Insurance Policies and Florida Storms

11/17/2021 (Permalink)

To ensure that your home is covered in the event of a hurricane, it is crucial to have both flood insurance and windstorm insurance.

Florida has been hit with some of the most intense and destructive storms in memory. These hurricanes wreak havoc on the community, leaving a trail of homes, stores, offices, and schools destroyed in their wake. When hurricane season rolls around every year, there is a new opportunity for this destruction. When living in Florida’s climate, it is essential that you protect your home and business against potential hurricane damage.

What is Hurricane Insurance?

Technically, there is no policy known as “hurricane insurance.” In order to protect your home in a Florida storm, it is important to be insured against the elements with the potential to cause the highest damage: water and wind. To ensure that your home is covered in the event of a hurricane, it is crucial to have both flood insurance and windstorm insurance.

How much does Hurricane Insurance cost?

There are many different factors that go into the calculation of insurance that will protect your home against a hurricane. This is because hurricane coverage equates to more than one policy which vary in pricing, prices vary based on insurance company, and the value and location of the home are both variable factors.

According to Bankrate, the average cost for homeowners insurance in Florida is $1,951 per year, in addition to the average cost of flood insurance which is $723, which is a total of approximately $2,674 a year to protect a Florida home from hurricane damage. While most homeowner insurance policies in Florida cover wind already, it may be an extra cost for windstorm protection if not already included.

If you are renting your home, the National Flood Insurance Programs offers flood insurance starting at only $99 per year. However, rates will always depend on your location.

What is the Hurricane Deductible?

In addition to the average cost of hurricane insurance outlined above, homeowners in Florida are also entitled to a special hurricane deductible.  Florida laws are very specific when it comes to the activation of this hurricane deductible, and can be found in their entirety here.

In order for the hurricane deductible to come into play, the hurricane needs to be a named storm and declared as a “hurricane” by the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service. There is also a specific time frame in play. The Hurricane Deductible would apply from the time a hurricane watch or warning is issued for any part of Florida by the National Hurricane Center until 72 hours following the termination of the last hurricane watch.

In Florida, insurance companies are required to offer hurricane deductible options of $500, 2%, 5% and 10%. Additionally, Florida has a “single season hurricane deductible,” which means you are responsible for only one hurricane deductible during a given hurricane season no matter the amount of total storms.