How does my deductible work in the event of a loss?
Please refer to your certificate of insurance while reading this. There are several different deductibles that may apply to your policy.
- Special Perils Deductible: Will apply to loss to your building, loss of rents and equipment breakdown, if you have purchased that coverage.
- Windstorm/Hail (WH) Damage Deductible: stated as a percentage on your certificate, your deductible is, either that percentage of the building amount and rents amount combined or the special perils deductible. Whichever is greater.
- EXAMPLE, 1percent WH deductible: If your Building amount is $100,000 and Rents are $25,000, your WH deductible will be 1% times $125,000 or a deductible of $1,250. If your special perils deductible is $5,000, then $5,000 will be your WH deductible in the event of WH loss.
- Named Storm deductible is different than WH, and is defined as sustained winds of 40 mi per hour or greater and declared by the National Weather Service to be a named hurricane or named storm. If included with X on your certificate, the deductible is stated there. You may have a percent or you may have a dollar amount, but the application is the same as the WH example above.
- Limit Earthquake and Flood Coverage: If included on your certificate with X, the deductible will apply as follows:
- Earthquake deductible, if expressed as a dollar amount, will apply to each loss and to building and loss of rents separately. If expressed as a percent, it will apply to the building amount and the rents amount separately, similar to the WH example above.
- Flood Deductible depends on your flood zone. If you are uncertain of your FEMA Zone, refer to HTTP://msc.fema.gov/portal/search.