What types of coverage do you need for hurricane protection?
It’s important to make sure your homeowners insurance coverage is adequate before a storm arrives. You want to make sure you have high enough policy limits to cover the cost of fully rebuilding or replacing your home.
Here’s a closer look at why the following types of homeowners insurance coverage are important for hurricane preparedness.
Personal property coverage
Personal property coverage, also known as contents coverage, is designed to pay for the cost of replacing personal belongings that are stolen, damaged, or completely destroyed.
The amount of coverage you need depends entirely on the value of your personal belongings, such as your electronics, clothing, and furniture. This type of coverage is typically included in your homeowners insurance policy.
The type of personal property coverage you have will help determine how much money you receive to replace your belongings if a covered event occurs. If you have a replacement cost policy, you’ll receive the dollar amount it will take to buy a brand-new version of the item you lost when you file a claim. If you have an actual cash value policy, you’ll only get the amount of money that represents the current value of an item less depreciation.
Dwelling coverage
Dwelling coverage is another standard type of coverage included in homeowners insurance policies. This coverage is designed to protect the structure of your home and even some structures that aren’t attached to your home, such as a separate garage or a guest house. The key is to have enough dwelling coverage to cover the costs of rebuilding your home and any other covered structures.
Learn More: Rebuild Cost of a Home
Flood insurance
Hurricanes can cause major flood damage due to the massive amount of water they tend to bring with them, and unfortunately, homeowners insurance policies don’t cover flood damage. While floods can strike anywhere, it’s especially important to purchase separate flood insurance if you live somewhere at risk of hurricanes.
You can buy flood insurance from any insurer that has a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as the federal government administers flood insurance. Flood insurance can cover any direct physical losses that occur due to flooding. You’ll need to buy separate flood insurance policies for both your personal property and the structure of the home. The maximum amount of flood insurance that you can secure is $250,000 in coverage for the structure and $100,000 for the contents of the home.[2]
Learn More: Private Flood Insurance vs. FEMA