A homeowner in Lake Mary has a $2,500 deductible. She knows the number, she chose it and she budgeted for it. Then Hurricane Milton crosses Central Florida, tears shingles off her roof and brings down part of her fence, and the deductible that applies is not $2,500. It is 2 percent of her dwelling limit, which on her $550,000 house is $11,000. Both numbers were on her declarations page. She had only ever looked at one of them.
Many Central Florida homeowners assume the hurricane deductible is a coastal problem, but it applies to every Florida homeowners policy, and recent storms have shown that wind damage reaches Orlando, Seminole and Lake counties. Florida policies carry more than one deductible, and the one most likely to matter after a storm is usually not the one people know.
You Have at Least Two, and Possibly More
The all-other-perils deductible is the flat dollar amount most homeowners think of as their deductible, such as $1,000 or $2,500. It applies to fire, theft, water damage from a burst pipe and most losses that are not hurricane-related. The hurricane deductible is usually a percentage of the dwelling limit, commonly 2, 5 or 10 percent, and it applies to damage from a hurricane during a window set by Florida law.
Some policies carry others. A separate windstorm or hail deductible can apply to wind damage outside a hurricane, such as a severe summer thunderstorm. A roof deductible now appears on some Florida policies for roof claims specifically. Some carriers have a separate water damage deductible or limit, and sinkhole coverage, where it has been added, often comes with its own percentage deductible. Knowing which deductible applies to which kind of loss is most of what it takes to understand your policy, and our article on how to read your Florida homeowners declarations page shows where each one appears.
Convert the Percentage to Dollars
This is the most useful thing you can do with your policy, and it takes a minute. Two percent of a $400,000 dwelling limit is $8,000, 5 percent is $20,000 and 10 percent is $40,000. That is money you pay before the policy pays anything, and you pay it in the weeks after a storm, when roofers are booked and deposits are due. Write the number down. If it is not an amount you could come up with quickly, the deductible is set too high, regardless of what it saves on the premium.
The Hurricane Deductible Applies Once a Year
Florida law makes the hurricane deductible apply once per calendar year for personal residential policies with the same insurer or insurer group. If a second hurricane damages the home in the same year, the deductible for that claim is the greater of whatever is left of the hurricane deductible or your all-other-perils deductible. That is why it is worth reporting hurricane damage even when it looks smaller than the deductible, because the record counts toward the annual amount if another storm follows. Switching to an unrelated carrier after a hurricane claim can reset it, and our article on understanding your Florida hurricane deductible covers the details, including when the hurricane window opens and closes.
Higher Deductible, Lower Premium and the Real Tradeoff
Raising a deductible lowers the premium, and the question is what you are giving up for the savings. On the all-other-perils deductible, moving from $1,000 to $2,500 is often a reasonable trade for a household with savings, because those are the smaller claims you might absorb anyway. The hurricane deductible is different. Moving from 2 percent to 5 percent lowers the premium noticeably, but on a $500,000 home it raises your share of a hurricane claim from $10,000 to $25,000. That is a decision about how much cash you could produce after a storm, not about premium, so make it by looking at the dollar amount.
Lowering the risk is often a better way to lower the premium than raising the deductible. A current wind mitigation inspection, a newer roof and updated systems can bring the price down without increasing what you pay after a loss, as our article on how to save money on homeowners insurance in Florida explains.
The Roof Deductible and How Roofs Are Paid
Two separate things affect a roof claim, and they are easy to confuse. A roof deductible, where the policy has one, is what you pay on a roof claim. The roof settlement basis is whether the claim pays replacement cost or actual cash value. Many carriers now pay actual cash value on older roofs, which means depreciation comes out of the payment before the deductible is even applied, and on an older roof those two together can leave very little. Florida law generally prevents an insurer from refusing a home solely because its roof is less than fifteen years old, as our article on roof age and Florida insurance explains, and many older Central Florida homes in neighborhoods like College Park and Winter Park are close enough to carriers’ roof thresholds that it is worth checking.
Flood Has Its Own Deductibles
Flood is a separate policy with its own deductibles, usually one for the building and one for contents, chosen separately. They have nothing to do with your homeowners deductibles, and both sets can apply to the same storm. In Central Florida, where heavy rain, retention ponds and lakes can flood homes outside mapped flood zones, a hurricane that damages the roof and pushes water into the house can produce two claims, two adjusters and two deductibles. Our flood insurance page explains how flood policies work.
What to Check on Your Declarations Page
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What is your all-other-perils deductible?
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What is your hurricane deductible, as a percentage and in dollars?
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Is there a separate windstorm, roof, water damage or sinkhole deductible?
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Does your policy pay roof claims at replacement cost or actual cash value?
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If you carry flood, what are the building and contents deductibles?
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Could you pay the hurricane deductible within a few weeks of a storm?
Homeowners Insurance in Central Florida With Prestige Insurance Group
Prestige Insurance Group writes homeowners coverage across Orlando, Lake Mary, Winter Park, Sanford, Kissimmee, Clermont and the rest of Central Florida, as well as in Miami and across our nine-state footprint for clients who moved out of state and stayed with us. With access to over twenty homeowners carriers in Florida, we can show you how the premium changes at each deductible option and help you choose one you could actually pay. If you do not know your hurricane deductible in dollars, send us your declarations page. Learn more on our Central Florida homeowners insurance page. Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Orlando: 407-993-2331 Miami: 305-969-8776
Frequently Asked Questions
How many deductibles does a Florida homeowners policy have?
At least two: an all-other-perils deductible for most losses and a hurricane deductible for hurricane damage. Some policies also have separate windstorm, roof, water damage or sinkhole deductibles.
Does the hurricane deductible apply in Orlando?
Yes. It applies to every Florida homeowners policy, inland or coastal, whenever hurricane damage occurs during the window set by Florida law.
What deductible applies to a second hurricane in the same year?
The greater of whatever remains of your hurricane deductible or your all-other-perils deductible, as long as you stay with the same insurer or insurer group.
Is a higher deductible worth the savings?
On the all-other-perils deductible it often is. On the hurricane deductible, choose based on the dollar amount you could actually pay after a storm, not just the premium savings.
General information only, not legal advice. Deductible structures, settlement provisions and endorsements vary by carrier and policy, and Florida statutes governing hurricane deductibles can change. Refer to your actual policy for the terms that apply to your home.
