Hurricane season insurance checklist

Start your hurricane preparations with the parts that have lead times: a flood policy takes 30 days to take effect, wind coverage from a state pool stops being sold when a storm threatens, and a mitigation inspection can take weeks to schedule. The rest, such as photographs, phone numbers and a deductible fund, can be done in a weekend. The checklist below is organized by when each item has to happen.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and the eastern Pacific season from May 15 to November 30, according to the National Hurricane Center. Storms form late in the Atlantic season as well as early, so the list applies in October as much as in June. If you are not covered the way you want, the table below shows what can still be fixed and what cannot.

What cannot be fixed at the last minute

The National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane watch 48 hours before it expects tropical-storm-force winds and a hurricane warning 36 hours before (National Weather Service). In several states, a warning is also what starts the clock on your hurricane deductible, as covered in hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained. Once a warning is posted, you have roughly a day and a half before tropical-storm-force winds arrive.

Before the season: the coverage review

1. Pull the declarations page and read the deductibles. Find the hurricane, named-storm or wind/hail deductible and convert the percentage to dollars. Say your dwelling limit is $400,000 and the deductible is 2%: that is $8,000 you will need in cash, plus living costs while you wait for payment. The hurricane and percentage deductible calculator does the math for any limit.
2. Confirm wind is in the policy. Look for a windstorm or hail exclusion among the endorsements. If there is one, confirm the separate wind policy is in force and lists your lender. See windstorm exclusions and wind-only policies.
3. Decide about flood now. Storm surge and rising water are excluded from a homeowners policy (hurricane coverage: wind, flood and storm surge). The NFIP's maximum for a single-family home is $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. If your home would cost more to rebuild, ask about excess or private flood coverage. Try the flood insurance coverage gap calculator.
4. Check your dwelling limit against rebuilding costs. A limit set years ago may be low after construction inflation. The How much homeowners insurance do I need? is a place to test it. Ask about ordinance or law coverage: paying to rebuild to code, since rebuilding after a storm often means meeting current building code.
5. Read the roof terms. An actual-cash-value roof endorsement or a roof payment schedule can cut a hurricane roof claim sharply. See Roof payment schedules and ACV roof endorsements.
6. Ask about loss of use. Find the dollar limit or time limit for additional living expenses, and ask whether a mandatory evacuation order alone triggers it. In the ISO form, civil authority coverage applies when authorities bar you from your home because of direct damage to neighboring premises by a covered peril, and it lasts at most two weeks.
7. Ask what discounts you are not getting. A wind-mitigation inspection, shutters, a reinforced roof deck or a FORTIFIED roof can earn credits or a lower hurricane deductible in some states. See wind mitigation inspections and discounts, hurricane shutters and impact windows: protection and savings and state home hardening grant programs.
8. Keep the policy in force. Check that premiums are paid, that autopay still works with your current card and that your mortgage escrow account covers the renewal. A lapse can leave you without coverage when a storm forms.
9. Know who holds the checks. Confirm that your lender has the current policy and that your mailing address is correct. A claim check made out to you and your mortgage company usually has to be endorsed by both; see why your mortgage company is on the claim check.

Build the record while the weather is calm

An adjuster will ask what you had, what condition it was in and what it was worth. Gather it now.

• Walk through each room with a phone camera and narrate. Open closets and cabinets. Photograph serial numbers on appliances and electronics. The home inventory builder shows what to capture.
• Photograph the exterior on every side, plus the roof if you can do it safely, or hire an inspector. Date-stamped images of the roof before a storm help settle later arguments about what damage was old.
• Save copies of the declarations page, the endorsements, receipts for major improvements and your roof's installation date. Keep them on a phone and in cloud storage, not only in a drawer in a flood zone.
• Write down the claim numbers and phone lines for your homeowners insurer, any wind pool and your flood insurer. An NFIP policy may be serviced by a private Write Your Own (WYO) insurer, so its number can differ from your homeowners carrier's.

When a watch or warning is issued

1. Reread how your policy defines the hurricane deductible window, and note when the watch and warning are issued for your area. Those times can decide which deductible applies to a loss.
2. Take final photos of the home and valuables. Move documents, medications, a laptop and irreplaceable items out with you.
3. Withdraw some cash. Power outages shut card readers, and you may pay for a hotel before reimbursement.
4. Secure what you can if time allows, such as outdoor furniture and loose items, and keep receipts. The ISO form's reasonable-repairs coverage applies to measures taken after covered damage has occurred, so pre-storm preparation is generally your own expense.
5. Check your insurers' apps or websites for claim-reporting options and save the numbers in your phone.
6. Remember that belongings you take with you are protected too: the ISO form covers property removed from an endangered premises against loss from any cause for up to 30 days.
7. Leave when you are told to. No claim is worth a life, and decisions about repairs can wait.

After the storm: first steps

When it is safe to return, photograph everything before you move or throw anything away. Make temporary repairs that stop further damage, such as tarping a roof, and keep receipts. Report the claim promptly to every insurer that may owe you money, and keep a log of calls. The full process is in filing a homeowners claim after a hurricane. Be wary of door-to-door contractors who ask you to sign over your claim or promise to waive your deductible; contractor fraud after storms: how it works and how to stop it explains the pattern.

Key takeaways

• The items with lead times are flood insurance (30 days), wind-pool coverage (closes as a storm nears) and mitigation work; do these first.
• Convert every hurricane or wind/hail percentage to dollars and plan how to fund it, along with a few weeks of living costs.
• Confirm that wind is covered by your policy or by a separate one, and that flood is covered by a separate policy.
• Build the record before the storm: dated photos, an inventory, the declarations page and every insurer's claim number.
• Keep premiums paid and your lender informed, so a claim check is not delayed.