What if the condo leak was slow and went on for months?

Gradual seepage is excluded by most property policies on both sides of the boundary. With no insurable event, the repair question goes to the declaration's maintenance provisions, and whoever maintains the failed component pays without insurance.

How long does a Florida condo association have to file a water damage claim?

One year from the date of loss to give the insurer notice, and 18 months for supplemental claims, under FS 627.70132. The clock runs from when the damage occurred, not when it was discovered, so a slow leak found late leaves little time.

How fast must the insurer decide a Florida property claim?

Under FS 627.70131, the insurer must pay, partially pay, or deny within 60 days of receiving notice of the claim, subject to limited statutory exceptions such as declared emergencies or a policyholder's failure to cooperate.

Does an HO-6 policy cover damage from an upstairs neighbor's leak?

Yes, for the owner-side items — the policy responds to a covered water loss regardless of where the water came from, and the carrier may subrogate against a negligent neighbor. Building components in the unit belong on the association's claim.

Who Pays When a Pipe Bursts? The Florida Condo Board's Water-Damage Claims Playbook (2026)

Q: Who pays the master policy deductible after a condo water loss?

By statutory default under FS 718.111(11)(j) it is a common expense shared by all owners. It lands on a specific owner only on a documented negligence basis, or where the association formally opted out of the statutory allocation by recorded vote.

By Ricardo Alonso, Founder, Atesa Risk Advisors · August 22, 2026

Key Takeaways

1 year: Florida's deadline for giving an insurer notice of a property claim, counted from the date of loss — the clock starts when the pipe fails, even if the damage is discovered later [2].
18 months: the deadline for supplemental claims — the follow-up request when repairs uncover more damage than the original estimate captured [2].
60 days: how long a Florida property insurer has to pay, partially pay, or deny a claim after receiving notice, with limited statutory exceptions [3].
$2,000: the minimum loss assessment coverage on every Florida HO-6 condo policy — it can help a unit owner absorb an assessment tied to a covered loss, though the portion that pays a master-deductible assessment is sub-limited [4].
After an "insurable event," FS 718.111(11)(j) requires the association to rebuild everything its master policy must cover, and it makes the deductible and uninsured losses a common expense of all owners — with a carve-out when the damage traces to one owner's negligence [1].
No insurable event, no statutory allocation: a slow leak that never triggers coverage is handled under the maintenance provisions of your declaration, and gradual seepage is excluded by most policies on both sides of the unit boundary.

Who pays when water damages a Florida condo? For a sudden, accidental loss — a burst pipe, a failed water heater — the association's master policy rebuilds the building as originally installed, each unit owner's HO-6 policy covers their floor coverings, cabinets, appliances, and belongings, and the master deductible is shared by all owners as a common expense unless the damage was caused by a specific owner's negligence. For gradual leaks, insurance on both sides usually excludes the damage, and your declaration's maintenance provisions decide who repairs what.

Hurricanes get the headlines, but the claim a Florida condo board is most likely to handle this year starts smaller: a supply line lets go behind a washing machine, a water heater rusts through, an aging drain line finally fails. Within an hour, three units and a hallway are wet, and the board is fielding the same question from every direction — who pays for what? Florida law answers with more precision than owners expect. This guide walks through the statute that draws the line, the one that sets the clock, and the process a board should run while the water is still on the floor. Association hurricane claims follow a different deductible structure; we cover those in our guide to who claims what after a hurricane.

Where the Master Policy Stops and the HO-6 Begins

Florida Statute 718.111(11)(f) draws the boundary. The association's property insurance must cover the condominium property as originally installed — the structure and building systems. The carve-outs belong to the unit owner: floor, wall, and ceiling coverings; electrical fixtures; appliances; water heaters; water filters; built-in cabinets and countertops; and window treatments, along with all personal property in the unit [1].

In industry shorthand, Florida is a "bare walls plus" state: the master policy rebuilds the shell and systems, and the unit owner's HO-6 — the condo unit owner's policy, often called "walls-in" coverage — picks up interior finishes and contents. Drywall is the association's; the paint on it is the owner's. The plumbing riser in the wall is the association's; the water heater it feeds is the owner's.

Upgrades stay on the owner's side: if a prior owner replaced original carpet with travertine, the travertine is still a floor covering, whatever it cost. Owners should size their HO-6 to include those betterments — improvements any past owner made to the unit — as our walls-in guide for unit owners explains. Boards would do well to send that guide to residents, because a building full of properly insured units makes every claim simpler.

Who insures what: the quick reference

Component	Master policy	Unit owner's HO-6
Drywall, framing, insulation (as originally installed)	Covered	—
Plumbing risers and building systems	Covered	—
Paint and wall/ceiling coverings	—	Covered
Flooring — carpet, tile, wood, any vintage	—	Covered
Built-in cabinets and countertops	—	Covered
Appliances and the water heater	—	Covered
Window treatments	—	Covered
Furniture and personal property	—	Covered

Allocation per FS 718.111(11)(f) [1]; upgrades and betterments follow the component, not the price tag.

Sudden Break or Slow Leak: The Insurable-Event Question

FS 718.111(11)(j) sorts every water loss into one of two rulebooks, and the sorting term is "insurable event" — in plain English, a loss of the sudden, accidental kind property insurance is designed to cover [1].

If the loss is an insurable event — the burst pipe, the failed valve, the overflowed tub — the statute controls. The association must reconstruct, repair, or replace everything its policy is required to cover, as a common expense, meaning a cost shared by all unit owners like any other line in the budget. Unit owners repair the carved-out items in their own units through their HO-6 policies.

If there is no insurable event — the classic example is a leak that seeped for months, excluded by essentially every property policy as gradual damage — the statute steps back, and responsibility follows the maintenance provisions of your declaration of condominium, the recorded document that governs your building [1]. Whoever the declaration makes responsible for maintaining the failed component pays for the repair, without insurance. The declaration is a maintenance document, not an insurance policy — and in a seepage loss it is the only document that matters.

This is why two losses that look identical from the hallway end differently. A supply line that bursts on a Tuesday is an insurable event; the same line weeping into the wall cavity since spring is usually excluded. Boards should hold off announcing who pays until cause and duration are documented.

Who Pays the Deductible After a Water Loss

The deductible is where post-loss disputes concentrate, because many Florida master programs now carry a separate, higher deductible for water damage specifically.

The statute's default rule is blunt: property insurance deductibles, uninsured losses, and damages in excess of the association's coverage are a common expense [1]. All owners share them — including the owners whose units stayed dry. The building insures collectively, so it retains risk collectively.

There are two exceptions and one backstop:

Negligence. A unit owner is responsible for repair costs insurance does not pay when the damage was caused by the intentional conduct, negligence, or rule violations of the owner, their family, occupants, tenants, or guests — and the statute preserves the association carrier's subrogation rights, meaning the insurer that paid the loss can pursue the negligent party to recover it [1]. An owner who ignored a visibly failing water heater is a candidate; an owner whose sound supply line failed without warning generally is not. Negligence is a factual finding, so build the file — notices sent, rules adopted, plumber's causation report — before attempting a charge-back.
Opt-out. The statute lets an association opt out of the (11)(j) allocation — the mechanism sits in FS 718.111(11)(k)–(m) — by majority vote recorded in the public records, and instead follow the allocation written in its declaration [1]. Confirm with counsel whether an opt-out was ever recorded; your insurance program should be built around the answer.
The unit owner's backstop. When a deductible is assessed to owners after a covered loss, each owner's HO-6 loss assessment coverage — required by FS 627.714 at a minimum of $2,000 — can respond, though the portion available for a deductible assessment is sub-limited and generally cannot be increased in Florida [4]. The details are in our guide to how much loss assessment coverage you can buy.

The Claim Clock

Florida shortened its property-claim deadlines in the 2022 reforms, and they bind associations exactly as they bind homeowners. Under FS 627.70132, notice of a new or reopened property claim must reach the insurer within 1 year of the date of loss, and a supplemental claim within 18 months [2]. The date of loss is when the damage occurred — a leak discovered in month eleven leaves only weeks to act. The insurer then owes a decision within 60 days of notice, with limited exceptions, under FS 627.70131 [3].

The practical sequence on the day of a loss:

Stop the water and mitigate. Every policy requires reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and mitigation invoices are generally recoverable parts of the claim.
Document before demolition. Photographs, video, moisture mapping — and keep the failed pipe section. Causation evidence decides the insurable-event question and any charge-back.
Notify the master carrier promptly, in writing, even while still investigating. Policy "prompt notice" provisions protect the claim; waiting for a repair estimate does not.
Tell affected owners to notify their HO-6 carriers the same week. Their deadlines run on the same statute, and their policies cover what the master policy will not.
Coordinate scopes early so the association's and owners' adjusters agree which line items sit on which side of the boundary — otherwise the same drywall gets claimed twice and the flooring by nobody.

Most of the water claims I see go sideways over procedure. The building had coverage; what it didn't have was photographs from day one, a preserved pipe section, or notice letters sent before the contractors started tearing out walls.

— Ricardo Alonso, Founder, Atesa Risk Advisors

A Walkthrough: The Unit 4B Pipe Break

A washing-machine supply line in unit 4B fails on a Friday night. Water runs into 3B below, wicks into the hallway, and soaks the wall cavity shared with 4A. Under a standard program:

Building repairs — master policy. Drywall, insulation, and framing in all three units and the hallway, as originally installed. The association opens the claim and handles its deductible under the rules above.
Interior finishes and contents — each unit's HO-6. 4B's flooring, 3B's ceiling paint, cabinets, baseboards, rugs, furniture — claimed by each owner on their own policy with their own deductible.
Displacement — each unit's HO-6. If 3B is uninhabitable during drying, the owner's loss of use coverage (Coverage D on standard forms) pays the increase in living expenses. Policies vary; owners should confirm their own forms.
Charge-back, if any. If the file shows 4B's owner was twice notified to replace failing supply lines under an adopted rule, the board has a documented basis to hold that owner responsible for costs insurance does not pay, and the master carrier may subrogate. Absent that file, the deductible stays a common expense.

Nobody's coverage depended on whose unit the water started in: the boundary is drawn by component, and fault enters only through the negligence exception.

When Water Damage Is Not Covered at All

The recurring gaps to know before relying on any policy:

Gradual seepage and long-term leakage are excluded on standard forms, master and HO-6 alike. Leak duration is the first thing an adjuster investigates.
Mold is typically sub-limited — capped at a stated amount well below the cost of serious remediation — on both sides of the boundary.
Flood — rising water from outside the building — is a separate policy, and association flood coverage is optional under Chapter 718 [1].
Wear and tear on the failed component itself: policies commonly pay for the water's damage but exclude replacing the corroded pipe that released it.

Buildings with aging cast-iron drains or original polybutylene supply lines should expect carrier questions at renewal, sometimes with water sublimits or exclusions offered as a condition of terms. That is a negotiation, and it belongs in the renewal conversation alongside leak-detection credits.

What Boards Should Review Before the Next Loss

An hour with your agent before a loss is worth more than a month of meetings after one:

The water-damage deductible on the master program, and whether the budget or reserves could absorb it without a special assessment.
The association's (11)(j) opt-out status, confirmed from the public records.
The declaration's maintenance provisions for plumbing, since they control every repair that insurance excludes.
The replacement-cost appraisal, which FS 718.111(11)(a) requires at least every 36 months [1].
An annual unit-owner insurance notice reminding residents that flooring, cabinets, and contents are theirs to insure.
A written claims procedure naming who calls the carrier, who documents, and which mitigation vendor answers at 2 a.m.

This is where an independent broker changes the outcome. At Atesa, our condo and HOA insurance practice builds association programs with the water loss in mind — deductible structures the budget can survive, mold sublimits negotiated upward where the market allows, and unit-owner education that keeps claims clean. We shop more than 40 A-rated carriers and put the boundary questions in writing before anyone is standing in wet carpet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who pays for water damage from a burst pipe in a Florida condo? For a sudden, accidental break, the association's master policy repairs the building as originally installed in every affected unit, and each owner's HO-6 covers their floor coverings, cabinets, appliances, window treatments, and personal property.

Does it matter whose unit the leak started in? The coverage boundary ignores origin — responsibility is allocated by component in every unit the water touched. The origin unit's owner becomes financially responsible only if the damage was caused by their negligence, intentional conduct, or rule violation.

Who pays the master policy deductible after a water loss? By statutory default it is a common expense shared by all owners. It lands on a specific owner only on a documented negligence basis, or where the association formally opted out of the statute's allocation.

Can the association bill repairs back to the owner whose supply line failed? Only with evidence of negligence, intentional conduct, or violation of the declaration or rules — for example, documented notices to replace failing hoses that the owner ignored. A component that failed without warning generally does not support a charge-back.

What if the leak was slow and went on for months? Gradual seepage is excluded by most property policies on both sides of the boundary. With no insurable event, the repair question goes to your declaration's maintenance provisions, and whoever maintains the failed component pays without insurance.

How long do we have to file the claim? One year from the date of loss to give notice, and 18 months for supplemental claims, under FS 627.70132. Individual policies also require prompt notice — report first, refine the numbers later.

Should the board file a claim or pay out of pocket? If the building-side loss is near or below the deductible, paying without a claim is often rational, since claim frequency affects renewals. Either way, document the loss and establish the cause — a "small" water loss that later reveals hidden damage still faces the one-year notice clock.

Does my HO-6 cover damage to my unit from my upstairs neighbor's leak? Yes, for your owner-side items — your policy responds to a covered water loss regardless of where the water came from, and your carrier may then subrogate against a negligent neighbor. Building components in your unit belong on the association's claim.

What is subrogation? Recovery by an insurer, after it pays a claim, from the party whose fault caused the loss. In condo water losses it usually appears as the association's carrier pursuing a negligent unit owner — one more reason owners should carry real liability limits.

Can our association opt out of the statutory allocation? Yes. FS 718.111(11)(k)–(m) allow an association, by majority vote recorded in the public records, to allocate repair and reconstruction expenses per its declaration instead of the (11)(j) default. Confirm your status with counsel, because it changes who pays before any adjuster gets involved.

Sources

[1] The 2025 Florida Statutes — Section 718.111(11), Association insurance; property coverage, unit-owner responsibility, and reconstruction after casualty

[2] The 2025 Florida Statutes — Section 627.70132, Notice of property insurance claim

[3] The 2025 Florida Statutes — Section 627.70131, Insurer's duty to acknowledge communications and act promptly on claims

[4] The 2025 Florida Statutes — Section 627.714, Residential condominium unit owner coverage; loss assessment coverage required

Educational disclaimer: This article is general educational information about insurance and is not insurance advice, a quote, or an offer of coverage. Rates, discounts, deadlines, and requirements change and vary by property; confirm current figures with primary sources and a licensed agent before relying on them. Coverage is subject to the terms of your policy. For a personalized review, contact Atesa Risk Advisors, an independent, RamseyTrusted brokerage licensed in Florida (2-20 General Lines).

Ricardo Alonso is the Founder of Atesa Risk Advisors, a Florida independent insurance agency. Licensed 2-20 General Lines Agent and 2-15 Health & Life Agent, with a Master of Liberal Arts in Finance from Harvard University and a background in construction. He places HO-6 and association master programs for condo owners and boards across Northeast Florida.