120+ moreIn the past five years, Florida has experienced several severe hurricanes, including Idalia, Helene, and Milton.[?] These storms caused billions of dollars in damage and emphasize the importance of maintaining the right insurance for your home.
In Florida, standard home insurance policies include hurricane coverage rather than it being a separate policy. But Florida residential policies have a separate deductible for losses due to hurricanes.[?] Homeowners may also need to purchase separate flood insurance to ensure they have coverage for flooding from hurricanes.
Here’s what hurricane insurance in Florida covers, what it excludes, and what you need to know to protect your home.
Florida is highly susceptible to hurricanes. Numerous homeowners across the state have experienced significant losses in recent years, causing many insurers to leave the market.
Beyond this limited availability, hurricane insurance in Florida can also be confusing. Instead of being a stand-alone product, it’s a combination of multiple types of insurance coverage that protect your home and belongings.
In general, hurricane policies include:
Homeowners insurance: Your homeowners insurance policy pays to repair your home and replace damaged belongings after a hurricane.[?]
Wind endorsement: Florida law requires insurance companies to pay for windstorm damage.[?] But there are exceptions. Homeowners living in high-risk or coastal areas need to purchase a separate windstorm policy or add a windstorm endorsement to their home insurance.
Flood insurance: A flood insurance policy is a separate form of coverage. It pays for damage related to rising water, flooding, or storm surges.[?]
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Together, homeowners insurance, flood insurance, and a windstorm endorsement (if necessary) can protect your home against most hurricane-related damage. With the right coverage in place, your insurance may pay for:
Roof damage, broken shingles, or windows
Ruined clothes, furniture, or other personal items
Temporary housing and additional living expenses
Which type of insurance applies depends on what caused the damage. After a hurricane, you may need to file claims with a hurricane insurance policy and a flood insurance policy.
The following table highlights the types of damage that each form of insurance covers:
Damage  | Covered Under Hurricane Insurance? | Covered Under Flood Insurance? |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy rain causes rising water to enter your home | No | Yes |
| A falling tree smashes your window, causing rain to enter and damage your furniture | Yes | No |
| Storm surges cause water to rise on the first floor of your home | No | Yes |
Florida law doesn’t require homeowners to have hurricane insurance. But if you purchase your home with a mortgage, the lender may require you to maintain coverage until you’ve paid the loan in full.
Flood insurance is different. If you have a federally backed mortgage through the Federal Housing Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs, your lender has to make flood insurance mandatory. This applies to homes located in designated Special Flood Hazard Areas.[?]
Homeowners insurance covers certain types of wind damage, but a separate hurricane deductible applies. This deductible takes effect only when a named hurricane causes the damage — tropical storms don’t meet this requirement.
Calculated as a percentage of your home’s insured value, a hurricane deductible applies on a calendar-year basis.
After a hurricane, your homeowners insurance pays for wind damage, damage to your personal belongings, and some types of water damage. But homeowners insurance doesn’t cover water damage caused by flooding. For that, you’d need a flood insurance policy.
The cost of homeowners insurance in Florida varies based on property value, proximity to the coast, and insurance company. The table below shows the average home insurance rates within the state:
Insurance Company | Average Annual Premium: $300,000 Dwelling Coverage |
|---|---|
| State Farm | $4,596 |
| Nationwide | $6,792 |
| Allstate | $7,308 |
| Chubb | $8,988 |
A homeowners insurance policy has a set deductible for covered claims. Hurricane insurance works differently. If a designated hurricane damages your home, a hurricane deductible applies.
This deductible can range from 1% to 15% of your home’s value.
For example, if you own a $300,000 home with a hurricane deductible of 5% of the home’s value, you’d pay $15,000 out of pocket before your insurance kicks in.
Hurricane deductibles take effect when the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane watch or warning for Florida. These deductibles remain in effect for 72 hours after the last hurricane watch or warning for any part of Florida.
For instance, say the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning on Sept. 10 and issues the last warning on Sept. 14. The hurricane deductible would apply from Sept. 10 to Sept. 17 (72 hours after the last warning).
If multiple hurricanes occur in a calendar year — such as when Milton and Helene hit Florida within weeks of each other — you pay your hurricane deductible only once.
Flood insurance is separate from homeowners insurance policies, so not as many people have it. In fact, only 4% of homeowners in the U.S. have flood insurance policies, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
For Floridians, flood insurance is a key part of hurricane preparedness. Going without it can be a costly mistake. To illustrate this point, over the past 10 years, the NFIP has paid an average of $28,000 per claim.
If a hurricane damages your home and flooding follows, you could have an even larger repair bill due to flood damage. This is where flood insurance comes in.
The cost of flood insurance may be less expensive than you might expect. In Florida, flood insurance averages $2,213 per year. Coverage is available through private insurers or the NFIP.
While NFIP flood insurance is more accessible than private coverage, it has strict coverage limitations. This is particularly true for homeowners in high-risk areas. But if you have higher-value items to protect, private flood insurance allows you to choose higher coverage limits and customize your policy.
Being underinsured puts you in a financially risky position, especially when a hurricane hits. Review your coverage at least once per year to ensure you have adequate protection.
Here’s what you can do to confirm your coverage is sufficient:
Review your dwelling coverage. Dwelling coverage pays to rebuild your home’s structure. Be sure the dwelling coverage limit matches your home’s full replacement cost.
Opt for replacement cost coverage. When you purchase hurricane insurance, you can often choose between replacement cost value (RCV) and actual cash value (ACV). Because items depreciate over time, RCV allows you to repair or replace damaged items with brand-new versions, without deducting for depreciation.
Check for policy endorsements. Your policy may have endorsements for personal items, such as jewelry or sports equipment. If you have a jewelry collection or expensive sports equipment, verify that those items have adequate coverage.
Evaluate living expense needs. If your home is uninhabitable after a hurricane, you may need to rent temporary housing for weeks — or even months. Most homeowners insurance policies include additional living expense coverage to help with those costs, but check with your insurer to be sure.
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Follow these steps to buy hurricane insurance or change an existing policy:
As a Florida homeowner, hurricane insurance is a must. As you shop for coverage, answers to the following frequently asked questions can help you choose the right insurance.
No. Hurricane insurance isn’t a legal requirement in Florida. But you’ll probably need hurricane insurance if you purchase a property with a mortgage.
For hurricane coverage, consider both homeowners insurance and flood insurance premiums. Homeowners insurance in Florida averages just less than $9,000 per year for $500,000 in coverage, according to Insurify data, while flood insurance costs about $2,200 per year.
An insurance moratorium usually applies when a storm is imminent. This means you can’t purchase a new policy or modify your coverage until after the storm.
The state of Florida requires insurers to provide customers with hurricane-mitigation discounts for making improvements to protect their homes. For example, you could earn a discount by installing shutters or replacing your garage door with a hurricane-resistant version.
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Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
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Corporate communications director for Insurance Information Institute
20+ years in insurance and communications
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