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Hurricane deductible calculator
A percentage hurricane deductible is a share of your dwelling (Coverage A) limit, not a share of the damage. On a $400,000 dwelling, 2% is $8,000 out of pocket and 5% is $20,000, whether the repair bill is $10,000 or $200,000.
What Florida law requires insurers to offer
Under section 627.701, Florida Statutes, and the Department of Financial Services consumer explainer, an insurer writing personal-lines residential coverage must generally offer hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the dwelling limit, unless a percentage would be less than $500. The deductible must also be shown as a dollar amount. Exceptions include:
- Dwelling limits of $250,000 or more: the insurer need not offer $500, but must offer 2%, 5% and 10% (unless a further exception applies).
- Dwelling limits from $1 million to under $3 million: the insurer may offer 3%, 5% and 10% instead of 2%, 5% and 10%.
- Dwelling limits of $3 million or more: the insurer need not offer 2%, but must offer the other required options (generally 5% and 10%).
- A hurricane deductible above 10% on a dwelling under $500,000 requires a handwritten or typed statement from the policyholders and, if there is a mortgage, written lender approval.
The hurricane deductible applies to windstorm damage during a storm the National Hurricane Center has declared a hurricane, starting when a hurricane warning is issued for any part of Florida and ending 72 hours after the last hurricane watch or warning for any part of Florida is discontinued (s. 627.4025). When the hurricane deductible applies, no other deductible under the policy may be applied. A separate roof deductible cannot be applied to a roof loss from a hurricane. Surplus-lines policies are not required to follow these offer rules.
A second hurricane the same year
For personal-lines residential policies, the hurricane deductible applies on a calendar-year basis if you stay with the same insurer or an insurer in the same group. After a first storm, a later hurricane uses the greater of (1) whatever is left of the hurricane deductible or (2) your all-other-peril deductible. Once the hurricane deductible is fully met, later hurricane wind claims that year use the all-other-peril deductible. DFS illustrates this with a $200,000 dwelling, a 2% ($4,000) hurricane deductible and a $1,000 all-other-peril deductible: a $2,000 first claim is paid entirely by the policyholder and leaves a $2,000 remainder; a $5,000 second claim then uses that $2,000 remainder, and the insurer pays $3,000.
File claims even when the damage may be under the deductible, so the unused amount is on record. If you move the policy to a company outside the original insurer's group, the new policy's full hurricane deductible applies to the next storm.
This page does not estimate how much extra premium a lower deductible costs, because that factor is insurer-specific. If you have two quotes, subtract the extra premium from the reduction in out-of-pocket risk.
Sources
- Florida Department of Financial Services: Florida's Hurricane Deductible (when the hurricane deductible applies under s. 627.4025; required offer of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% deductibles and the exceptions in s. 627.701; calendar-year application and the second-hurricane example)
- Section 627.701, Florida Statutes (hurricane deductible offers, percentage-to-dollar disclosure, and calendar-year application of the hurricane deductible)
Common questions
How much is a 2% hurricane deductible on a $400,000 house?
It is 2% of the dwelling limit, so $8,000, not 2% of the damage. A 5% deductible on the same limit is $20,000.
Does the hurricane deductible reset after every storm?
Not if you stay with the same insurer or insurer group. Florida applies it on a calendar-year basis. A later hurricane that year uses the remaining deductible or your regular deductible, whichever is greater.