If you live in an area that is vulnerable to hurricanes, it’s essential that you safeguard your home from storm damage. This not only means physically storm-proofing your property, but making sure your insurance policies are active and effective.

Insurance coverage can be expensive, though, and insurance companies don’t always have your best interest at heart. Here’s what you should know about the cost of hurricane coverage – and why you may want to hire a hurricane insurance lawyer after the storm.

Is There Such a Thing as Hurricane Insurance?

In most cases, there is no hurricane coverage that homeowners can purchase to protect against tropical storms, but don’t panic. Most homeowners insurance policies include coverage for wind damage. You should double-check that yours is no exception.

You should also purchase flood insurance, which provides the required protection against flood damage. The combination of these two coverages — for wind and flooding — essentially amounts to hurricane coverage, because that is how tropical storms inflict their damage.

Please note that in many states, you’re not allowed to open a new policy (for flood damage, for example) after a storm watch has been issued, or 48 hours or less before a storm hits. So if you think your property is susceptible to hurricanes, you should expand your coverage sooner rather than later.

How Much Does Hurricane Insurance Cost?

It’s hard to gauge how much it might cost you to safeguard your property from hurricane damage. That’s because there are several factors at play:

• As noted earlier, “hurricane coverage” is actually made up of at least two separate insurance policies (homeowners/wind and flood).
• Prices vary depending on the insurance company and the state.
• Some parts of the state are considered higher-risk than others.
• The value of your home can also affect the cost of coverage.

You can see the average cost of home insurance in your area and by state on Insurance.com. For the average price of flood insurance, check QuoteWizard. It may surprise you to learn that some of the states that are hardest hit by storms — such as Florida, Maryland, and Texas — have the cheapest flood insurance policies. Florida’s is the lowest, at $550 per year. 

Deductibles can range from $500 to $2,500. The higher the deductible, the lower your rate will likely be, and vice versa. Certain states, such as Florida, also have special deductibles for hurricane damage, which must be met before losses apply to damages. Be sure to familiarize yourself with your policy, your provider’s rules, and any state laws pertaining to your coverage.

Experts advise that you purchase at least $300,000 in liability coverage for your home; otherwise the coverage may be insufficient.

Contact a Hurricane Insurance Lawyer

If the insurance company has denied, delayed, or undervalued your claim, contact Morgan & Morgan. We take pride in holding big companies accountable when they try to take advantage of hardworking Americans. Across all practice areas, we have recovered more than $6 billion for our clients, fighting For The People, not the powerful.

To learn more, contact us for a free, no-risk case evaluation. It costs nothing to hire us, and we get paid only if you win.