Wind and hail deductible calculator: a percentage deductible in dollars
The Insurance Information Institute states it plainly: percentage deductibles "are calculated based on a percentage of the home's insured value", so a house insured for $100,000 under a 2 percent deductible has $2,000 deducted from any claim payment. The Texas Department of Insurance works the same arithmetic on homes insured for $150,000, and a carrier's own glossary says wind and hail deductibles are "typically calculated as either a flat-dollar amount or a percentage of your dwelling coverage (also referred to as Coverage A)".
The difference is not small. On a $400,000 dwelling limit, a 2 percent deductible is $8,000. Read against a $20,000 hail claim instead, the same 2 percent looks like $400, and the expected payment looks $7,600 larger than it is. That single misreading is what this page exists to remove.
The calculator
The amount the structure itself is insured for, as the declarations page states it. Not the purchase price, not the market value, and not the claim.
The Insurance Information Institute describes wind and hail deductibles as "most commonly paid in percentages, typically from 1 percent to 5 percent". Type any figure; the steps are only the common ones.
Leave it blank for the deductible alone. Whatever is entered is treated as an estimate of the covered loss; nothing here decides what is covered.
$5,775
1.5% of $385,000 = $5,775
- Estimated covered loss
- $22,400
- Remaining after the deductible
- $16,625
The deductible comes off the covered loss, so $22,400 less $5,775 leaves $16,625. That is arithmetic on the figures entered, not a statement about what any policy owes.
If the percentage were applied to the claim instead of to the dwelling limit, the deductible would look like 1.5% of $22,400 = $336, and the payment would look like $22,064. That is $5,439 more than the arithmetic above. It is wrong: the percentage applies to the Coverage A limit, and every source cited below says so.
Figures are read to the cent and percentages to three decimal places, rounding half up; the deductible is the dwelling limit multiplied by the percentage, rounded half up to the nearest cent. Nothing else is rounded, and a payment is never shown below zero.
What a percentage deductible is
- The base is the insured value
- Percentage deductibles "are calculated based on a percentage of the home's insured value", per the Insurance Information Institute. A carrier's own glossary puts the same thing in policy terms: wind and hail deductibles are "typically calculated as either a flat-dollar amount or a percentage of your dwelling coverage (also referred to as Coverage A)", so 1 percent of $300,000 of dwelling coverage is $3,000.
- What the percentages usually are
- Wind and hail deductibles are "most commonly paid in percentages, typically from 1 percent to 5 percent", per the Insurance Information Institute. Percentage deductibles generally run from 1 to 5 percent of insured value and are higher in high-risk coastal areas, per its background article on hurricane and windstorm deductibles. For hurricane deductibles the NAIC gives a wider range, 1 percent to as high as 15 percent of insured value.
- Hurricane, windstorm, named storm
- They are different triggers. A hurricane deductible applies only to damage from a hurricane as categorized by the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center. A windstorm or wind and hail deductible applies to wind or hail damage whatever the storm was. A named-storm deductible is triggered when a storm reaches named tropical-storm strength, 39 mph or more. Sources: the III background article and its deductibles explainer.
- Who sets the trigger
- "To some degree, depending on the state, insurance companies determine the level of the hurricane or windstorm or wind/hail deductible and where it should apply, except in Florida where state law dictates these variables", per the III; the NAIC adds that the trigger parameters are often prescribed or limited in state law. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have hurricane deductibles.
- How it meets the loss
- The deductible is subtracted from the covered loss, and the payment can never exceed the loss. Where the loss is smaller than the deductible, nothing is paid: the Texas Department of Insurance works a $6,500 roof claim against a 5 percent deductible on a $150,000 home, which is $7,500, and states that the policy "would not pay anything".
- Ask what your own deductible is
- The wind and hail deductible is not always the same as the deductible for everything else. Texas tells homeowners to "Ask your agent if the deductible for wind and hail damage is different than the deductible for other types of damages", because if it is, a storm-damaged roof costs more out of pocket. The figure that governs is the one on your declarations page.
Worked examples
| Dwelling limit | Percentage | Deductible | Covered loss | After the deductible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | 1% | $3,000 | $14,850 | $11,850 |
| $150,000 | 5% | $7,500 | $6,500 | $0 |
| $520,000 | 2% | $10,400 | $48,000 | $37,600 |
| $400,000 | 2% | $8,000 | $20,000 | $12,000 |
- One percent of $300,000
- The example the carrier explainer works through: 1% of $300,000 of dwelling coverage is a $3,000 deductible. 1% of $300,000 = $3,000.
- Five percent of $150,000
- The Texas Department of Insurance example: a home insured for $150,000 with a 5 percent deductible, and a roof repair of $6,500. The repair is below the deductible, so the policy pays nothing. 5% of $150,000 = $7,500.
- Two percent of $520,000
- A larger dwelling limit moves the deductible with it: the percentage is fixed, the dollar figure is not. 2% of $520,000 = $10,400.
- Two percent of $400,000
- The misconception, quantified. Read against the dwelling limit the deductible is $8,000; read against the claim it looks like $400, and the payment looks larger than it is. 2% of $400,000 = $8,000.
States with a published source
Only states a cited source says something specific about appear here, and a row that carries two publishers' claims links both of them. A state missing from this table is a state we have no published figure for, which is a result rather than a gap; no percentage is inferred for any state, and none of this describes any one policy.
| State | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | Percentage wind and hail deductibles are common; a separate one for wind and hail is common enough that the state regulator tells homeowners to ask. The Texas Department of Insurance tells homeowners to "Ask your agent if the deductible for wind and hail damage is different than the deductible for other types of damages", and works its own examples on the amount the home is insured for. The Insurance Information Institute names Texas among the Tornado Alley states where wind and hail deductibles are most common, typically 1 to 5 percent, and among the states with hurricane deductibles. | |
| Oklahoma | Named as one of the states where wind and hail percentage deductibles are most common, typically 1 to 5 percent. The Insurance Information Institute states that wind and hail deductibles are "most commonly paid in percentages, typically from 1 percent to 5 percent", and are most common around Tornado Alley, naming Oklahoma. | |
| Kansas | Named as one of the states where wind and hail percentage deductibles are most common, typically 1 to 5 percent. Same source: wind and hail percentage deductibles are most common around Tornado Alley, Kansas named among them, typically 1 to 5 percent. | |
| Nebraska | Named as one of the states where wind and hail percentage deductibles are most common, typically 1 to 5 percent. Same source: wind and hail percentage deductibles are most common around Tornado Alley, Nebraska named among them, typically 1 to 5 percent. | |
| Colorado | No published norm to cite. The state's own shopping guide treats the deductible type as something to compare policy by policy. The homeowners shopping guide the Colorado Division of Insurance distributes asks shoppers to compare, for each policy: "Flat dollar deductible? Percentage deductible? Hurricane, wind/hail deductible? Separate deductible for roof?" That is evidence these are a standard shopping consideration in Colorado. It is not a statement that any particular percentage is standard there, and this page does not make one. |
Each state name links to that state's hail history on the record: the days, the counts and the largest sizes the public sources hold. The deductible is a policy term; the record is a separate question.
Four things people get wrong
- "The percentage comes off my claim"
- It does not. It is a percentage of the home's insured value, the Coverage A limit. On a $20,000 hail claim with a 2 percent deductible and a $400,000 dwelling limit, the deductible is $8,000, not $400. The III, the NAIC, the Texas Department of Insurance and the carrier explainer all say the same thing.
- "The deductible applies once a year"
- Not on a home policy. "With auto insurance or a homeowners policy, the deductible applies each time you file a claim", per the III, and Texas says the same: "For home and auto policies, the deductible will be applied to each claim". Two separate claims are two deductibles; whether two storms count as one occurrence or two is defined in the policy. The cited exception: in Florida and Louisiana, hurricane deductibles are applied once per season rather than for each storm.
- "My regular deductible covers storm damage"
- Not necessarily. A separate wind and hail deductible is common enough that the Texas regulator tells homeowners to ask their agent whether it differs, and warns that if it does, a storm-damaged roof costs more out of pocket. The declarations page settles it.
- "Hurricane and wind/hail mean the same thing"
- They have different triggers. A hurricane deductible needs a hurricane as categorized by the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center; a wind and hail deductible applies to any wind or hail event. Source: the III background article.
Questions this page is asked
How is a percentage wind and hail deductible calculated?
The percentage is applied to the dwelling coverage limit, Coverage A on the declarations page, not to the claim. Multiply the limit by the percentage and that is the deductible in dollars; it comes off the covered loss, and a loss smaller than the deductible pays nothing. The calculator above shows the arithmetic and the wrong reading side by side.
Is a 2 percent deductible 2 percent of my claim?
No. It is 2 percent of the amount the dwelling is insured for. Read against the claim instead, the deductible looks far smaller and the expected payment far larger than it is; that misreading is the reason this page exists, and every source cited on it says the same thing.
What is the difference between a wind and hail deductible and a hurricane deductible?
The trigger. A hurricane deductible applies only to damage from a hurricane as categorized by the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center; a wind and hail deductible applies to wind or hail damage whatever the storm was. A named-storm deductible is triggered when a storm reaches named tropical-storm strength.
Does the deductible apply once a year or to every claim?
On a home policy the deductible applies each time a claim is filed, per the Insurance Information Institute and the Texas Department of Insurance. The cited exception is Florida and Louisiana, where hurricane deductibles apply once per season. Whether two storms are one occurrence or two is defined in the policy.
A deductible applies to a loss. A loss has a date.
The arithmetic above needs two numbers off a policy. Everything after it needs a date: which storm, which day, and what the public record holds for that day at that address. That is a separate question from the one this calculator answers, and it is the one Titan Weather was built for.
Not sure of the day: the date-of-loss finder lists the candidate days near an address first, free, with how many independent sources carried each one. Run the address and the archive is searched at the property, measured evidence kept apart from radar-detected, in a fingerprinted document that states its own method.
How this page is made
- The arithmetic
- Every figure is computed in whole cents. A typed amount is read to the cent and a percentage to three decimal places, rounding half up; the deductible is the dwelling limit multiplied by the percentage, rounded half up to the nearest cent; what remains is the covered loss less the deductible, never below zero. The same rules run on the server and in the browser, and the default example on this page is computed on the server.
- What is refused
- A dwelling limit of zero or less, a percentage above 100, a flat deductible larger than the dwelling limit, a percentage typed with a comma in it, anything above $100,000,000, and any entry that is not a plain positive number. Each is answered with a sentence rather than a figure, and the sentence names the reason it was refused. No result on this page is ever a negative payment.
- The sources
- The Insurance Information Institute on deductibles and on hurricane and windstorm deductibles, the NAIC on hurricane deductibles, the Texas Department of Insurance on deductibles and on replacing a roof, a carrier glossary entry on wind and hail deductibles, and the homeowners shopping guide the Colorado Division of Insurance distributes. Nothing on this page states a deductible fact that is not in one of them.
- What this is not
- Arithmetic and cited reference, not advice and not a coverage decision. This page states nothing about whether any roof is damaged, whether a claim should be filed, or whether any amount will be paid, and it is not insurance, legal or financial advice.
Everything this calculator returns is arithmetic on the numbers you typed. It is not a payment promise and not an estimate of any claim. Policy terms, what triggers a wind, hail, named-storm or hurricane deductible, sublimits, roof schedules, depreciation and actual cash value holdbacks are all out of scope here and can change the outcome. The figures that govern are the ones on your declarations page; read it, and ask your agent or your carrier what your wind and hail deductible actually is.