“Hurricane insurance” is actually multiple types of coverage that work together to help you repair or rebuild your home if a hurricane damages it. Typically, you’ll need flood insurance, windstorm coverage, and a robust homeowners insurance policy to adequately protect your home from hurricane damage.
Depending on where you live, your policies might have separate deductibles for hurricanes or windstorms. And they’re often higher than other deductibles.
Here’s what you should know about insurance for hurricanes.
Hurricane insurance combines flood and windstorm insurance to protect your home from storm damage. If you live in the Atlantic Basin, you may need this coverage to ensure sufficient protection.
The different coverages that make up hurricane insurance each protect you financially from different hurricane-related damages.
Windstorm coverage can pay for damage to your home from hurricane winds, hail, and tornadoes. Flood insurance, which is always a separate policy from homeowners insurance, pays to repair or rebuild your home and replace your belongings if a flood damages them.
Standard homeowners policies usually cover some hurricane damage. But the type of damage as it pertains to your policy is important to understand.
For example, if you have excess water damage due to flooding, your home insurance usually won’t cover flood damage. Fortunately, flood insurance is widely available. But it can be pricey if you have a large home and flooding or storm surges are common where you live.
Windstorms can also cause significant damage during a hurricane. Whether your home insurance covers windstorm damage depends on where you live and your insurance company. Some policies may provide this coverage, but they typically exclude it in hurricane- or tropical storm-prone areas.
A deductible is an amount you’re responsible for before your insurance kicks in to pay for covered damages. For most homeowners insurance policies, the deductible is a flat amount, like $1,000 or $1,500.
Depending on where you live, your insurance may also have a hurricane deductible that applies to damage from a hurricane. Sometimes, the hurricane deductible is a flat amount. More often it’s a percentage of your home’s insured value, ranging from 1% to 10%.1
Your policy will state what circumstances trigger your hurricane deductible.2 Each insurance company can decide hurricane deductible triggers, but they must follow your state’s insurance laws. Typically, your hurricane deductible kicks in only if the damage comes from a named storm, such as Hurricane Katrina.
Here’s a look at states where you might have to pay a hurricane deductible.
Hurricanes often bring flooding. But your homeowners insurance policy probably doesn’t cover flood damage — most don’t. You’ll need to buy a separate flood insurance policy to take care of flood damage.
You can buy flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or from a private insurance company. You’ll need it if you have a federally backed mortgage, like an FHA or VA loan. If you live in an area with a high risk of flooding, a conventional lender will probably also require you to buy flood insurance.
How much you pay for flood insurance will depend on multiple factors, including the size of your home and its location.
FEMA data shows that 40% of NFIP policies cost less than $1,000 per year, 31% cost between $1,000 and $2,000, and 13% cost $2,000-$3,000.3 Just 1% of policies cost between $8,000 and $9,000 annually.
In most of the U.S., homeowners insurance covers damage from high winds. But in some high-risk areas, like coastal regions, your policy might exclude windstorm coverage, or it might have a separate deductible.
If your homeowners insurance doesn’t offer protection for damage caused by high winds, you’ll want to buy windstorm insurance as a stand-alone policy. You may also be able to get it as a separate add-on if you live in a high-risk area.
You may be able to find coverage through an insurance agent, broker, or state insurance association. You can also visit your state’s department of insurance website.
Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi have some of the highest hurricane risks in the U.S. The table below shows the average annual homeowners insurance rates in these states.
Adequately protecting your home from hurricane damage may involve buying multiple policies. Depending on where you live, you may need flood insurance and a separate windstorm policy in addition to your homeowners insurance.
Here are some tips to help you find the most affordable hurricane coverage:
If you’re shopping for hurricane or windstorm insurance, this additional information may help as you research your coverage options.
Since hurricane coverage usually requires multiple policy types, you’ll probably pay more for it. In addition to your homeowners insurance policy, you may need flood insurance and separate windstorm coverage. The national average cost of home insurance is $3,259 annually, according to Insurify data. And the national average for an NFIP policy is $786, according to FEMA.
You can buy hurricane coverage from private insurance companies. Or, if you’re in a high-risk area and can’t get coverage in the open market, your state may have a FAIR Plan that could help. For flood insurance, you can turn to the NFIP. Some private insurance companies also sell flood insurance.
Besides a standard homeowners insurance policy, you’ll need flood insurance to fully protect your home in case of hurricane damage. Depending on where you live, you may also need separate windstorm insurance. Or your home insurance policy may have a separate deductible that you’ll be responsible for in case of hurricane damage.
Hurricane coverage is usually part of a homeowners insurance policy, which typically covers damage from wind. Depending on your policy and where you live, it might not cover windstorm damage. In that case, you’ll need to buy separate windstorm coverage. You’ll also need to buy flood insurance since homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flood damage.
If you live in a high-risk area, your homeowners insurance might have a separate deductible for hurricane/windstorm damage. That deductible may be a flat amount. Or it could be a percentage of your home’s insured value — typically 1% to 10%.
Since hurricane insurance isn’t a separate type of policy, your hurricane coverage will generally exclude the things that your homeowners and flood policies don’t cover. For example, homeowners insurance typically doesn’t cover damage from earthquakes. Your flood insurance might exclude coverage for finished basements.
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