Mobile and manufactured home insurance

Insurance for a mobile or manufactured home is a homeowners-style policy rewritten for a factory-built house: it covers the home, your belongings, living expenses and liability, but with rules about the home's age, how it is anchored and where it sits that a site-built house never faces. The standard ISO homeowners forms do not apply to these homes unless a mobilehome endorsement is attached, and many carriers file their own mobile homeowners forms instead. The details that move your price and your payout are the year the home was built, whether the policy pays actual cash value or replacement cost, and what your state's wind and flood exposure does to the deductible.

What counts as a manufactured home

"Mobile home" and "manufactured home" are not interchangeable to an underwriter. HUD says that all manufactured homes built in the U.S. after June 15, 1976 must be certified by their manufacturer as meeting HUD's construction standards, the HUD Code at 24 CFR Part 3280, and calls a manufactured home "formerly known as a mobile home" (HUD). In common use, "mobile home" means a factory-built home from before that date, and "manufactured home" means one built to the HUD Code afterward. FEMA's glossary defines the term as a structure transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis and designed for use with or without a permanent foundation (FEMA).

Two documents prove what you have. Each transportable section carries a metal HUD label, or tag, on the exterior, and a paper data plate sits inside the home, often in a kitchen cabinet, an electrical panel or a bedroom closet. The data plate lists the manufacturer, serial number, model and manufacture date, the label numbers, and maps showing the wind zone, roof load and snow load the home was designed for (HUD). Have both in hand when you ask for a quote. A modular home is a different thing: it is built in sections off site, has no permanent chassis and must meet local building codes, so it is typically insured like any site-built house.

Wind design changed in 1994, when HUD strengthened its construction standards for areas prone to hurricanes, and the data plate states which wind zone (I, II or III) the home was built for. The plate also warns that a home should not be sited within 1,500 feet of the coastline in Wind Zones II and III unless it was designed for those conditions. The year shows up as a dividing line in carrier rules and in the FORTIFIED program, both discussed below.

How the policy is built

ISO, the organization that drafts the standard forms, writes mobilehome coverage by attaching an endorsement, MH 04 01, to a homeowners form (HO 00 02 or HO 00 03), according to the trade publisher FC&S' 2013 analysis of the 2011 editions (PropertyCasualty360). The endorsement changes Coverage A to insure the home itself and semi-permanent items such as utility tanks, installed floor coverings, appliances and built-in cabinets. Liability and medical payments follow the underlying form, so unlike a bare dwelling fire policy, the package includes them. The label "HO-7" is the usual shorthand for these policies, but your form may carry a carrier's own name and number. Check the declarations page.

FC&S describes ISO eligibility for the endorsement as a home designed for portability and year-round living, at least 10 feet wide and 400 square feet, in a one- to four-family building. Under those 2011-era rules, Coverage B was 10% of Coverage A with a $2,000 minimum, Coverage C often 40%, and Coverage D 20%. Carriers write their own variations: Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corporation sets contents coverage at 25% of the dwelling limit by default on its MHO-3, changeable from 25% to 100%, according to its coverage worksheet (October 2025 edition, Citizens). The worksheet notes it does not change the actual policy.

Two features are specific to this type of home. The ISO property-removed coverage pays up to $500 to move the home when a covered peril endangers it, with a 30-day window of broad coverage at the new location. Moving it for any other reason takes a separate transportation endorsement. And the policy insures the home at the "residence premises" shown on the declarations, so if you relocate, tell your agent before the truck arrives.

Age decides how you are paid

The biggest surprise for owners of older homes is the loss settlement clause. Under the ISO approach, replacement cost applies if you insure the home to at least 80% of its replacement value, and an optional endorsement (MH 04 02) switches an older unit to actual cash value. Carriers draw their own lines. Citizens' MHO-3 worksheet pays dwelling losses at actual cash value, except that partial losses on homes built in 1994 or later are settled at replacement cost; for pre-1994 homes, other structures are also paid at actual cash value.

Say a 1989 single-wide takes wind damage that costs $20,000 to repair, and the damaged siding, roof covering and interior finishes carry 50% depreciation. (Invented numbers.) On an actual cash value basis the check is about $10,000 less the deductible, and the $10,000 gap is yours. The same home on replacement cost would pay up to $20,000 less the deductible. replacement cost vs actual cash value: why it matters explains the mechanics, and the depreciation calculator: actual cash value vs replacement cost shows what depreciation does to a claim.

When you shop, ask the agent directly: is the home paid at replacement cost or actual cash value, and does the answer depend on the model year, the roof's age or the type of loss?

Wind, tie-downs and deductibles

FC&S calls mobilehomes particularly prone to wind damage because they are lighter than site-built houses. It lists a premium credit for tie-downs (chassis-only, over-the-top, or both), and another for a composition shingle roof combined with either an enclosed masonry foundation or blocks or piers with skirting. The details differ by carrier, so ask which credits you can claim and what proof the carrier wants.

In hurricane states, wind deductibles can be a percentage of the dwelling limit. Citizens' MHO-3 offers hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% or 10% of Coverage A and all-other-peril deductibles of $500, $1,000 or $2,500, per its October 2025 worksheet. Say your dwelling limit is $70,000 and you carry a 5% hurricane deductible: you absorb the first $3,500 of a hurricane loss. Percentage deductibles are covered in percentage deductibles: how a 2% deductible really works and wind and hail deductibles explained; your state may regulate how they apply (Florida is one example).

One lever for the roof: IBHS' FORTIFIED standard accepts HUD-code manufactured homes built after July 1994 to Zone II or III standards on a permanent foundation, but only for the FORTIFIED Roof level, not Silver or Gold, according to the 2025 FORTIFIED Home Standard (IBHS). See The FORTIFIED Home standard and insurance discounts for what the designation involves and what discounts exist in your state.

What the policy does not cover

A mobile homeowners policy excludes flood like any other. FEMA's October 2025 Flood Insurance Manual lists a residential manufactured or mobile home as eligible for NFIP building coverage up to $250,000 and contents up to $100,000, the same maximums as a single-family house. Flood insurance has a 30-day waiting period in most cases, so buy before the season, not during it. NFIP flood insurance explained covers the program and does homeowners insurance cover flooding? explains why your policy will not pay.

Other gaps to look for on the declarations page:

• Ordinance or law. Rebuilding to current code after a loss is excluded in the base ISO forms and sold separately; see ordinance or law coverage: paying to rebuild to code.
• Attachments. Screened enclosures, carports and porches may be treated differently from the home. Citizens, for example, covers attached carports and screened enclosures under Coverage A, while open-to-weather structures fall under Coverage B with limited coverage.
• Land and park fees. In a land-lease community, the park's policy covers the park's property, not your home or belongings. Your own policy usually needs to list the lot or park address.
• Lender requirements. If a lender holds a loan on the home, it will be named on the policy and will specify the coverage; read the loan agreement.

When the standard market says no

Older units, homes in high-wind areas and homes without tie-downs are the ones most likely to be declined. Alternatives include carriers that specialize in manufactured homes, a state plan, or a dwelling-style policy. Foremost Insurance, part of the Farmers group, says it runs a dedicated mobile home program and accepts "homes of any age, model, make and value" (Foremost); availability and terms vary by state. Citizens sells three: the MHO-3 for owner-occupied mobile and manufactured homes, the MW-2 as wind-only coverage in certain areas, and the MDP-1 dwelling fire policy for tenant-occupied properties and homes that do not qualify for an MHO-3 or MW-2 (Citizens, read October 2026). Other states' plans and rules differ; home insurance rules by state points to the ones in yours.

Information to gather before you ask for a quote

1. Year built, manufacturer, model and serial number (the data plate has all of them).
2. HUD label numbers, one per section; a double-wide has two.
3. Square footage, number of sections and the roof type and age.
4. How the home is set: piers and blocks, or a permanent foundation; tie-downs and their type; skirting.
5. Whether you own the land or rent a lot in a park, and the lot address.
6. Updates to wiring, plumbing and heating, with dates.
7. Any existing flood policy or flood zone determination.

Key takeaways

• A mobile or manufactured home policy is a homeowners-style package, usually built on an HO form plus a mobilehome endorsement or a carrier's own form, with liability included.
• HUD's June 15, 1976 date separates mobile homes from manufactured homes, and the HUD label and data plate document which one you own.
• Age often decides whether you are paid at actual cash value or replacement cost; ask which applies before a claim.
• Wind rules and tie-downs drive deductibles and credits, and flood is excluded; NFIP covers manufactured homes up to $250,000 on the building.
• Gather the data plate, label numbers, foundation and tie-down details before you request quotes.