By Core 4 Insurance Team · Licensed Florida Insurance Agency · Miramar, FL
Five companies write about 78% of Florida’s auto market — and for 2026 they filed an average rate change of about −8%, with one cutting as deep as 16.5%. Here is who actually writes coverage here, where each tends to be competitive, and exactly how we built this comparison.
Search "bare walls vs all-in" and you will find a tidy three-tier explanation of condominium master policies. It is a genuinely useful framework in most of the country.
In Florida it is largely superseded. The Condominium Act tells associations what they must insure, and that statutory line applies whether or not your declaration uses any of those industry terms.
If you own a unit in Pembroke Pines, Hollywood or anywhere else in Broward, this is the section of Florida law that decides who pays after a loss.
What do bare walls, single entity and all-in actually mean?
The short answer: They describe how far the association's policy reaches into your unit. Bare walls stops at the structure, all-in includes original fixtures and finishes, and single entity sits between them. In Florida, statute largely settles the question regardless.
The traditional taxonomy is worth knowing, because agents and association managers still use the vocabulary.
| Type | Association covers | Unit owner covers |
|---|---|---|
| Bare walls | Structure, common elements, unfinished interior surfaces | Everything from the drywall surface inward |
| Single entity | Structure plus original fixtures as built | Upgrades, improvements and personal property |
| All-in | Structure plus original fixtures and finishes | Personal property and improvements |
| Florida condominiums | Property as originally installed, expressly including drywall | A specific statutory list — see below |
The first three rows describe general industry practice. The fourth reflects Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11)(f), which governs Florida condominium associations and applies notwithstanding contrary declaration language.
What does Florida law actually assign to each side?
The short answer: The association insures everything as originally installed. The unit owner insures a specific enumerated list — and if an item is not on that list, it generally belongs to the association's policy.
Section 718.111(11)(f) requires every property insurance policy issued or renewed for the purpose of protecting the condominium to provide primary coverage for all portions of the condominium property as originally installed, or replacement of like kind and quality per the original plans and specifications.
It then carves out what belongs to the unit owner.
| Item | Whose insurance |
|---|---|
| Drywall (the board itself) | Association |
| Structure, roof, exterior walls, common elements | Association |
| Paint, texture, wallpaper — wall and ceiling coverings | Unit owner |
| Floor coverings — tile, carpet, wood | Unit owner |
| Electrical fixtures | Unit owner |
| Appliances, water heaters, water filters | Unit owner |
| Built-in cabinets and countertops | Unit owner |
| Window treatments including curtains, blinds and hardware | Unit owner |
| Personal property in the unit or limited common elements | Unit owner |
Summarized from Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11)(f). The unit owner items must be located within the unit boundaries and serve only that unit. Your declaration and the statute govern; this is a general summary rather than advice on a specific claim.
The shorthand the legal and insurance community uses is "drywall out" for the association and "drywall finishes in, bare floor up" for the owner.
Our broader coverage of unit owner policies is in Florida condo insurance.
Who pays when water comes through the ceiling?
The short answer: Usually the association's policy handles the drywall damage above the master deductible, and your HO-6 handles your floor coverings, cabinets and belongings. The unit above's owner enters the picture only if negligence is involved.
Water losses are the most common condominium claim in Broward, and the most commonly misunderstood.
Take the standard scenario. A second-floor water heater fails in a Pembroke Pines building and damages the unit below.
- The water heater itself is the upstairs owner's responsibility — it is on the statutory list.
- The resulting damage to drywall in both units is condominium property as originally installed, which points to the master policy.
- Floor coverings, cabinets and personal property in the damaged unit are the downstairs owner's HO-6.
- The master policy deductible is generally the association's to absorb, unless the declaration or negligence shifts it.
- Loss assessment coverage responds if that deductible is assessed to owners.
How much loss assessment coverage do you need?
The short answer: Considerably more than the statutory minimum. Florida requires unit owner policies to include at least $2,000 of loss assessment coverage — a figure that has very little relationship to a modern Broward master policy deductible.
Loss assessment is the coverage that sits in the seam between the two policies. When the association takes a loss its master policy does not fully pay, and assesses the shortfall to owners, this is what responds.
The right limit is derived, not guessed. It depends on the master policy deductible, the number of units sharing an assessment, and the age and condition of the building.
Given Florida's structural integrity reserve requirements, maintenance-driven assessments are increasingly common — and increasingly outside what insurance can address. Our Pembroke Pines guide covers the association questions worth asking this year.
What should your HO-6 policy actually include?
The short answer: Dwelling coverage for your statutory items and improvements, personal property at replacement cost, liability, loss of use, and loss assessment sized against the master deductible.
Florida requires unit owner policies to conform to Fla. Stat. § 627.714, which is why HO-6 forms here look different from those in other states.
- Dwelling / Coverage A. Enough to replace your floor coverings, cabinets, countertops, fixtures and any improvements you made.
- Personal property at replacement cost. Actual cash value settles at depreciated value, which is always a disappointment.
- Loss assessment at a derived limit. Sized against the master deductible, not chosen from a dropdown.
- Liability. Covers injuries in your unit; cheap to raise and frequently left at a minimum.
- Loss of use. Pays for somewhere to live while the unit is uninhabitable — meaningful in a tight Broward rental market.
- Contents flood, separately. The association's flood coverage on the building does not extend to your belongings.
What happens to improvements and upgrades you paid for?
The short answer: They are yours to insure. The association's obligation runs to the property as originally installed — so the developer's builder-grade kitchen is in scope, and the one you replaced it with is not.
This catches Broward owners who renovated, and it catches buyers who purchased a renovated unit without adjusting the policy they inherited.
The statute ties the association's coverage to the original plans and specifications, or replacement of like kind and quality. Anything beyond that baseline sits on your side of the line.
- Document what you upgraded. Photographs and receipts, before you need them.
- Raise dwelling coverage to match. A quartz-and-custom-cabinet kitchen does not rebuild on a builder-grade limit.
- Re-check after a renovation. The limit that fit before the work does not fit after it.
- Ask about the original specifications. Associations generally hold the original plans; that document defines the baseline.
- Buyers: inherit the unit, not the policy. Reassess coverage at purchase rather than assuming the seller had it right.
How does flood coverage work in a Florida condominium?
The short answer: Two separate questions. The association may carry flood coverage on the building, and that does nothing for your unit's contents or interior finishes — those need your own contents flood policy.
Flood is excluded from every standard property policy, master and unit owner alike. It only exists where somebody bought it separately.
In coastal Broward the association almost certainly carries building flood coverage, often because a lender required it. Owners then reasonably assume they are covered.
More on the wider picture in do I need flood insurance in Florida.
What does this mean for Broward condo owners specifically?
The short answer: Broward's condominium stock is old enough that master deductibles are large and assessments are live. Coastal buildings in Hollywood face the added pressure of salt air and direct wind exposure accelerating structural wear.
The county splits along familiar lines.
Pembroke Pines is one of the most association-dense cities in Broward — Century Village alone is 7,700 units built between 1970 and 1995. Buildings of that vintage are precisely the population Florida's milestone inspection and reserve requirements were written for.
Coastal Hollywood adds environmental acceleration. Salt exposure and wind-driven rain wear buildings faster, which means inspections find more, which means assessments arrive sooner.
Western Broward condominiums are generally newer and under less immediate pressure — though the same statutory split applies to every one of them.
See our Hollywood guide for coastal specifics and our Miramar guide for the inland picture.
The bottom line on Florida condo master policies
Do not reason about a Florida condominium using the bare-walls and all-in framework you find online. The Condominium Act sets the line, and it sets it in a place many owners find surprising: the drywall is the association's, and the paint on it is yours.
What that leaves you responsible for is a specific list — coverings, fixtures, appliances, cabinets, countertops, window treatments and your belongings — plus the one coverage that bridges the two policies.
Get the master policy deductible from your association, divide it by the unit count, and set your loss assessment limit against that number rather than accepting a default. In an older Broward building, that single change is the most valuable thing on your HO-6.
Bring us your declaration and your master policy summary. Call (954) 420-1501 and we will read them with you. Disponible en español.
Condo insurance by city
Association age and coastal exposure drive most of the difference. These local guides cover the markets we write in most:
- Pembroke Pines insurance guide — Broward's most association-dense city
- Hollywood, FL insurance guide — coastal towers and salt exposure
- Miramar, FL insurance guide — inland Broward
- Florida condo insurance — statewide HO-6 overview
- Florida hurricane insurance — deductibles and wind coverage
More from our Florida insurance library
Related reading, chosen for how it connects to this topic:
- admitted vs surplus lines home insurance
- what to do when your policy is non-renewed
- why your landlord's policy isn't enough
- what is driving Florida property rates
- what is a 4-point inspection
About this guide
Who wrote it. Written and reviewed by the Core 4 Insurance team — licensed Florida insurance producers based in Miramar, Broward County.
Where we work. Statewide across Florida, with our office and deepest local experience in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
How we source it. The statutory split was verified against Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11) — Florida's Condominium Act — rather than summarized from the general industry framework, which does not govern here. Unit owner policy requirements trace to Fla. Stat. § 627.714. Your association's declaration and the statute control over any general summary.
Regulator. Core 4 Insurance is licensed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Last reviewed by the Core 4 Insurance Team on September 1, 2026. Florida condominium law has changed repeatedly in recent years — we re-verify quarterly. For the broader picture, see our Florida Condo Insurance guide.