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Which homeowners policy form fits your home?

Answer a few questions about who owns the home, what kind it is and how it is used, and see which standard policy form usually fits and why.

Runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent or stored by this site. Results are estimates for planning, not a quote or advice.

The right policy form depends less on price than on who owns the place, what kind of building it is and how it is used. The finder takes six answers and names the form that usually fits: an HO-3, HO-5, HO-6, HO-4 or HO-8, a dwelling fire policy, or something outside the homeowners family altogether. An HO number is an ISO form name. Your insurer's own wording and your state's endorsements control.

How to use it

Answer from the top. You are asked whether you own, rent, or own and rent the place to someone else; what kind of home it is (house or duplex, condo, co-op, townhouse in an association, manufactured home, or house on a working farm); and how it is used (main home, second home, rented short-term part of the year, empty or being renovated, or under construction). Two boxes follow: an older home whose rebuild cost is far above its market value, and a home that costs more than about $1 million to rebuild or holds valuable art or collections. For a townhouse or condo, say what the association insures. The master policy or governing documents show whether it covers bare walls, original interiors (walls-in) or even your upgrades (all-in). See condo master policies: what the association covers and what you cover.

How the math works

There is no arithmetic. The finder is a decision list, and the first rule that matches wins, so an early answer overrides a later one.

  1. A home under construction gets builder's risk.
  2. A renter gets an HO-4. If the place is rented short-term, the tool adds a reminder that subletting or hosting usually needs the landlord's permission and a renters policy may exclude it.
  3. A condo or co-op unit you rent to someone else gets an HO-6 with a unit-owners rental endorsement.
  4. A manufactured home you rent out gets a manufactured home landlord policy.
  5. An empty or renovating home gets a vacant dwelling policy or a vacancy endorsement.
  6. Any other home rented to others, or rented short-term, gets a DP-3 landlord policy; occasional hosting in your own home may instead use a homeowners policy with a home-sharing endorsement.
  7. A condo or co-op unit you live in gets an HO-6.
  8. A townhouse gets an HO-3 if you insure the whole structure or are unsure, and an HO-6 if the association insures the structure.
  9. A manufactured home gets a manufactured home form.
  10. A working farm gets a farmowners policy.
  11. A house gets an HO-5 or high-value policy if the $1 million box is ticked, an HO-3 or HO-8 if it is older, and otherwise an HO-3.

With the starting answers (you own, a house, your main home, neither box ticked) the result is an HO-3, with an HO-5 named as an upgrade that usually adds open-perils coverage on belongings.

What it assumes

The form descriptions follow the ISO family. The HO-3 insures the dwelling and other structures against direct physical loss unless excluded and belongings against 16 named perils (HO 00 03 05 11, May 2011 edition, published by the Maine Bureau of Insurance). The same form removes vandalism and glass breakage coverage after a dwelling has been vacant more than 60 consecutive days, and treats a dwelling under construction as not vacant. The $1 million line is the tool's rule of thumb for when a high-value policy comes into play, not an industry cutoff.

Where it stops being right

Because the first match wins, an empty or renovating house that you also plan to rent is sent to a vacant dwelling policy, and a farm you rent out is sent to a landlord policy rather than a farmowners policy. A second home gets the form for its type plus a note to tell the insurer it is not your primary residence, but seasonal rules vary widely. Mixed situations such as a home business, or a home held in a trust or LLC, need a conversation with an agent (Insuring a home held in a trust or LLC).

Naming a form is not the same as finding an insurer that writes it. Not every carrier offers an HO-5 or HO-8, and lenders and associations can require a specific form. Every form excludes flood and earthquake. For the differences between forms, see Homeowners policy types: HO-1 through HO-8 explained and Townhouse insurance: HO-3 or HO-6?; to check what your current policy leaves out, use the homeowners coverage gap checker.

Last reviewed October 10, 2026

Related guides

Homeowners policy types: HO-1 through HO-8 explained What each HO form covers, who can buy it, how many policies use it, and how to find the form on your own declarations page. The HO-3 policy explained: coverages, exclusions and gaps How the standard HO-3 special form works: open perils on the house, named perils on belongings, the 80% rule, key exclusions and the gaps endorsements fill. The HO-5 comprehensive form: is it worth the upgrade? The HO-5 insures belongings on open perils as well as the house. What it adds over the HO-3, what it leaves out, how contents are valued, and when it pays off. HO-6 condo insurance explained: what it covers and how much you need What the HO-6 unit-owners form covers, how it fits with the association's master policy, how to size dwelling and loss assessment limits, and lender rules. Dwelling fire policies: DP-1, DP-2 and DP-3 Dwelling fire forms insure a rental, a vacant house or a home that can't get a homeowners policy. DP-1 is basic, DP-2 broad, DP-3 open perils. No liability. Townhouse insurance: HO-3 or HO-6? Whether a townhouse needs an HO-3 or an HO-6 depends on who owns and insures the roof and walls, not on its style. Here is how to tell from your documents.

Terms used here

HO-3 (special form) The most common homeowners policy: open-perils coverage for the house and other structures, and named-perils coverage for belongings. HO-5 (comprehensive form) A premium homeowners policy insuring the house, other structures and belongings against any cause of loss not excluded, often for newer or higher-value homes. HO-6 (unit-owners form) The condo owner's policy: it covers belongings, the parts of the unit the association's policy leaves to you, loss assessments, liability and loss of use. HO-4 (contents broad form) The renters policy: it covers a tenant's belongings, loss of use and liability, but not the building, which the landlord insures. HO-8 (modified coverage form) A named-perils policy for older homes whose rebuild cost far exceeds market value, paying to repair with common materials rather than replace like for like. DP-3 (special dwelling form) The special dwelling form: open-perils coverage on the building and other structures, the closest match to an HO-3, common for rentals and second homes.

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