What type of Insurance do I need to protect my family and home due to hurricane damage?

What is hurricane insurance?

Hurricane insurance coverage is a mixture of homeowners insurance and flood insurance. The state of Florida also requires you to be covered for wind damage through windstorm insurance protection. This is because none of these three policy types alone provides all of the coverage you need to shield from the damage that a hurricane can do to your home.

Home insurance and hurricane damage

Standard home insurance is limited in the coverage it provides in the event of a hurricane, but it will cover some damages. For example, if your roof is damaged by heavy winds that are part of a hurricane, your home insurance policy should cover it.

Another example: if a hurricane rips a hole in your roof and water gets in, causing damage, most home insurers consider the damage to be done by the hole, not the hurricane itself. Water damage of this type is typically covered by homeowners’ insurance. But if flood water seeps into your home, neither the structure nor your belongings in the house are covered by your homeowners’ policy.

How flood insurance covers hurricane damage to your home

As the name denotes, Flood insurance covers damage due to flooding, including damage caused by storm surges and rising water. FEMA defines a flood as a “general and temporary condition where two or more acres of normally dry land or two or more properties are inundated by water.”

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) sells two separate policies for dwelling and content. For the best flood coverage for your home, you’ll want to invest in both.

After a hurricane, NFIP flood insurance should cover the following:

• Dwelling: flood insurance provides up to $250,000 in coverage for the home’s physical structure due to flooding. This includes the foundation, HVAC equipment, and electrical and plumbing systems.
• Content: flood insurance covers up to $100,000 worth of your belongings, including clothing, furniture, electronics, and appliances.

Windstorm insurance coverage for hurricane damage

Some states have a high tendency for extreme wind and hurricanes, such as Florida, which excludes wind damage from standard homeowners’ insurance coverage.

A separate windstorm insurance policy can cover damage to the structure of your home and its contents caused by high winds exceeding 35 miles per hour.

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How much does hurricane insurance coverage cost?

Hurricanes require multiple types of insurance policies, so a realistic idea of what you might pay can be estimated by looking at the average costs of each policy type:

• According to our research, homeowners’ insurance: a standard home insurance policy costs an average of $1,215 a year. This price may be affected by factors such as where the house is located, its age, and how many claims you’ve filed in the past.
• Flood insurance: the average cost of flood insurance is $699 a year, according to our research. This may be affected by which flood policy you buy, the location, and the age of your home.
• Windstorm insurance: the cost of windstorm insurance varies from state to state and is difficult to estimate, but it can be costly. For instance, the Citizens Property Insurance Association puts the current average rate in the state of Florida at $1,000 a year.
• Hurricane deductible: while not a premium, a hurricane deductible is a cost you may have to contend with. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have hurricane deductibles as part of their home insurance policies. These deductibles may be higher than your regular home insurance deductible, usually somewhere between 1% and 5% of your home’s insured value. Still, they can be upwards of 10% in high-risk hurricane states like Florida.

At Storm Smart, we’re Floridians too, and we know how important peace of mind is when there’s a hurricane headed our way. As the largest manufacturer and installer of hurricane screens, shutters, and panels, we can shield your home from storm damage so that you can enjoy your tropical lifestyle to the fullest. Our innovative products have helped protect the homes of more than 90,000 local homeowners since our inception in 1996. And they’re designed with your Florida lifestyle in mind by offering privacy and UV protection on bright and sunny days. Contact us today or visit our showroom in Fort Myers or Naples to learn how we can secure your home against the forces of nature.