The Massachusetts FAIR Plan, explained

Is your home, condo or rental on the “FAIR Plan” (MPIUA)? Or has an agent just told you that’s where it has to go? Here’s what that means, in plain language. We’ve written FAIR Plan policies from our Hingham office for decades.

A granite seawall and rocky Massachusetts shoreline at sunset, with a small shingled cottage out on the point

What it is

The FAIR Plan is the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, or MPIUA. It’s the state’s property insurer of last resort.

It’s there so a Massachusetts property owner who can’t find coverage in the regular market can still buy a real policy.
The insurance companies that do business in Massachusetts share in it.
It’s a licensed Massachusetts insurer, and it pays claims like any other.
It isn’t a government handout, and it isn’t a lesser kind of insurance.

Who ends up there

Mostly homes the standard companies won’t write. The reason usually has nothing to do with the owner.

Homes near the ocean. This is the most common reason on the South Shore: houses in Hull, Scituate, Cohasset, Humarock and along Hingham harbor that sit closer to the water than the standard companies want.
Older houses with older roofs or wiring.
Some condos and rentals.

Sometimes it’s simply where an agency places a certain kind of policy, based on its own experience.

Being on the FAIR Plan is not a mark against you. But it isn’t the only choice on the coast. We write coastal homes with many companies, and we check them first.

What the policy covers

The FAIR Plan writes:

Homeowners policies
Condo policies
Renters policies
Dwelling policies for houses you rent to others

Its policies are more basic than a standard company’s. Some things you might expect, like replacement cost on your belongings, are add-ons, not automatic. That’s fine as long as someone reads the policy with you and tells you which options matter for your house. That’s our job.

What it doesn’t cover

Flood. Flooding from the sea or a river needs a separate flood policy. We write those too.
Your car or your boat. Those need their own policies.
Liability above the policy limit. An umbrella policy adds more on top.
Things that belong to others in the house. For example, a ring that belongs to an adult child living with you can’t go on the parents’ policy.

Ask before you assume.

How you buy it

Only through a licensed Massachusetts insurance agent. You can’t walk in off the street. The application, the inspection questions and the paperwork all go through an agent who knows the Plan’s rules.

We do this every week, for new policies and for changes to existing ones.

Can you get back out?

Often, yes. Any of these can move a house back to a standard company:

A new roof
Updated electrical service
A removed oil tank
A change in what the standard companies are willing to write

We look at every FAIR Plan policy at renewal with this in mind. If there’s a better option, we’ll tell you. If the FAIR Plan is still the right place, we’ll tell you that too.