Both are ISO homeowners forms: HO 00 03, the Special Form, and HO 00 05, the Comprehensive Form. ISO publishes standard policy wording, and insurers may use it as written or sell their own versions. For the house, both forms use the same open-perils promise. The split is Coverage C, your personal property. An HO-3 pays for damage to your things only when one of 16 listed causes did it, such as fire, theft or water accidentally discharged from plumbing. An HO-5 pays unless the cause is excluded or carved out. Both exclude flood and earthquake, and both base forms pay belongings at actual cash value unless an endorsement changes that.
What the two forms are
The HO-3 is ISO form HO 00 03, Homeowners 3 – Special Form. The HO-5 is HO 00 05, Homeowners 5 – Comprehensive Form. Both forms bundle the same parts: the dwelling (Coverage A), other structures such as garages and storage sheds (Coverage B), personal property (Coverage C), loss of use, personal liability and medical payments to others.
For the house and other structures, both forms make the same promise: they insure against direct physical loss, then list what they don’t cover. Maryland’s regulator calls this open perils or all-risk coverage. The HO-5 puts Coverage C in that same sentence. The HO-3 gives Coverage C its own section with a numbered list of perils. Quotes here come from AAA-amended 10 00 edition copies posted by Nevada’s insurance division; ISO’s 2011 HO-3 edition, HO 00 03 05 11, names the same 16 contents perils and nine exclusions.
Side by side
- Form: HO-3: ISO HO 00 03, Special Form. HO-5: ISO HO 00 05, Comprehensive Form.
- House and other structures: HO-3: open perils, meaning direct physical loss unless excluded. HO-5: the same.
- Belongings (Coverage C): HO-3: only 16 named perils. HO-5: open perils, the same basis as the house.
- The question on a contents claim: HO-3: was the damage caused by a listed peril? HO-5: does an exclusion or a stated carve-out apply?
- Shared exclusions: HO-3: nine Section I exclusions, including earth movement and water damage such as flood. HO-5: the same nine.
- Belongings paid at, in the base form: HO-3: actual cash value. HO-5: actual cash value. An endorsement such as HO 04 90 changes contents to replacement cost.
- Availability: HO-3: called the most common policy type by New York’s regulator. HO-5: not offered by every insurer, and Florida’s regulator says fewer homes are eligible.
Open perils vs. named perils, in practice
On an HO-3, the personal property perils are: fire or lightning; windstorm or hail; explosion; riot or civil commotion; aircraft; vehicles; smoke; vandalism or malicious mischief; theft; falling objects; weight of ice, snow or sleet; accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam; sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, air conditioning or sprinkler system, or water heater; freezing; sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current; and volcanic eruption.
If the cause isn’t on that list, the HO-3 isn’t designed to pay. A television knocked off its stand or a can of paint tipped over on a rug doesn’t match any of the 16 as written. Even the electrical current peril leaves out tubes, transistors, electronic components and circuitry that are part of appliances, fixtures, computers and home entertainment units.
On an HO-5 the question flips to exclusions and carve-outs. The HO-5 doesn’t cover breakage of eyeglasses, glassware, porcelain and similar fragile articles unless the breakage comes from causes the form lists, such as fire, windstorm, theft or collapse of the building. It also carves out dampness or extremes of temperature (unless rain, snow, sleet or hail caused it), refinishing, renovating or repairing property, and seizure by a government authority.
What neither form covers
Both forms list the same nine Section I exclusions: ordinance or law; earth movement, including earthquake, landslide and sinkhole; water damage, meaning flood, surface water, water backing up through sewers or drains, and water below the ground; power failure off the premises; neglect; war; nuclear hazard; intentional loss; and governmental action. Both also carve wear and tear, mechanical breakdown, rust, mold (except hidden mold from certain accidental leaks), settling, birds, rodents, insects and animals you own out of their open-perils coverage.
Flood calls for a separate flood policy. Both forms add back a limited amount for code-required rebuilding, up to 10% of the Coverage A limit; see ordinance or law coverage.
Perils and payout are separate questions
Which perils are covered and how much a claim pays are separate terms. In both ISO forms, the loss settlement condition pays personal property at actual cash value, which New York’s regulator describes as replacement value minus depreciation. ISO’s Personal Property Replacement Cost endorsement, HO 04 90, changes that to replacement cost.
Florida’s regulator describes HO-5 as paying replacement cost, while noting policies differ by insurer. The ISO form’s own wording says actual cash value, so check your declarations page for a replacement cost endorsement. See replacement cost vs. actual cash value.
What decides between them
Alabama’s regulator says HO-5 isn’t offered by all companies, Florida’s says fewer homes are eligible, and Wisconsin’s guide says HO-5 isn’t often sold today, though many insurers offer similar policies. Wisconsin also describes a middle path: a special personal property coverage endorsement, which it calls HO-15, that extends an HO-3 to “comprehensive” coverage on unscheduled personal property.
The deciding question is what your belongings are worth: expensive electronics, art or furnishings put more value at risk from causes an HO-3 doesn’t list. For larger homes and collections, see high-value home insurance and the basics of homeowners insurance.
How to tell which form you have
Start with your declarations page, the summary sheet at the front of the policy. New York’s sample declarations page shows the basic form by number and name, HO 00 03 Homeowners 3 – Special Form, and lists the policy’s forms and endorsements with their editions, including HO 04 90 for personal property replacement cost. Your insurer’s page will look different, New York notes, but check the edition next to each form number. If yours isn’t clear, ask for the policy itself and read the Perils Insured Against section.
Common questions
Does an HO-5 cover flood or earthquake?
No. Both forms exclude flood, surface water and earth movement, including earthquake. Those risks need separate coverage.
Is an HO-3 with an endorsement the same as an HO-5?
Not the same form. Wisconsin’s regulator describes a special personal property coverage endorsement (HO-15) that extends an HO-3 to comprehensive coverage on unscheduled personal property; compare the actual wording, since carve-outs can differ.
Does an HO-5 automatically pay replacement cost for my things?
Not under the ISO form’s own wording, which settles personal property at actual cash value. Replacement cost on contents comes from an endorsement such as HO 04 90 or the insurer’s own terms, so check the declarations page.
Can any home get an HO-5?
Not always. Not every insurer offers it, and Florida’s regulator says fewer homes are eligible for an HO-5 policy.
Does open perils mean everything is covered?
No. Both forms list exclusions, and the HO-5 also carves out breakage of fragile articles such as glassware unless a listed cause like fire or theft did it, plus dampness, extremes of temperature and damage from refinishing or repairing.
Sources
- ISO HO 00 03 10 00, Homeowners 3 – Special Form (AAA version with insurer amendments, posted by the Nevada Division of Insurance)
- ISO HO 00 05 10 00, Homeowners 5 – Comprehensive Form (AAA version with insurer amendments, posted by the Nevada Division of Insurance)
- ISO HO 00 03 05 11, Homeowners 3 – Special Form (Citizens Insurance Company of America copy posted by the Maine Bureau of Insurance)
- New York DFS: annotated sample homeowners declarations page
- Wisconsin OCI: Consumer’s Guide to Homeowners Insurance (PI-015, R 07/2026)
- Maryland Insurance Administration: A Consumer Guide to Homeowners Insurance
- Alabama Department of Insurance: home insurance forms
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation: homeowners insurance
- ISO HO 04 90 04 91, Personal Property Replacement Cost (Auto Club (AAA) online form library)
- IRMI: Homeowners Policy Comprehensive Form 5 (HO 5)
General information about the ISO HO 00 03 and HO 00 05 homeowners forms (10 00 edition copies, with the HO-3’s 05 11 edition checked) as of October 2026, not legal advice; insurers may use other editions or their own forms, and the wording of your policy and endorsements controls. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.