what is hurricane insurance 
actually hurricane insurance doesn t exist as a specific separate type of policy the term often refers to what is strictly speaking a hurricane deductible on a homeowners insurance policy an extra amount a homeowner must pay before the insurer will cover the damage or destruction caused by a hurricane a percentage of the property s worth this deductible is common in 19 hurricane prone states and the district of columbia 1hurricane insurance can also refer to special types of catastrophe insurance that specifically cover flooding or extreme winds which actually do the damage to the property these policies are also typical and sometimes required in high risk hurricane states such as florida and texas understanding hurricane insurancehurricane deductibles are separate from regular homeowners insurance deductibles and are based on a percentage of the home s value while a regular homeowners insurance policy deductible is a fixed dollar amount say 500 or 2 000 a hurricane deductible might be 2 to 5 of a home s insured value or 2 000 to 5 000 for every 100 000 in home coverage hurricane deductibles first developed in 1992 after hurricane andrew s massive damage to south florida inflicted major losses on homeowners insurance companies but they became more widespread in 2005 in the wake of hurricane katrina insurance companies turn to reinsurers when they re having trouble paying large amounts of claims all at once but even reinsurance companies were struggling under such enormous losses as a result insurance companies began requiring hurricane deductibles in 19 states and washington d c homes in these states which are all on the gulf of mexico or atlantic coasts are susceptible to hurricane damage 1for a homeowner to be required to pay a hurricane deductible there usually must be a named hurricane in the area sometimes a severe tropical storm will trigger the deductible the hurricane deductible will be in effect for any damage that occurs until the storm is downgraded rules vary by state even when a hurricane deductible doesn t apply a windstorm deductible might a windstorm deductible applies to damage from any kind of high wind it can run a little lower than a hurricane deductible sometimes as low as 1 of the property s insured worth 1states where hurricane deductibles applythe states regions where hurricane deductibles apply are policies offering hurricane coveragehomeowners should also be aware that even if they pay a hurricane deductible gaps in their coverage might exist most homeowners policies exempt flooding from an outside natural event like a hurricane so property owners need a separate flood insurance policy to cover such water related destruction or damage 2most standard homeowners policies will cover some damage caused by hurricanes mostly that related to the heavy wind that say rips shingles off a roof or causes a tree branch to snap and crash into a window also homeowners insurance policies in some hurricane prone states won t pay for wind related damage so if you want to protect your property you must purchase separate windstorm insurance in this case all wind damage or destruction would fall under this policy instead of the traditional homeowners policy on top of hurricane coverage windstorm insurance applies to problems stemming from tornadoes cyclones and other types of high speed winds 2