Co-op insurance: what to buy, and who sells it

Insuring a co-op apartment you own

In a housing co-op you own shares in the corporation that owns the building, not the apartment itself. The co-op insures the building with a master policy. You insure what is yours with your own policy, usually written on the same form insurers use for condo owners, the HO-6.

NAIC, Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owner's Insurance Report, data for 2023 (PDF)Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, how condo insurance works

What your own policy covers

Your belongings

Furniture, clothes, electronics and other things you own, if they are damaged or stolen.

Improvements you made

A new kitchen, bathroom or floors you paid for. The building's policy may not cover them.

Your liability

If someone is hurt in your home, or a leak from your apartment damages a neighbour's.

Living costs if you must move out

Hotel or rent and other extra costs while your home is repaired. Often an add-on: check your policy includes it.

Loss assessment

Your share of a special assessment the co-op charges owners after a loss to the building. Often an add-on: check your policy includes it.

Before you buy

1. Ask the board or managing agent what the building's policy covers. Some building policies cover everything inside your apartment, including finishes. Others stop at the bare walls and subfloor, and you insure the rest. Ask for the deductible too: owners can be charged for it.
2. Read your proprietary lease and house rules. They can require you to carry a policy and set the cover you need. Your lender can require one as well.
3. Ask for replacement cost cover on your belongings and improvements. Some policies pay only the depreciated value. Include any renovation you or a previous owner paid for.
4. Check the loss assessment limit. It helps pay special assessments the co-op charges owners after a loss to the building.

These regulator guides are written for condo owners. In a co-op, the building's master policy and your proprietary lease play the same roles as a condo association's policy and governing documents.

Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, how condo insurance worksMaryland Insurance Administration, condominium insurance FAQs

What your board may ask for

• The cover your proprietary lease or house rules require, including any liability limit they set.
• The co-op corporation named on your policy. In a 2005 opinion, New York's insurance regulator said a co-op can be named as an insured on a shareholder's homeowners policy, though the co-op can claim only to the extent of its own insurable interest or liability exposure.
• Proof that you have that cover.

New York DFS, Office of General Counsel opinion 05-12-05 (co-op named on a shareholder's policy)

Insuring a co-op business

A co-op needs the same core cover as any business of its size and type, plus protection for its elected board.

What to give a broker

Your co-op type (worker, farm, housing, food and so on), how many members and staff you have, your yearly revenue, your bylaws and a short description of what members do. Ask whether your sector association already arranges cover: electric co-ops, for example, can insure through an exchange the co-ops own themselves (see below).

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Insurers that are co-ops or mutuals

A mutual insurer is owned by its policyholders, who elect its board. In a reciprocal exchange, members insure each other. Both work much like a co-op. Some well-known examples:

Health insurance co-ops

The Affordable Care Act funded 23 non-profit health insurance co-ops (CO-OPs). Two still sell plans: Community Health Options in Maine, and Mountain Health CO-OP in Montana and Idaho, which stopped selling in Wyoming at the end of 2025. Common Ground Healthcare in Wisconsin still sells plans but is no longer member-controlled.

healthinsurance.org, CO-OP health plans (page updated 3 June 2026)Mountain Health CO-OP, update for Wyoming members