Tampa, Florida, is a hurricane-prone location. If you live in this area, you want homeowners insurance with hurricane coverage. Hurricanes usually bring strong winds and heavy rain that can cause serious and expensive damage to your property. Without insurance, you’ll have to pay out of pocket for cleanup, debris removal, and repairs to your home and outbuildings. Learn more about the importance of having hurricane insurance and what it covers.
What Is Hurricane Insurance?
Technically, there is no such thing as hurricane insurance. Instead, you need to add deductibles to your existing homeowners insurance that covers flood/water damage and windstorm damage. Most homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood damage, and much of the damage from hurricanes comes from massive amounts of rain or storm surges that cause flooding or strong winds that cause damage to your home. In order to get flood and windstorm coverage from a hurricane or named tropical storm, you either get a deductible added to your homeowners policy or seek separate policies from a private party.
Some homeowners insurance policies list natural disaster deductibles as catastrophe insurance and may provide some coverage for damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanoes. Many mortgage lenders in hurricane-prone areas like Florida may require windstorm hurricane deductible. Even if they don’t require it, having this extra coverage can help you avoid paying enormous amounts of money for repairs caused by hurricane damage. If you live in a flood zone, your mortgage lender will require additional flood insurance.
Understanding Hurricane Insurance
Insurance companies issue homeowners insurance. When you live in the Tampa Bay area, you may see a rider on your insurance policy for a hurricane deductible. Depending on the insurer, they may pay for hurricane damage only when wind speeds hit a certain threshold.
Your home can also sustain damage from other high-wind events besides hurricanes, and some insurers will only pay for windstorm damage if the winds come from a named storm by the National Weather Service. It’s essential to review your homeowners policy and hurricane deductibles carefully with your broker to ensure you have sufficient coverage and understand the limitations.
Flood Insurance
Many homeowners insurance policies cover some type of water damage, including damage from broken water pipes, rainwater damage through a window or leaking roof, or accidental discharge of water. However, these policies don’t cover damage from flooding, including from a tropical storm or hurricane. Thus, you’ll need to get separate flood insurance.
Getting flood insurance as a rider to your current homeowners insurance policy is far easier for claims than with a stand-alone policy. You need to ensure your insurance company offers flood insurance as an add-on rider to your homeowners policy. Otherwise, you have to find another insurance company to provide a separate flood insurance policy.
Many homeowners apply for flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA works with local and federal insurance companies to supply flood insurance to specific areas. Locate an insurance provider who works with NFIP and provides flood insurance in Florida.
Windstorm Insurance
Most Florida homeowners insurance policies have some wind damage coverage under the named storm or hurricane deductible. While Florida requires insurance companies to have windstorm coverage as a deductible, you can opt out if you want.
However, you then become 100% responsible for paying for windstorm damage without the deductible on your homeowners policy. If you decide to opt out of wind coverage, you must get permission from your mortgage lender so they know you are willing to pay out of pocket for wind damage. You can shop around for private windstorm insurance if you feel that your insurance company charges too much for the deductible, but keep in mind, that you may not qualify for wind insurance from a private lender living in the hurricane-prone Tampa area.
You can contact the Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program and the Florid’s Division of Emergency Management to help you learn ways to lower the risk of property damage due to hurricane winds.
How Much Are Hurricane Deductibles?
Flood and windstorm deductibles work differently than other deductibles from your homeowners policy. Most homeowners insurance deductibles are based on a flat rate by the insurance company’s policy. However, hurricane deductibles are based on a percentage of the value of your home, generally 2%, 5%, or 10%.
The closer your home is to a high-risk hurricane area, such as the Tampa Bay area, the higher the deductible percentage will be. For instance, if your home is insured for $250,000 and your wind deductible is 5%, the insurance company will take about $12,000 from the payment you receive after you file and receive your claim.
Florida allows a one-time hurricane deductible for each hurricane season, even if your home goes through multiple hurricanes or named storms. During a busy hurricane season, you may end up paying more for hurricane damage.
It’s imperative to speak with your insurance company about the hurricane deductible options. In some cases, the deductible can be as high as 10%. Your insurance broker will work with your budget, your unique living situation, and state regulations to help you find the best homeowners policy with hurricane deductibles.
The Importance of Having Hurricane Deductibles
In order to have hurricane insurance, you need to have a separate flood insurance policy either as a rider to your current homeowners policy or through another insurance company. Windstorm coverage automatically comes as a deductible on your Florida homeowners policy, but you can opt out to lower the cost of your policy.
Without flood insurance and windstorm coverage, you’ll have to pay out of pocket for repairs and to cover the cost of loss of personal property. While the cost of hurricane deductibles may feel exorbitant, having this coverage not only helps get you the money for repairs but can also get you the money quickly when you file your insurance claim promptly.
Review Your Policy To Understand It and Ensure Adequate Coverage
Take the time to carefully review your homeowners policy to fully understand the coverage for your home, how much the hurricane deductibles are, and what’s not covered. Being prepared before a hurricane or tropical storm hits will help relieve the stress of trying to rebuild your home or replace your possessions.