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Hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained
How hurricane and named-storm deductibles work: what triggers them, how each state sets the window, why they apply once a year and how to lower yours.
A hurricane deductible is a separate, percentage-based deductible that replaces your normal flat deductible for wind damage from a hurricane. It is usually 1% to 5% of your dwelling limit, so on a $400,000 dwelling a 2% hurricane deductible means the first $8,000 of covered storm damage is yours. Whether it applies to a given storm depends on a trigger written into your policy, and many states regulate how that trigger can be written.
The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) counts 19 states and the District of Columbia with hurricane deductibles (III, accessed October 2026): Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Several of those entries on the III page are older than the state rules summarized below, so treat the list as a starting point and check your own policy.
Three deductibles that sound alike
The wording on the declarations page matters because these are different animals:
- Hurricane deductible. Applies only to damage from a storm that the National Hurricane Center has classified as a hurricane, meaning sustained winds of 74 mph or more, and usually only inside a time window.
- Named-storm deductible. Applies to a named tropical system, which can be a tropical storm with winds of 39 mph or more. It is triggered more easily than a hurricane deductible. The III notes the difference in its Louisiana entry.
- Wind/hail deductible. Applies to wind or hail damage from any source, including tornadoes and ordinary thunderstorms. The III describes it as applying to "any kind of wind damage." According to the III, Texas works this way, with no hurricane-specific trigger. See wind and hail deductibles explained.
If your policy has more than one, the one tied to the cause of the loss usually controls. A storm that fails the trigger drops back to the next-most-specific deductible, often your flat all other perils deductible.
The trigger is where the money is decided
Whether you owe 2% or $1,000 comes down to timing and storm status. The III's glossary says triggers vary by state and insurer and generally include a timing factor running from as early as 24 hours before a storm is named or makes landfall to as long as 72 hours after it is downgraded or a watch is cancelled. State law narrows this in several places:
| State | When the hurricane deductible applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | The storm must be a hurricane declared by the NHC. The window opens when a hurricane warning is issued for any part of Florida and closes 72 hours after the last watch or warning ends. | Fla. Stat. 627.4025 |
| New York | Only if the National Weather Service finds the hurricane made landfall in New York. Covers wind damage from 12 hours before landfall to 12 hours after the last watch or warning is cancelled. Effective February 2, 2026. | NY DFS, Regulation 159 |
| Connecticut | Only if the hurricane produces sustained winds of 74 mph or more somewhere in Connecticut. Starts no earlier than a hurricane warning for any part of the state, ends 24 hours after the warning ends. | Conn. Gen. Stat. 38a-316a |
| Maryland | From a hurricane warning for any part of the state until 24 hours after the last warning ends, wherever your house is. | Md. Ins. 19-209 |
| Maine | Only from a hurricane warning for the forecast zone covering your municipality until 24 hours after it ends. | 24-A M.R.S. 3061 |
| South Carolina | Insurer-defined, but a named-storm trigger must be a storm named by the NWS or NHC. Storms named by media or others, such as winter storms, do not count. | S.C. Code 38-75-755 |
| North Carolina | Typical policy language, per the state Department of Insurance, runs from an advisory, watch or warning for a named storm until 24 hours after the last one ends. Not a statute. | NCDOI |
Three things follow. First, a storm that weakens before landfall may or may not leave you holding the percentage deductible; in New York and Connecticut, for example, the statewide landfall or wind-speed test is part of the trigger. Second, in states with no statute the insurer writes the trigger, so two neighbors with different companies can face different rules after the same storm. Third, damage that happens outside the window falls to the ordinary deductible. If the trigger turns out to be disputed in a claim, the wording in your policy and any state endorsement is what an adjuster, and later a regulator or court, will read.
Once a year, not once per storm
Some states treat the hurricane deductible as an annual deductible. In Florida and Louisiana it applies on a calendar-year basis. If a second hurricane hits the same year, the insurer applies the greater of the hurricane deductible you have left or your all-other-perils deductible (Fla. Stat. 627.701; La. R.S. 22:1337). Rhode Island has an annual rule too. Florida's Department of Financial Services says that when a hurricane deductible applies, no other deductible may be applied to the loss.
Here is how that works, with invented numbers. Say your dwelling limit is $400,000, your hurricane deductible is 5% ($20,000) and your flat deductible is $2,500.
| Scenario | First storm | Second storm, same calendar year |
|---|---|---|
| Large first loss: $60,000 covered damage | You pay $20,000; insurer pays $40,000 | Hurricane deductible is used up, so the flat $2,500 applies |
| Small first loss: $12,000 covered damage | You pay all $12,000; $8,000 of deductible remains | $8,000 remaining deductible applies, since it exceeds $2,500 |
Because the clock is the calendar year, a hurricane in late December and another in early January are two different years. In states without an annual rule, the policy language decides.
What the declarations page must tell you
Several states force the deductible out of the fine print. Florida requires an 18-point bold warning on the policy that it contains a separate deductible for hurricane losses that may mean high out-of-pocket expenses, and it requires the dollar value of the deductible on the declarations page. New York requires both the percentage and the dollar amount, with equal prominence. South Carolina requires a worked example based on a $100,000 policy, and an insurer adding or raising the deductible at renewal needs the policyholder's signed or initialed acknowledgment. Louisiana requires a signed separate-deductible form for policies effective after January 1, 2023. Maine prescribes the wording of the notice. See the state pages for the details.
Louisiana changed another rule: effective January 1, 2025, Act 9 of 2024 removed the old bar on raising deductibles on homeowners policies in force more than three years. Some older articles, including parts of the III's page, still describe the earlier rule.
Lowering the deductible, or the pain of it
You have a few levers, and they are worth working through before June 1 rather than after a storm.
- Ask which options exist. Florida requires insurers to offer $500, 2%, 5% and 10% hurricane deductible options, with exceptions based on the dwelling limit. Elsewhere, what you are offered depends on the insurer's filed program. In some states a higher premium buys a flat-dollar deductible, depending on how close you are to the shore, according to the III.
- Ask about mitigation credits. Florida insurers must offer a deductible reduction or premium credit for hurricane mitigation. In some Rhode Island building-code zones, insurers must waive the hurricane deductible when the insured installs approved measures. Wind-mitigation work is covered in wind mitigation inspections and discounts.
- Compare the premium difference to the exposure. Moving from 2% to 5% on a $400,000 dwelling adds $12,000 to what you could owe. Price both and use the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator.
- Mind the lender's cap. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac limit each required-peril deductible, including wind, to 5% on one-to-four unit loans, so a 10% option can create a problem with a conventional mortgage.
- Plan the cash. The deductible is subtracted from the claim; no one reimburses it. Florida makes it a felony for a contractor to pay, waive or rebate a deductible with intent to injure, defraud or deceive, as covered in how homeowners insurance deductibles work.
What the deductible is calculated on
In most policies the percentage is applied to Coverage A, the dwelling limit on your declarations page, not to the size of the claim and not to your home's market value. Raise your dwelling limit and the dollar amount rises with it. Say a 2% deductible is $8,000 on a $400,000 limit; after an inflation adjustment lifts the limit to $440,000, it becomes $8,800. Math and edge cases are in percentage deductibles: how a 2% deductible really works. Whether it also applies to additional living expenses varies; New York's rule says it may not.
Key takeaways
- A hurricane or named-storm deductible is a percentage of your dwelling limit, commonly 1% to 5%, that replaces the flat deductible for storm wind damage.
- The trigger, meaning the type of storm and the time window, decides whether you owe it; states from Florida to New York to Connecticut define it differently.
- In Florida and Louisiana it applies once per calendar year, and later storms use the greater of what remains or the flat deductible.
- Your declarations page must show the deductible, and several states require the dollar amount; convert the percentage to dollars before June 1.
- Ask about lower options and mitigation credits, and remember that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cap the deductible at 5% on conventional loans they buy.