Where the master policy stops — your policy starts.
Your HOA's master policy covers the building. Your condo policy covers everything it leaves to you: the walls-in building items, your belongings, your liability, your loss of use — and the loss assessment that lands on your desk when the association bills every owner. Here's how the pieces fit, and the one number worth matching to your HOA. From an independent agency that places Liberty Mutual every day.
The short answer
Your HOA's master policy insures the building the association owns. A Liberty Mutual condo policy covers what it leaves to you: your interior building items (covered on an open-peril basis, with Building Ordinance or Law built in), your belongings at replacement cost, your personal liability ($100,000 up to $500,000), your loss of use, and loss assessment — your share when the association bills every owner. The single most important step is matching your loss-assessment limit to your HOA's master-policy deductible, because a base amount is often far below it. Backed by an A (Excellent) carrier, quoted against 40+ others.
Two policies, one unit — and a line between them.
The master policy and your policy each cover part of your condo. Knowing where the line falls is the whole game.
The association's master policy covers the structure and common areas it owns — the roof, the exterior, the hallways, the grounds. Depending on how it's written, it may or may not reach the finished interior of your unit. It does not cover your belongings, your liability, or a loss assessment billed back to you.
Your policy covers everything on your side of the line.
A Liberty Mutual condo policy picks up where the master policy stops. That means your interior building items — often the cabinets, flooring, fixtures, and upgrades inside your walls — covered on an open-peril basis, with Building Ordinance or Law built in to help rebuild the interior to current code. It also covers your belongings at replacement cost, your personal liability and legal defense, your loss of use for up to 12 months, and loss assessment.
The exact split between the master policy and yours is set by your HOA's documents — which is why the first thing we do is read them, not guess. Set correctly, the two policies meet cleanly with no gap and no expensive overlap.
Loss assessment: your share of a bill you didn't choose.
This is the condo coverage most owners have never heard of — and the one most likely to surprise them with a five-figure number.
When the master policy falls short of a big loss — a large deductible, an exhausted limit, or damage to a common area — the association can assess every unit owner for a portion of the cost. That bill is yours whether you budgeted for it or not.
What loss assessment does, and why the base isn't enough.
Loss assessment coverage pays your share of that assessment, up to the limit you select. A Liberty Mutual condo policy includes a base amount, and it can be increased — which matters, because master-policy deductibles have climbed. When an association carries a large master deductible and a covered loss triggers it, the assessment to each owner can run into five figures, and a small base limit covers only a sliver of it.
This is the number we most often find set too low. It isn't about buying the most coverage; it's about matching the limit to the actual exposure your HOA's master policy creates.
The one number to match: your master-policy deductible.
Pull your HOA's master-policy declarations and find the deductible. That figure — divided across owners, plus common-area exposure — is what your loss-assessment limit should be built to meet. Matching those two numbers is the single most valuable thing we do on a condo policy, and it's a quick check with your master policy in hand. Bring it, or send it, and we'll size the limit to your building instead of to a default.
The rest of the build.
Beyond the core coverages, these are the options that fit most condo owners' situations.
Increased building items
Building Ordinance or Law is included at 10% of your contents limit; the building-items limit can be raised for a unit with significant interior upgrades or a bare-walls master policy that leaves more to you.
Belongings, broadened
Full Value on Personal Property covers your things at replacement cost, and Special Personal Property broadens contents to open-peril coverage — fewer gaps for the causes of loss a named-peril policy leaves out.
Water back-up & sump
Covers damage from water backing up through a drain, sump, or sump pump — a common condo loss a base policy excludes, and one that travels between stacked units.
Scheduled valuables
Jewelry, cameras, guns, fine arts, and collections sit under a special theft limit (about $1,500 per item). Schedule the ones worth more for their agreed value — usually with no deductible.
Identity Recovery
Expenses to recover from identity theft, with help-line and case-management support and a sub-limit for lost wages. A small add for a common headache.
Rental to others
Renting your unit — or a room — to others changes the exposure. Coverage can be extended for your personal property and liability when the unit is rented or held for rental, where eligible.
"Bare walls" or "all-in" — your HOA decides.
Master policies come in two broad flavors, and which one your HOA carries decides how much of your unit is yours to insure. It's spelled out in the master policy and the association bylaws — not something to assume.
How to read your own line.
A bare-walls (or studs-in) master policy covers the structure to the unfinished walls and leaves the interior — cabinets, flooring, fixtures, built-ins — to you. That means you need more building-items coverage. An all-in (single-entity) master policy covers the original interior, so you mainly insure your belongings, upgrades, and liability. Most associations land somewhere between, and many have shifted at renewal.
We read your master policy and set your building-items and contents limits to match — so you're neither doubling coverage the HOA already carries nor leaving the interior underinsured. One Arkansas footnote: standard condo policies exclude earthquake, and dedicated earthquake coverage here is limited and largely closed to new policies, so if the New Madrid zone concerns you, that's a direct conversation.
The ones worth mentioning.
Condo owners get a couple of credits renters don't — for a secured building and for sprinklers — on top of the bundle.
Account credit (bundle with auto)
Carrying your auto with the same carrier applies an account credit and lowers the total across both policies. On a condo policy, it's the discount that moves the number most.
Condominium security
A credit if your unit is in a secured building — one where you pass through a locked common entry before reaching your locked door — with more where there's a 24-hour guard. (Used in place of the burglar-alarm credit, not on top of it.)
Fire sprinkler
A credit for an installed, maintained fire-sprinkler system — larger where the sprinklers cover the whole unit, attic and closets included.
Burglar alarm
For units without secured-building protection, a credit for an approved, maintained burglar alarm — local, police-station, or central-station monitored.
Backed by an A (Excellent) carrier.
On September 10, 2025, AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) for the members of Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., stable outlook — the group behind the companies that write this coverage in Arkansas. A financial strength rating is an opinion about an insurer's ability to pay claims; it doesn't grade how a specific claim is handled, and it isn't a recommendation to buy or keep a policy. Different question, different source — the current rating is at ambest.com.
Where we earn it on a condo policy.
The condo mistakes are specific: a loss-assessment limit left at a base amount far below the master deductible, building-items coverage that doesn't match a bare-walls master policy, and valuables under a special limit. We fix those by reading your master policy at the quote. We don't adjust your claim and can't overrule an adjuster — but we'll tell you whether a claim is worth filing, make sure the right coverage responds, coordinate with the association's carrier, and move you to another of our 40-plus markets if Liberty Mutual stops fitting.
Built from your unit and your HOA.
Condo premium depends on your contents and building-items amounts, your loss-assessment and liability limits, your deductible, your unit's location, and how your HOA's master policy splits responsibility — so a posted figure would mislead more than help. This isn't a quote or a guarantee. What reliably helps: bundling with auto for the account credit, matching loss assessment to the master deductible, and not paying twice for interior the HOA already covers. That's the number we'll build with you.
The policies around this one.
Liberty Mutual condo questions.
What does condo insurance cover that the HOA master policy doesn't?
The master policy your HOA carries covers the building and common areas the association owns. Your condo policy covers everything the master policy leaves to you: the interior building items — often the fixtures, cabinets, flooring, and improvements inside your unit — your personal belongings, your personal liability, your loss of use if the unit becomes unlivable, and loss assessment, which pays your share when the association bills all owners for a covered shortfall.
On a Liberty Mutual condo policy, the interior building items are covered on an open-peril basis, and Building Ordinance or Law is built in. Where the master policy stops is exactly where your policy starts.
What is loss assessment coverage, and how much do I need?
Loss assessment is the coverage most condo owners have never heard of and most need. When the association's master policy falls short of a large loss — a big deductible, an exhausted limit, or damage to a common area — the HOA can assess every unit owner for a share of the cost. Loss assessment coverage pays your share, up to your selected limit.
A Liberty Mutual condo policy includes a base amount and it can be increased. How much you need is driven by your HOA's master-policy deductible and your building's exposure — which is why we ask to see the master policy before setting the limit. A base amount is often far below a modern master deductible.
How do I know if my HOA policy is "bare walls" or "all-in"?
You read the master policy and the association bylaws — and it matters, because it decides how much of your unit is your responsibility to insure. A bare-walls (studs-in) master policy covers the structure to the unfinished walls and leaves the interior — fixtures, cabinets, flooring, built-ins — to you, so you need more building-items coverage.
An all-in (single-entity) master policy covers the original interior, so you mainly insure your belongings, upgrades, and liability. Most master policies fall somewhere between, and many have changed at renewal. We read yours and set your limits to match, so you're not doubling coverage or leaving a gap.
Does my condo policy cover water backup or my valuables?
Both can be covered. Water Back-Up and Sump Overflow coverage can be added up to $10,000 for damage caused by water backing up through a drain, sump, or sump pump — a common condo loss a base policy excludes.
For valuables, a condo policy caps theft of items like jewelry, watches, and furs under a special limit of about $1,500 per item and $3,000 total; if you own more, you can raise the special limits or schedule the item for its agreed value. Identity Recovery coverage is also available up to $25,000.
Do I need condo insurance if my HOA already has a master policy?
Yes. The master policy protects the association's property, not yours — it doesn't cover your belongings, your liability, your loss of use, or a loss assessment billed back to you.
Many Arkansas associations and mortgage lenders also require unit owners to carry their own policy, precisely because the master policy leaves those gaps. Even where it isn't required, the exposure is real: a kitchen fire, a guest injury, or a five-figure special assessment all land on you without it.
How do I get a condo quote in Bentonville or Rogers, or bundle it with auto?
Start at our personal lines quote form or call (479) 286-1066. If you can, have your HOA master policy or its declarations handy — it's the fastest way for us to set your building-items and loss-assessment limits correctly instead of guessing.
Bundling your condo policy with auto earns an account credit that lowers the total, so it's worth quoting them together.
If our coverage explainers are useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas condo owners can find our local, plain-English guides.
Liberty Mutual is one of 40+ carriers we represent.
Which means we can tell you honestly whether Liberty Mutual condo is the best fit — or whether one of our other markets fits better. Send your HOA master policy along with your unit details, and we'll set your building-items and loss-assessment limits to match your building — no gap, no expensive overlap. Bundle it with auto and the whole account gets cheaper.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not Liberty Mutual, and this page is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by Liberty Mutual. "Liberty Mutual" is a service mark or trademark of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. Liberty Mutual's Arkansas condominium policies are issued by Liberty Mutual-affiliated underwriting companies.
This page describes coverage in general terms for informational purposes only. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility, or price. Coverages, features, endorsements, limits, deductibles, discounts, program terms and availability vary by form, by policy, by state, and over time, are set by the carrier, and are subject to underwriting approval and to the terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Building items, Building Ordinance or Law, Full Value on Personal Property, Special Personal Property, loss assessment, water back-up, Identity Recovery, rental-to-others, and scheduled or unscheduled valuables are subject to their own limits, deductibles, requirements, and eligibility, and some options are subject to underwriting review or are not available for new business. The division of coverage between your policy and your association's master policy is governed by your HOA documents, not by this page. If anything on this page conflicts with the issued policy, the policy controls.
Financial strength ratings are opinions of an insurer's ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations, are subject to change, are not recommendations to purchase, hold or terminate any policy, and do not address an insurer's claims-handling practices; current ratings are at ambest.com. The A (Excellent) rating referenced applies to the members of Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. Statements about Arkansas requirements, association and lender practices, and earthquake availability are general information, not legal advice, and are subject to change; confirm current terms at quote. Cost is determined by the carrier at quote and is not a figure this page represents or guarantees.
Last reviewed July 2026.