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Home Insurance
Katy McWhirter
Kara McGinley
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BLUEPRINT
Published 9:21 a.m. ET May 2, 2023
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April 30 to May 6 is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30, so now is the time to make sure you have the right insurance policies in place.
Here’s everything you need to know to ensure you’re properly insured and prepared for hurricane season.
Hurricane insurance refers to a combination of insurance policies, including home insurance, flood insurance and, in some areas, windstorm insurance. Unfortunately, you can’t buy a single hurricane insurance policy.
“Just as there is no tornado or hail insurance, there is no hurricane insurance,” said Mississippi Insurance Commissioner, Mike Chaney.
Instead, to make sure your house is covered for all hurricane wind and water damage, you may need several policies, starting with homeowners insurance.
Home insurance includes the following types of coverage that can help when your home is damaged by a hurricane:
Standard homeowners insurance covers wind damage, but if you live in an area that experiences frequent hurricanes, your home insurance policy may exclude windstorm coverage or have a windstorm deductible that is higher than a regular home insurance deductible.
If your policy does not cover windstorm damage, you may need to buy a wind coverage add-on or purchase separate windstorm insurance.
There are several ways to get windstorm coverage for your property:
Home insurance covers water damage, but only certain kinds. While it can cover damage caused by wind-driven rain that gets in through a damaged roof, home insurance will not cover damage from floods, such as a storm surge.
You’ll need separate flood insurance in order to be paid out for flood damage repairs to your property.
Most flood insurance policies are administered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is backed by FEMA. The policies are sold through home insurance companies. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get an NFIP flood insurance policy through your home insurance company. Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute advises not waiting to buy flood insurance because it takes 30 days for an NFIP policy to take effect.
You can also purchase flood insurance through a private flood insurance company. The NFIP only covers up to $250,000 in building damages, whereas a private policy may provide more coverage.
A deductible is the amount of money subtracted from your insurance claims check. Hurricane deductibles are separate from your homeowners insurance deductible and use a percentage-based system.
“Hurricane deductibles, also known as named storm deductibles, are deductibles that apply to any named storm as designated by the National Weather Service and as further defined by statute. Named storm deductibles are typically a percentage of the value of the dwelling that is insured,” said Commissioner Chaney.
Let’s say your house is insured for $300,000. Your homeowners deductible may be set at $1,000 or $2,000. Your hurricane deductible, however, will be a percentage of the $300,000, usually between 1% to 5%. If you have a 2% hurricane deductible, this means $6,000 will be subtracted from your claims check.
Hurricane insurance deductibles first came into use in 1992 after a substantial South Florida storm resulted in massive losses for insurance carriers.
Nineteen states and Washington D.C. have some form of hurricane or named storm deductible, including:
While home insurance will cover some of the aftereffects of a hurricane, it won’t cover everything — you still may want flood insurance to make sure you’re covered for repairs after flood damage.
You may also need to buy windstorm insurance if your homeowners policy excludes coverage based on where you live.
Because coverage mandates and options vary by location, it’s important to know the requirements in your area. Contact your insurance agent to make sure you understand the coverage your home insurance policy provides, and any gaps in your coverage.
How much you pay for home insurance, flood insurance and windstorm insurance will vary based on where you live and how much coverage you want to buy, as well as other factors such as the deductible you choose.
Let’s use Texas as an example. If you buy a combination of insurance policies in Texas, here’s an estimate of how much it could cost.
That means homeowners in Texas could potentially pay more than $5,000 per year for hurricane insurance.
Check with your home insurance company to learn about discounts and ways to hurricane-proof your home, which could lead to lower rates.
If high winds caused by a hurricane uproot a tree and it falls on your car, you cannot file a claim with your homeowners, flood or windstorm policy. To protect your car from hurricane damage, buy comprehensive car insurance.
Flood insurance can cover flood damage caused by a hurricane, but hurricane insurance typically refers to a combination of insurance policies that includes home insurance and sometimes windstorm insurance, in addition to flood insurance.
You probably need some form of hurricane insurance if you live in Florida. For example, the largest home insurance company in Florida — Citizens — now requires policyholders that have homeowners insurance and wind coverage to purchase flood insurance.
Since hurricane tracking began in 1850, every part of Florida’s coastline has been hit by at least one hurricane during the Atlantic hurricane season. The Sunshine State is particularly vulnerable from August through October when warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean encourage tropical waves at higher numbers and increased intensity.
A separate hurricane deductible is triggered for windstorm losses in Florida by any storm declared a hurricane by the National Weather Service. This trigger remains in effect for up to 72 hours after a hurricane warning or watch ends.
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Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
Katy McWhirter
Blueprint
Katy McWhirter has written professionally since 2012, garnering bylines in publications such as U.S. News & World Report, MoneyGeek, and Noodle. She is also the author of three historical biographies, including a forthcoming Spring 2023 publication. She lives in Louisville with her husband and three very bad cats.
Kara McGinley
Blueprint
Kara McGinley is deputy editor of insurance at USA TODAY Blueprint and a licensed home insurance expert. Previously, she was a senior editor at Policygenius, where she specialized in homeowners and renters insurance. Her work and insights have been featured in MSN, Lifehacker, Kiplinger, PropertyCasualty360 and more.
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