HO-7 Policies
HO-7 is the homeowners policy form built for mobile and manufactured homes, covering the home, belongings and liability much like an HO-3.
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How the home is titled
If the home is titled as personal property with a state motor vehicle agency, it usually needs an HO-7 form. Once it's permanently affixed to land you own and the title is retired, some insurers treat it like real property. Your deed and title paperwork settle which applies.
Age of the home
Older manufactured homes, especially those built before 1976 federal construction standards, can be harder to place. They may cost more to insure, and some insurers set age cutoffs. Updated electrical, plumbing and roofing help, and an inspection may be asked for before coverage starts.
Tie-downs and anchoring
Wind coverage often depends on the home meeting the anchoring and tie-down standards for your area. Manufactured homes face more wind risk than site-built ones. Your policy or the insurer's underwriting file will list what's required, and the park or installer can confirm what's in place.
What the park requires
If the home sits in a manufactured home community, the park's lease usually sets a minimum liability amount. It may also require the park be listed as an interested party on the policy. Check the lease terms against your declarations page before renewing or switching coverage.
Insurers who write HO-7 differ a lot on price, especially for homes built before the 1976 standards or sitting on leased park land. One insurer might decline the home outright over its age or tie-down setup, while another prices it close to a standard policy. Since your situation touches titling, anchoring and the park's lease terms all at once, comparing quotes shows which insurers actually fit your home instead of just tolerating it.
What an HO-7 policy actually pays for
An HO-7 covers the home itself, called dwelling coverage, along with any attached structures like a carport or built-on porch. It also covers your belongings inside, and liability if someone gets hurt on the property or you damage someone else's. Most policies add loss of use, which pays for a place to stay if the home becomes unlivable after a covered loss. The structure of it mirrors an HO-3 written for a site-built house, just adapted for how manufactured homes are built, set up and titled.
Wind, hail, fire and lightning are typically covered, along with theft and a list of other named perils spelled out on the declarations page. Flood is not included under any HO-7, no matter how the home is titled or anchored. If the home sits in a flood zone, or the park has flooded before, that's a separate policy through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood carrier. Earthquake coverage is usually excluded too, and would need its own endorsement or policy.
Belongings coverage under an HO-7 often works differently than it would for a site-built home. Many manufactured home policies pay actual cash value on contents rather than full replacement cost, meaning depreciation gets subtracted from older items before the claim pays out. Some insurers offer replacement cost coverage on belongings as an upgrade. Check which one your policy lists, since it changes what a claim for a damaged couch or a stolen television actually pays.
Detached structures like a storage shed, a separate garage, or a deck built apart from the home usually need to be listed on the policy to be covered, often under a separate limit from the main dwelling. The same goes for anything added after the home was first insured, like a new skirting system or an awning. If you've made changes to the home or added structures around it, your declarations page needs to reflect that, or a claim on something unlisted may come back denied.
How a claim actually gets paid out
Dwelling coverage on an HO-7 pays out one of two ways, and it matters which one your policy uses. Actual cash value pays what the home is worth right now, after subtracting depreciation for its age and condition. Replacement cost pays what it would take to replace the home with similar materials, without that deduction. Older manufactured homes are more likely to be written on an actual cash value basis, since insurers see more risk in rebuilding something decades old at today's prices. Your declarations page states which one applies, and it changes a payout by a lot after a total loss.
Deductibles on HO-7 policies work like any other homeowners policy, but wind and hail often carry a separate, higher deductible written as a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat dollar amount. A 2 percent wind deductible on a home insured for 60,000 dollars works out to 1,200 dollars before the policy pays anything, separate from the regular deductible that applies to fire or theft. Since manufactured homes face more wind exposure, this separate deductible shows up often. Check the declarations page for a wind or named storm deductible listed apart from the standard one.
Filing a claim after storm damage usually starts with documenting the damage before any repairs happen, since an adjuster will want to see the home as the storm left it. Photos of the tie-downs, skirting and any visible structural shift help support the claim, especially if wind coverage depended on meeting anchoring standards in the first place. If the park requires repairs to start quickly to keep the lot in good standing, ask the insurer about a timeline before work begins, so the claim and the park's rules don't end up in conflict.
How fast a claim gets resolved can depend on whether the home was inspected before the policy started. Insurers who required an inspection up front often move faster on a claim, since there is already a record of the home's condition and setup to compare against. Homes insured without that step may face more back and forth establishing what existed before the damage. If an inspection was part of getting the policy, keep a copy of its findings somewhere separate from the home itself.
Before you renew
Pull your declarations page. Check whether dwelling coverage is actual cash value or replacement cost, whether a separate wind or named storm deductible applies, and whether the park's lease liability minimum is met.
