Building insurance, your own condo policy and deductibles
What the Master Policy and Your Condo Policy Each Cover at The Royalton
Updated November 2026
What does a condo policy cover when you buy in a high-rise like The Royalton?
As of November 2026, the Texas Department of Insurance says a condo policy covers your personal property and your unit's interior, plus liability protection and additional living expenses.
Paige Martin, Houston Properties Team, The Royalton
Source: Texas Department of Insurance, consumer guide to home insurance, June 2026.
What does your own condo policy cover in a Royalton unit?
At The Royalton, your own policy is written for your unit alone, beside the association's policy on the building. The Texas Department of Insurance's consumer guide puts two things inside it: your personal property and the interior of your unit.
The same guide adds liability protection to the condominium policy. That coverage sits on its own line, apart from the property coverage, so read its limit separately on any quote.
Give your insurance agent the recorded declaration and the association's insurance summary together. The quote can then be built around how the building's documents divide your unit from the common elements.
A full-service agent requests those documents early in the contract, so your insurance agent can quote the unit policy while your termination rights are still open.
Condominium insurance covers your personal property and the interior of your unit.
What does a lender expect The Royalton's master policy to carry?
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, in a topic dated August 2026, sets the standard a lender checks when it reviews a condo building's master property insurance. The master policy is the association's policy, bought for the whole project rather than for one owner.
Under that guide, the coverage amount must equal at least 100 percent of the estimated replacement cost value of the project improvements. The guide counts common elements and residential structures in that figure.
The guide also caps the deductible on the required perils. The most it allows is $50,000 per unit.
A widely cited building page lists insurance on the common areas among the items The Royalton's monthly fee covers. That is a listing field, so the association's own insurance summary is the version to rely on.
These are a lender's conditions on a loan, and whether The Royalton meets them is the lender's determination. A full-service agent sends the lender's insurance questions with the document request, so both answers arrive inside the contract's deadlines.
The maximum allowable per unit deductible for all required property insurance perils covered by a master property insurance policy is $50,000 per unit.
Which Texas rules set The Royalton association's insurance duty?
The Texas State Law Library's guide places condominium associations under the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code. The Royalton's declaration was recorded after its December 2004 conversion, so that chapter reaches the building in full.
To the extent reasonably available, Chapter 82 has the association insure the insurable common elements at no less than 80 percent of replacement cost or actual cash value. Where a building's units have horizontal boundaries, that policy must include the units.
The association's policy need not include improvements and betterments installed by unit owners. A policy issued to the association also leaves you free to buy insurance for your own benefit.
Deductibles on the association's policies are commercially reasonable amounts the board decides. A claim for a loss the association's property insurance covers is submitted by and adjusted with the association.
The statute also splits the cost of a deductible. A repair costing less than the deductible falls on whoever would owe the repair without insurance. Above it, the governing documents decide first, then a board resolution, and otherwise it is a common expense.
Where an owner, or that owner's guest or invitee, caused the damage in whole or in part, the association may assess the deductible against that owner and unit.
The statute leaves a mortgage holder free to require insurance beyond what the association carries. Fannie Mae's 100 percent standard and the statute's 80 percent floor answer to different parties, so read each against its own source.
A board resolution on deductibles must be recorded wherever the declaration is recorded. A full-service agent can request it by name before you settle on your own deductible.
Condominium associations are governed by the Texas Uniform Condominium Act (Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code).
How does a deductible work on your Royalton unit policy?
The Texas Department of Insurance's consumer guide defines a deductible as the amount of a claim you pay yourself. The agency's October 2024 tips on deductibles add that home and auto policies apply the deductible to each claim.
Those tips work an example. With $6,500 in roof repairs, the agency's Policy B paid nothing, because the repair cost less than that policy's deductible.
The same arithmetic reaches a unit owner. On a smaller interior loss, a repair costing less than your deductible draws no payment from your own policy.
Two deductibles can reach one event in a condominium: yours and the association's. Ask your insurance agent how your policy responds when the board assesses part of the master policy's deductible against your unit.
A full-service agent gets the association's insurance summary to you before the option period ends, so the two deductibles can be set side by side while you can still act on what they show.
Which Royalton document shows what the master policy carries?
Start with the resale certificate. The Texas State Law Library's guide says it summarizes the association's financial status, fee structures and unpaid debts owed by the property, among other information.
On TREC's current certificate form, box J states whether the association provides coverage for owners' benefit. A summary from the association's insurance agent comes attached, along with the operating budget and balance sheet.
At The Royalton, the insurance line carries extra weight. After the 11 August 2022 underground water line break, how the claim settled decided whether owners funded any shortfall through a special assessment.
The insurance history sits outside the certificate package, so ask for it by name alongside the board minutes and the current reserve study.
Paige Martin specializes in condo purchases and purchases in an association-governed building, with 43 closings at The Royalton since 2004, most recently July 2026. Send the unit number and your lender's insurance requirement, and you will get back the documents to request and the order to request them.
Questions & answers
The Royalton questions, answered
If The Royalton has to close for repairs, does my condo policy pay for somewhere else to stay?
The Texas Department of Insurance's consumer guide says condominium insurance pays additional living expenses. That is the coverage line for a stretch away from home. What triggers it, how long it lasts and how much it pays are written in your own policy. Ask your insurance agent to show you all three before you buy.
The question has a history at this address. After an underground water line serving the fire sprinkler system broke on 11 August 2022, the whole 33-story tower was evacuated. The city allowed some residents back on 4 October 2022, roughly eight weeks later, and some homes stayed closed longer. Ask three things in writing. First, whether a closure of the whole building counts under the policy's wording. Second, how long the payments run. Third, what limit applies. Keep the answers with the declarations page you send your lender.
Should my Royalton condo policy pay replacement cost on my belongings?
The Texas Department of Insurance's consumer guide says replacement cost coverage pays to repair or replace your house and personal property at current prices. On a unit policy, ask whether the quote is written on that basis. Ask separately for your belongings and for the interior of your unit, because the two can be written differently.
Two quotes written on different bases are hard to compare. Ask each insurance agent to state the basis in writing, line by line. Then read the result beside the association's insurance summary. That way the building's policy and your own are measured the same way, and the space between them is visible before closing.
Can the deductible on my Royalton condo policy be a percentage instead of a set dollar amount?
Yes. The Texas Department of Insurance's consumer tips on deductibles say a deductible may be a specific dollar amount or a percentage. The same tips add that, in general, the higher the deductible, the lower the cost for the policy. Ask for quotes at two or three deductible levels and read each premium beside what you would pay on a claim.
A percentage deductible is measured against a figure on the policy, so ask your insurance agent which figure that is on your quote. A set dollar amount stays the same from claim to claim. Pick a number you could pay without strain more than once. Then set it beside the master policy's deductible, which the association's insurance summary shows.
Is the master policy premium part of my monthly fee at The Royalton?
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, dated August 2026, says that when a master policy is required, its premiums are paid as a common expense by the HOA. At The Royalton, a widely cited building page lists insurance on the common areas among the items the monthly fee covers. The association's current operating budget, attached to the resale certificate, is its own account of what the fee funds.
Your share of that common expense follows your unit's allocated interest in the recorded declaration rather than its square footage. The median monthly fee on homes sold here in 2026 was $1,377, on a series computed 31 August 2026. That figure is the middle of the fees on homes that sold, not the assessment on any one unit. Insurance is among the costs that reprice each year, and the median fee here has risen in most years of the last decade. Budget for your own unit policy as a separate line beside the fee.
Does a lender expect The Royalton's master policy to include equipment breakdown coverage?
Only on a condition. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, dated August 2026, requires Boiler and Machinery/Equipment Breakdown Coverage if the project development has central heating or cooling. So the answer turns on how the tower is heated and cooled. Ask the association in writing whether its systems are central, and whether the master policy carries that coverage.
The requirement is a lender's condition for a loan delivered to Fannie Mae, rather than a duty Texas law places on the association. Ask your loan officer early whether your loan will be delivered to Fannie Mae. If it will, add the equipment breakdown question to the lender's other project questions. Send them with the request for the resale certificate, and check the answer against the insurance summary attached to it.
Does the older Texas Condominium Act apply to The Royalton?
No. The Texas State Law Library's guide says associations established before 1994 may be governed by the older Texas Condominium Act, Chapter 81 of the Texas Property Code. The Royalton opened as a rental tower in December 2002 and became a condominium after a December 2004 sale. Its declaration was recorded after that conversion.
The distinction matters when you read about insurance rules. A rule written for an older condominium may come from Chapter 81 and may not carry over here. Chapter 209, the statute many Texas homeowners know from subdivisions, does not apply to a condominium as defined by Section 81.002 or 82.003. Bring the recorded declaration to your attorney if a question turns on which chapter governs a particular clause.
How soon can I read The Royalton's insurance summary before I commit?
Once the owner sends a written request, the association has ten days to produce the resale certificate, and the summary from the association's insurance agent comes attached. The copy a buyer receives must have been prepared no earlier than three months before delivery. Ask the seller to make the request as early as possible, ideally before you write the offer.
Under TREC's condominium resale contract, a buyer who lacked the certificate at signing may terminate within 7 days after receiving it, with the earnest money refunded. That window counts from delivery, which leaves time for your insurance agent to quote against the summary. The option period runs on its own clock from the Effective Date, so put both dates on one calendar. If the association misses its ten days, the seller may offer a sworn affidavit instead. Agreeing in writing to waive the certificate means going forward with the insurance summary unread.
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