An HO-7 is the homeowners policy form adapted for mobile and manufactured homes. It works a lot like the standard HO-3, with the details adjusted for how these homes are built, valued, and sometimes moved.

Who this is for: owners of mobile homes, manufactured homes, and in many cases park-model homes, whether on owned land or a rented lot.

Why standard forms don't fit

A conventional homeowners policy is written around a site-built house: framed on a foundation, valued by local rebuild costs, and never going anywhere. Manufactured homes differ on all three counts. They're factory-built to a federal HUD code rather than local building codes, their market values behave differently over time, and they can be transported. Insurers price and structure that risk differently, so most won't put a standard HO-3 on a manufactured home. The HO-7 exists to close that gap.

What an HO-7 covers

The package will look familiar if you've read about the HO-3. It typically includes:

  • Dwelling coverage, usually on an open-perils basis, covering the home against anything not specifically excluded
  • Other structures, like sheds, carports, and decks
  • Personal property, generally on a named-perils basis
  • Loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others

So the shape of the protection is standard homeowners coverage. What changes is underneath.

What changes for a manufactured home

  • How claims are valued. Many mobile home policies pay actual cash value by default, meaning depreciation is subtracted from a total-loss payout. Replacement cost coverage is often available, especially for newer homes, and the difference at claim time can be enormous. This is the single most important line to check on a quote.
  • Trip and transit coverage. If the home is moved, standard coverage usually pauses. Insurers offer trip collision or transit endorsements for the move itself.
  • Age and condition rules. Carriers often have cutoffs or inspection requirements for older homes, and tie-down or anchoring standards can affect eligibility and wind coverage in storm-prone areas.

What it doesn't cover

The usual homeowners exclusions carry over: flood, earthquake, wear and tear, and pest damage all sit outside the policy. Flood coverage deserves particular attention here, since many manufactured home communities sit in flood-prone areas, and it always requires a separate policy.

The short version

An HO-7 delivers standard homeowners protection reshaped for a factory-built home: same coverage categories, different valuation rules, plus provisions for transport. The details that matter most are replacement cost versus actual cash value and any age or anchoring requirements.

Fewer carriers write manufactured home coverage than standard homeowners, which makes shopping a handful of quotes especially worthwhile here.