July 19, 2011

Summary: The Insurance Services Office (ISO) homeowners forms may be used to provide coverage for owner-occupants of one to four family dwellings.  Homeowners policies may also be issued to tenant homeowners, co-op owners, and condominium owners. The homeowners policy as it exists today is a “package” in that it includes coverage for home, contents, and personal liability.

This discussion looks briefly at the evolution of the homeowners program to its current format, provides eligibility guidelines for the various policy forms, and includes a brief overview of the coverages provided by each form.

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Evolution of the Homeowners Form

The “simplified language” homeowners policy that was the precursor of the current edition was first introduced in 1976. Since that time, the forms have undergone modification through amendatory endorsements and revisions of the forms themselves. Policy revisions were made to the 1984 edition by attaching supplemental provisions endorsement HO-350; these provisions were then incorporated into the 1991 edition. The 1991 edition was revised by attaching the 1994 special provisions. (The 1994 date varies by state.) The form was revised in 2000 and is now revised and updated for 2011.

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