What is the Massachusetts FAIR Plan, and what does it cover?
It is the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, the state’s insurer of last resort for property nobody in the voluntary market will write. Unlike most FAIR plans it offers full open-peril homeowners forms and up to $1,000,000 on a single building, which is why it has become the default carrier for much of Cape Cod and the Islands. It writes no commercial liability, inspects everything, and applies a mandatory named-storm deductible on the coast.
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The detail
The statute requires insurers to organize an association that “shall provide basic property insurance to eligible applicants who are otherwise unable to obtain such coverage in the voluntary market”, subject to “reasonable underwriting standards”. No number of declinations is set for property coverage.
The plan writes the dwelling forms DP 00 01, 02 and 03, the homeowners forms HO 00 02, 03 and 05 for owners and HO 00 04 and 06 for tenants and condominium owners, and the commercial form CP 00 99. The HO 00 03 is open peril on the dwelling and other structures, and the HO 00 05 on contents as well.
Maximum limits are $1,000,000 single interest and $1,500,000 multiple interest for building and contents, $1,000,000 on homeowners Coverage A, and $500,000 of personal liability. No commercial liability form is offered.
A mandatory percentage named-storm deductible applies to all HO 2, 3 and 5 policies in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties and to properties within half a mile of the coast elsewhere. On Dukes and Nantucket it is 2% up to $199,999 of Coverage A and 5% above; in Barnstable within half a mile it is 2% and 5%, split at $600,000; in the rest of the state within half a mile it is 1% and 2%, split at $500,000.
A named storm is “a hurricane or tropical storm given a name by the National Hurricane Center or the Weather Prediction Center”, and the deductible applies from twelve hours before a watch or warning is issued for any part of Massachusetts until twelve hours after it is lifted. The Division of Insurance approved it in May 2018, effective 1 August 2018.
Massachusetts Division of Insurance, Docket R2017-02, order of 11 May 2018
“An inspection of the property will be made to determine if the property meets MPIUA’s Reasonable Underwriting Standards”, and a coastal risk may be declined for lacking the maximum available flood coverage. Binding is suspended while a tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning is in force for any point on the coast north of latitude 35.3.
An applicant who is declined may appeal to the Commissioner of Insurance within ten days.
What this means for you
- It is a better FAIR plan than most, and still a last resort. Open-peril HO-3 and HO-5 forms and a million-dollar building limit are things the California and Connecticut plans do not offer. But the underwriting standards are real, the inspection is not optional, and a coastal property without flood coverage can be turned away. Treat it as the floor under a re-marketing effort, not the destination.
- The named-storm trigger is the broadest in New England. A tropical storm’s name plus a watch is enough; Connecticut and Rhode Island both require a hurricane warning and, in Connecticut, measured hurricane-force winds. On Nantucket the 5% deductible on a $600,000 house is $30,000, and it applies to a storm that never reached hurricane strength.
- Commercial buildings get property coverage and nothing else. A three-decker with a storefront, a marina building or a seasonal restaurant can be written on the CP 00 99, but liability, business income beyond the form and the liquor exposure all have to be placed elsewhere, and a lender will want to see both policies.
- Half a mile from the coast is a line on a map, and it matters. Inland of it the deductible is a fixed dollar amount; on the water side it is a percentage of the building limit. Ask which side a property is on before the quote, because the answer changes the deductible by an order of magnitude.
- Document the way out. A new roof, hurricane straps, impact glazing and a flood policy are the four things that move a Cape property from the FAIR Plan back to a voluntary carrier. The plan’s own inspection report is a useful starting list.
Related questions
- Do I need to be declined by a certain number of companies first?
No number is written into the statute for property coverage. The test is that coverage was not available in the voluntary market, and a producer will typically document one or two declinations before submitting. The only numeric rule in the chapter concerns liability on a non-owner-occupied dwelling, which needs denials from two insurers.
- Can the FAIR Plan cancel me after the inspection?
Yes. The inspection is against the plan’s reasonable underwriting standards, and a property that fails them, or an owner who does not allow the inspection, can be declined or cancelled. Common failures are roof condition, open hazards and, on the coast, the absence of flood coverage. A declination can be appealed to the Commissioner within ten days.
- How does the Massachusetts plan compare with Connecticut’s and Rhode Island’s?
Massachusetts and Rhode Island both write open-peril homeowners forms with limits over $1,000,000. Connecticut’s plan writes a basic named-peril dwelling form on an actual cash value basis, with a $350,000 limit and freezing and water damage excluded. The three also trigger their storm deductibles differently, which the hurricane deductible guide sets out side by side.
- Hurricane and named-storm deductibles in New England
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Written by the licensed brokers at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-09-06. See all guides.