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An HO-3 covers the house on an open-perils basis, which means perils the form does not exclude, and it covers belongings only for the named perils the form lists. An HO-5 extends that open-perils approach to belongings too. An HO-6 is the condo unit-owner form, and a DP-3 is the dwelling form commonly used when a tenant lives in the house. Read the policy you are offered.
Homeowners form callback. Leave a name and a phone number. A licensed agent at Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, will call about an HO-3, HO-5, HO-6, or DP-3 on a California property. Or call 209-670-1556.
Open perils, which a Department of Insurance court decision calls comprehensive coverage, means the property is covered for perils except the exclusions the policy lists. Named perils means only the causes the form names are covered. On a common HO-3 the house is open perils and the belongings are named perils. An HO-5 uses open perils for both.
The 2021 decision posted by the Department calls the HO-3 contents side broad named perils. The Residential Insurance guide splits the contract into Section I property and Section II liability. Endorsements can move either side.
An owner-occupied house in California is commonly written on an HO-3 or an HO-5. The Department of Insurance's homeowners market data counts HO-3 and HO-5 as homeowners policies. The posted decision describes the HO-3 as comprehensive on the dwelling and broad named perils on contents, and the HO-5 as comprehensive on both. Your declarations name the form you actually have.
The Department's key terms count HO-2, HO-3, HO-5, and HO-8, or the equivalent, inside homeowners policies for residential property of four units or fewer. If you sleep there and a tenant does not hold the keys, start with HO-3 versus HO-5. The guide says items such as jewelry can be scheduled. Say you live there, and use the homeowners quote checklist for the papers.
The same Department data labels condominium policies HO-6 and leaves them out of the homeowners count. The Department's residential guide says a unit-owner policy covers personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments, plus the interior and the improvements the owner must maintain. The association generally insures the building and the common areas.
An HO-3 for a detached house is the wrong start for a unit in a condominium. Your HO-6 is the interior, the upgrades, your belongings, and your liability. The guide says to consider loss assessment and to check whether it includes earthquake. The master policy and the CC&Rs are on the HO-6 condo page.
When a tenant lives in the house, companies commonly use a dwelling form rather than an owner-occupied HO-3. The Department's market data lists dwelling-fire policies and landlord policies apart from HO-3 and HO-5. The posted court decision describes the ISO DP-3 as comprehensive on the dwelling and broad named perils on contents. Read the form you are offered.
That DP-3 description is property coverage for the building, with named perils on contents the owner still insures. The tenant's furniture belongs on a renters policy in the tenant's name. Your file is the building and landlord liability. The occupancy handoff is landlord insurance versus a homeowners policy. An empty gap between tenants is the vacant home page.
Age does not flip an HO-3 into an HO-5. A newer house with a rebuild cost the company can estimate is commonly still an HO-3 or an HO-5. An older or heritage house, where replacement cost is hard to estimate, is the case the same decision ties to an HO-8: named perils on the dwelling, settled on actual cash value, plus liability.
Open perils still stop at the exclusions. The residential guide's generally-not-covered list includes flood, earthquake, earth movement, and wear and tear. The guide says the insurer must offer earthquake coverage for an additional premium, and that flood is generally not in the homeowners policy.
HO-5 does not add earth movement or flood. The guide also lists mold, neglect, and a long vacancy among causes a homeowners policy generally does not cover, and it says to read the exclusions in the contract. The earthquake offer may come from the homeowners insurer, another insurer, or the California Earthquake Authority. Flood is a separate policy. The exclusions page is what a homeowners policy does not cover.
The form picks the perils. Settlement picks how a covered loss is paid. The guide says an actual cash value policy will not completely replace a destroyed home, and that a policy cannot be sold as guaranteed replacement cost unless it pays to rebuild regardless of the limit. The replacement-cost page is the longer comparison.
For a total loss to the structure, the guide measures actual cash value as the policy limit or the fair market value, whichever is less. For a partial loss it is repair cost less a fair deduction for physical depreciation, or the policy limit, whichever is less. Some replacement-cost policies pay an added amount above the limit. Some omit building-code upgrade. The guide notes the disclosure label moved from extended replacement cost to limited replacement cost. Definitions live on the replacement cost and actual cash value page. Ask which settlement the quote uses.
Send who sleeps there, the address, the year built, the living area, the roof year and material, and the declarations if a policy is already in force. Those facts sort owner, condo, and landlord before anyone discusses limits. Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, takes the file on this page or at 209-670-1556, from Stockton, San Jose, and San Rafael, and for houses elsewhere in California.
Say whether you live there, a condo association is involved, or a tenant has the keys, and name the lender if one will be on the policy. The paper list is the quote checklist.
Match the row to who occupies the property. Dwelling and belongings follow the posted decision's description of the ISO forms and the guide's description of the condo unit-owner policy. Package-form liability is Section II. The DP-3 row is a dwelling form, so liability is what the landlord policy adds. The last column is the paper that keeps the quote on that row.
| Form | Who it is for | Dwelling | Belongings | Liability | What to send |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HO-3 | Owner living in the house | Open perils, except exclusions. The decision calls this comprehensive on the dwelling | Named perils. The decision calls this broad named perils on contents | Personal liability and medical payments on the package | Address, year built, living area, roof, who lives there |
| HO-5 | Owner who wants belongings on open perils too | Open perils, except exclusions | Open perils, except exclusions and special limits the form prints | Same package liability | The HO-3 facts, plus items you may schedule |
| HO-6 | Condo unit owner | Interior and improvements the owner must maintain. The association generally insures the structure | Personal property of the unit owner | Liability and medical payments on the unit-owner policy | Association insurance summary |
| DP-3 | House a tenant occupies, the way companies commonly write landlord property | Open perils on the dwelling, as the decision describes the DP-3 | Named perils on contents the owner insures. Not the tenant's furniture | Landlord liability on the dwelling policy, not a resident package | Tenant occupancy, lease status, owner contents left behind |
Name the occupancy, pull the declarations if you have them, and start the homeowners quote or the callback. The form follows occupancy. A licensed agent at 209-670-1556, Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, reads the file and says which form a company can offer.
Declarations first. HO-3, HO-5, HO-6, and DP-3 are names for common forms. An endorsement can move a peril, a limit, or the settlement. The policy you are buying is the one that pays.
Ready to name the form? Leave a number. Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, will call about the house, the condo, or the rental. Or call 209-670-1556.
La diferencia entre HO-3 y HO-5, la aseguranza de casa HO-3, y qué tipo de póliza pide un condominio o una casa con inquilino.
Sources, October 22, 2026: CDI Residential Insurance guide; CDI key terms for HO-2, HO-3, HO-5, HO-8, HO-4, and HO-6; court decision posted by CDI describing ISO HO-3, HO-5, HO-8, and DP-3.
Call 209-670-1556 or send the callback form. Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, reads who lives in the house and says whether a company can start the quote on an HO-3, an HO-5, an HO-6, or a dwelling form.
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