup endorsement, which matters most in ground-floor and terrace-level units.

The most common dispute in condo living, and it is fact-specific: it turns on where the water came from, who owns the plumbing that failed, and negligence.

Roughly, water from HOA-owned lines is the association's responsibility for the structure, though your interior may still fall to your HO-6 depending on master policy type. Water from a pipe inside your unit is yours, and if it floods the units below, your liability coverage answers for their damage. If water comes from the unit above, start with your own HO-6 and let the insurers sort out responsibility. Georgia law requires the association and owners to exchange insurance certificates within five business days of a written request after a water claim.

Usually by your lender, if you have a mortgage.

And often by your declaration or bylaws, which can require unit owners to carry an HO-6 with minimum limits. Even without a requirement, going without means your interior, belongings, liability, and share of any assessment all sit uncovered.

It depends entirely on the master policy type. Under bare walls-in, you insure everything from the studs in — flooring, cabinets, fixtures, interior walls — which is a substantial number.

Under single entity or Georgia's statutory baseline, you insure your improvements at what they would cost to redo today. Under all-in, you need relatively little dwelling coverage. Start with the master policy declarations page, then build the HO-6 to fit the gap.

It depends on the dwelling limit the master policy leaves you, your loss assessment and backup choices, your location, and the building. A quote on your actual unit beats any average.

Bundling with auto can trim the total. We start with our primary carrier, and through brokerage relationships we can also access 30+ other carriers when it isn't the right fit.

Ownership. A renters policy (HO-4) covers belongings and liability but no part of the structure, because you own none of it.

A condo policy (HO-6) adds dwelling coverage for the interior you do own, plus loss assessment for your share of the association's shortfalls. If you rent out a condo you own, you need a landlord policy instead, and your tenant needs renters insurance.

Three documents before you fall in love: the master policy declarations page (which type, and every deductible, especially wind/hail), the declaration and bylaws (where the association's responsibility ends and yours begins, and any insurance requirements on owners), and the reserve study (an underfunded association is a future assessment with your name on it, and no policy covers maintenance).

Then bind real loss assessment coverage at closing, at least the $5,000 Georgia law lets the association pass to each owner per loss. We read the insurance pieces with buyers routinely, free.

Bring us the notice.

When a master policy shrinks — a higher or separate wind/hail deductible, lower limits, a switch from all-in to bare walls — that risk does not evaporate; it relocates to the owners as bigger assessments and bigger personal coverage needs. Ten minutes with the new declarations page tells you exactly what changed for you, and what your HO-6 needs to absorb it.