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A Discussion About Insurance Deductibles and Premiums

Like many homeowners in the coastal areas, I was recently hit with a HUGE (40%!) increase in my annual homeowners insurance. My insurance company, probably looking for ways to cover their losses in New Orleans, not only increased my premium, but they also raised (doubled) my deductible (from 1% to 2%) for damage caused by "named storms". That issue of "named storms" damage got me to thinking about the liklihood of having any significant damage now that I've got adequate opening protection on my home. My biggest concern was the rather remote possibility that a cat 5 storm would come through here and knock the whole house over. I'm not now (after installing storm panels) really concerned about minor damage caused by a cat 1, 2 or even 3 storm. So what I chose to do, and I'm not saying this is for everybody, was to raise my "named storm" deductible all the way up to 10%. This action caused my premium to go down over $800 a year. My thinking is this - If I'm going to have to pay for minor damage anyway (because of these deductible provisions) myself, I can afford the risk up to 10%. But, I want the insurance company standing by with a big check in the even of a complete, but unlikely catastrophy. I am accepting the risk of minor damage in order to save enough on my premiums over the next four years to pay for my storm panels. While your insurance company may throw you a token premium reduction for installing approved hurricane protection this, in my opinion, is a technique you may want to research in order to achieve some serious insurance savings.

Florida Hurriguard
8661 SE 173rd Wisteria St.
The Villages FL 32162
(843)227-8887, (352)751-6878 (fax)