Bare Walls, Walls-In, or All-In: Reading Your HOA Master Policy in California
Three master policy types, one HO-6, and the line between them that nobody points out until after a loss.
Your HOA master policy is one of three broad types, and the type decides where the association stops covering and your HO-6 has to start. Bare walls means the master covers the structure out to the unfinished interior surfaces and you cover everything inside. Walls-in means the master covers the unit roughly as originally built, and you cover upgrades and contents. All-in means the master covers the most inside the unit, and you mostly cover personal property and assessments. You cannot tell which one you have by guessing, so you read the master policy declarations and the CC and Rs.
What are the three master policy types?
There are three: bare walls, walls-in, and all-in. They sit on a sliding scale. Bare walls has the association covering the least inside your unit, all-in has it covering the most, and walls-in lands in the middle. Where your master policy falls on that scale sets how much interior coverage your HO-6 needs to carry.
People use a few different names for the same idea, which is part of why this gets confusing. Bare walls also goes by "studs out" or single-entity bare. Walls-in shows up as "single entity" or "original specifications." All-in gets called "all-inclusive." The labels are not standardized across carriers, so the words on the page matter less than what the policy actually says it covers. Read the coverage description, not just the heading.
The reason this is the first thing I check on any condo is simple. Two condo buildings across the street from each other can be set up completely differently. One association buys bare walls to keep the master premium down. The other buys all-in so owners have fewer surprises. Same neighborhood, same year, very different HO-6 needs. You have to read the document in front of you.
What is bare walls coverage?
Bare walls means the master policy covers the building structure out to the unfinished interior surfaces, the studs, subfloor, and drywall. Everything inside that line is yours to insure on the HO-6: fixtures, flooring, cabinets, and built-ins. This is the type that needs the most owner coverage, because the association is not paying to rebuild the inside of your unit.
Picture a covered loss that strips a unit back to the framing. With bare walls, the master policy rebuilds to the bare structure and then stops. The drywall might be replaced to an unfinished state depending on how the policy reads, but the paint, the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom vanity, the flooring, the light fixtures, and the appliances are on you. If your HO-6 dwelling limit is too low to cover all of that, the gap comes out of your pocket.
Bare walls is the most common type that catches owners off guard, because the unit looks finished and people assume the association insures what they can see. The master insures the box. You insure what makes the box livable.
What is walls-in coverage?
Walls-in, sometimes called single entity or original specifications, means the master policy covers your unit roughly as it was originally built. That includes standard fixtures and finishes, but not your upgrades or personal property. As the owner, you insure betterments and improvements you added, plus your contents, on the HO-6.
This is the middle ground, and it is where the upgrade question gets sharp. Say the unit shipped with builder-grade laminate counters and you put in quartz. After a covered loss, a walls-in master policy generally restores the original laminate-grade finish, not your quartz. The difference between standard and what you actually installed is the betterment, and that is yours to cover. The same logic applies to upgraded flooring, custom cabinetry, and any remodel you paid for.
So with walls-in, your HO-6 carries less interior coverage than under bare walls, but it still has real work to do. Track what you have upgraded since you bought the place. The bigger the remodel, the more dwelling coverage you want on the HO-6 to close the gap between original specifications and your finished unit.
What is all-in coverage?
All-in, also called all-inclusive, means the master policy covers the unit including fixtures and, often, improvements. That leaves you to mainly cover personal property, betterments beyond the standard, liability, and loss assessments on the HO-6. It is the most owner-friendly of the three, because the association is insuring the most inside your walls.
All-in does not mean you can skip the HO-6. Your furniture, clothing, electronics, and everything else you own are still your responsibility, and personal property adds up faster than people expect. You also need personal liability coverage, and you need loss assessment coverage in case the association levies a charge against owners after a large claim. Even with the most generous master policy, those pieces do not insure themselves.
One honest caveat. "Often improvements" is doing real work in that description. Some all-in policies cover owner improvements, some cap them, some exclude them. Read your specific master policy to see exactly how far inside the unit it reaches before you decide your HO-6 limits.
How do I find out which one I have?
You read two documents: the master policy declarations page and the association's governing documents, the CC and Rs. You cannot tell from the unit itself or from what other owners assume. Ask your HOA or property manager for the current declarations and the insurance section of the CC and Rs, then look at what the policy says it covers inside the unit.
The declarations page summarizes coverage, but the CC and Rs often define the dividing line between association property and unit owner property, and the two should line up. Where they do not match, you have found a problem worth raising before a loss, not after. If the language is unclear, that is exactly the kind of thing to send to your broker to read alongside your HO-6.
| Master policy type | Association covers inside unit | You cover on the HO-6 | Interior coverage you need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bare walls (studs out) | Structure to unfinished surfaces: studs, subfloor, drywall | Fixtures, flooring, cabinets, built-ins, upgrades, contents | Most |
| Walls-in (single entity, original specs) | Unit as originally built, standard fixtures and finishes | Upgrades, betterments, improvements, contents | Medium |
| All-in (all-inclusive) | Fixtures and often improvements inside the unit | Personal property, betterments beyond standard, liability, assessments | Least |
Read the table as a starting map, then confirm against your actual documents. The category tells you roughly where the line sits, but the exact wording in your declarations and CC and Rs is what controls a claim.
How does it change my HO-6?
The less the master policy covers inside the unit, the more dwelling and interior coverage your HO-6 needs. That is the whole game: matching the two so there is no gap and no wasteful overlap. Bare walls calls for the highest HO-6 dwelling limit, walls-in for a moderate one, and all-in for the least, with personal property and liability on top in every case.
The reason to settle this ahead of time is that after a loss, gaps and overlaps between the master policy and the HO-6 are exactly where disputes happen. The adjuster for the master policy points at your HO-6. Your HO-6 carrier points back. While they sort out who pays for the drywall versus the cabinets, you are the one waiting to rebuild. Knowing your type before anything goes wrong is how you avoid being stuck in the middle of that argument.
There is also the loss assessment piece, which matters under all three types. If the association has a claim that exceeds its master policy limits or runs into its deductible, it can pass a share of that cost to owners. Loss assessment coverage on the HO-6 is built to absorb that, and it is easy to overlook when you are focused on the dwelling number. Read the related guides below for more on the HO-6 itself, on loss assessment, and on whether your association is underinsured.
If you want this matched properly, send me your HOA master policy declarations and the insurance section of your CC and Rs. I will read them against your HO-6 and tell you, in plain language, where the master stops, where your policy needs to pick up, and whether your current limits actually close the gap. See also how an HO-6 fits with the master policy, loss assessment coverage, and how to tell if your HOA is underinsured.