What Does Condo Insurance Cover in Arkansas?
A condo is insured by two policies with a seam between them — and the seam is not in the same place from one building to the next. Finding it is most of the work.
Short Answer
Two policies, and the line between them is in your association’s documents rather than in state law. The master policy covers the building to some agreed point; your HO-6 covers what sits inside that point, your belongings, your liability, and assessments. Arkansas puts reconstruction costs on co-owners when the association’s insurance falls short.
Condo owners get told they need “less insurance because the association covers the building,” which is true in the way that most half-explanations are true. The association covers the building to a point. Everything about a condo claim turns on where that point is, and nobody can tell you from the outside — not us, not a comparison site, and not the state.
Where the Seam Is, and Who Decides
This is the part people expect to find in a law and do not. Arkansas does not set the dividing line. The Horizontal Property Act requires a master deed under § 18-13-104 describing the land, each unit, the common elements and each unit’s value and percentage, and requires bylaws recorded with it under § 18-13-108. What it does not do is tell your insurer where the association’s responsibility ends and yours begins. Your documents do that.
Worth knowing too: the Act governs regimes that expressly elect to be governed by it by recording a master deed. It is not automatic for every association in the state. Which reinforces the same conclusion from a different direction — the operative answer is in the paperwork for your building. This is general information rather than legal advice.
| Term | Roughly what it means | What it leaves to you |
|---|---|---|
| Bare walls | The association insures the structure; coverage stops at the unfinished surfaces | Everything inward: cabinets, flooring, fixtures, finishes |
| Walls-in | Reaches into the unit, often including originally installed fixtures | Your improvements and upgrades, and your belongings |
| All-in | Reaches furthest, often including original finishes and fixtures | Belongings, liability, and anything you added |
The reason these labels matter less than they look is that they are descriptions rather than definitions. Two associations using the same phrase can draw the line in different places. The declarations page of the master policy plus the master deed will tell you the truth; the label will not.
The Statute That Explains Assessments
When the master policy falls short, Arkansas puts the cost on the owners
Ark. Code § 18-13-119 is titled, in the statute’s own words, “Sharing of reconstruction costs when building not insured or indemnity insufficient”. It provides that when the building is not insured, or when the insurance indemnity is insufficient to cover the cost of reconstruction, the new building costs are paid by all the co-owners directly affected by the damage in proportion to the value of their respective units, or as the bylaws provide.
It goes further. If one or more of the minority refuse to pay, the majority may proceed with reconstruction at the expense of all co-owners benefited by it, on a proper resolution through the council of co-owners. So a shortfall is not something an owner can simply decline to participate in.
That statute is the reason the loss assessment line exists on an HO-6, and it is the strongest reason to read that limit rather than accepting whatever came with the policy. Most competitor writing describes loss assessment as an optional extra without ever explaining what creates the exposure. In Arkansas the exposure is written down.
The master policy’s deductible is its own question
A master policy carries a deductible, and many associations’ governing documents allow some or all of it to be allocated to owners rather than absorbed by the association. In a part of the country that sees the hail we see, a roof claim across several buildings is not a rare event, and the deductible on that claim has to land somewhere.
Read the deductible section of the master policy declarations alongside the bylaws, and read them together rather than separately. That pairing is where the actual exposure shows up, and it is the number a loss assessment limit is being asked to absorb.
What an HO-6 Is Actually For
Set against the master policy, a unit owner’s policy generally does five jobs:
- The inside of the unit. Whatever the association’s coverage does not reach, plus improvements and betterments you or a previous owner installed.
- Your personal property. The same contents coverage any household needs, and the same reason a renter needs a policy.
- Your personal liability. Including incidents inside the unit that have nothing to do with the building.
- Additional living costs. If the unit becomes uninhabitable while it is repaired.
- Loss assessment. For your share of what § 18-13-119 and your bylaws can put on you.
Coverage for the interior is easy to underestimate, because the number is not the market value of the condo — it is what it would cost to rebuild the inside of it. Our post on how much dwelling coverage an Arkansas home needs works through why rebuild cost and market value are different numbers, and the same logic applies inside a unit.
Three Documents to Ask For
- The master policy declarations page. What is insured, for how much, and what the deductible is. Associations provide this on request and owners are entitled to understand it.
- The master deed. It describes the units and the common elements, which is the same boundary your insurance question turns on.
- The bylaws. How costs and assessments are handled, including whether the master deductible can be allocated to owners.
- Then set your own limits against them. Interior rebuild cost, contents, liability, and a loss assessment limit chosen with the deductible section in front of you rather than in the abstract.
- Check what changed after any renovation. Improvements you install generally become your responsibility to insure, and kitchens and bathrooms move that number quickly.
- Revisit after the association’s renewal. A master policy deductible that moves changes your exposure without anyone telling you.
Ask Cribby about your unit
The documents answer most of it, and these are the questions worth bringing once you have them:
Frequently Asked Questions
What does condo insurance cover that the master policy does not?
Broadly, everything on your side of the seam. An HO-6 typically covers the interior of the unit and improvements made to it, your personal property, your personal liability, additional living costs if the unit becomes uninhabitable, and loss assessment. The master policy handles the building and common elements up to whatever point the association’s documents set. Where that point falls is the whole question, and it differs from one association to the next.
Does Arkansas law say where the master policy stops?
No, and that surprises people. The dividing line lives in the association’s own documents rather than in a statute. The Arkansas Horizontal Property Act requires a master deed describing the units and the common elements, and bylaws recorded with it, and it applies to regimes that elect to be governed by it. So the answer to where your coverage begins is in the master deed, the bylaws and the master policy declarations. This is general information rather than legal advice.
What are bare walls, walls-in and all-in?
They are market shorthand for how far the association’s coverage reaches into the unit, not legal categories. Bare walls generally means the association insures the structure and you own everything inward from the unfinished surfaces, including fixtures and finishes. Walls-in reaches further, often including original fixtures. All-in reaches further still. Because these are descriptions rather than defined terms, the words matter less than what your documents actually say.
Why do condo owners get assessed after a big loss?
Arkansas addresses this directly. Under Ark. Code section 18-13-119, when the building is not insured or the insurance indemnity is insufficient to cover the cost of reconstruction, the new building costs are paid by all the co-owners directly affected by the damage in proportion to the value of their respective units, or as the bylaws provide. So a shortfall between what the master policy pays and what rebuilding costs can land on owners, which is exactly the exposure loss assessment coverage is written for.
Can the association’s deductible be passed on to me?
It can, depending on what the governing documents allow. A master policy carries its own deductible, and many associations’ documents permit some or all of it to be allocated to owners rather than absorbed by the association. In a region that sees the hail we see, that is not a hypothetical, and it is one of the specific things a loss assessment limit is asked to absorb. Read the deductible section of the master policy declarations alongside the bylaws.
What should I actually ask my association for?
Three documents, and they are usually available on request. The master policy declarations page, which shows what is insured and the deductible. The master deed, which describes the units and the common elements. And the bylaws, which set out how costs and assessments are handled. With those three in hand, the question of what your own policy needs to do stops being guesswork.
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Put the master policy declarations page next to your unit owner’s policy and the picture resolves quickly: what the association insures, where its coverage stops, what your policy picks up, and whether the loss assessment limit bears any relation to the deductible sitting on the master policy. That comparison takes minutes and it is not one most owners have ever had done.
Disclaimer: This article is general information and is not insurance, legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for the terms of your own agreements or policies. References to Ark. Code § 18-13-104, § 18-13-108 and § 18-13-119 are provided as general information about publicly available law and are not legal advice or an opinion about any particular association, building or situation. The Arkansas Horizontal Property Act governs horizontal property regimes that elect to be governed by it, so it does not necessarily apply to every association in the state, and the chapter is subject to amendment. What the association insures, where its coverage stops, how assessments are levied and whether a master policy deductible may be allocated to owners are determined by the master deed, the bylaws and the master policy actually in force, which control over any general description here. Questions about the interpretation of governing documents are legal questions and should be taken to a licensed attorney. Coverage is set by the insurance company and is subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued to you, which controls in every case. Cribb Insurance Group Inc is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. Reviewed 2026-08-16; law and carrier filings change, and this article may not describe the current position after that date. Cribb Insurance Group Inc, 1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72713 · (479) 286-1066 · service@cribbinsurance.com.