i am so glad i found this forum. What I wondering is this. Why is my Insurance Company charging me so much for my roof repairs after hurricane ike? last year, i had a pipe burst in my kitchen and i only had to pay $500.

Now they tell me that i have to pay over $3000 dollars! WHY?

Hi Belle,
Sounds to me like what you are experiencing is the “hurricane deductible.” Many states allow insurance companies to sell policies that have higher deductibles for hurricanes and wind storms than for other losses like fire or theft.

For example, if you live in Florida, your hurricane deductible would range from 2% to 10% of your dwelling coverage limits. In Mississippi, I believe the hurricane deductible ranges all the way up to 15%. These deductibles vary by state as well as by insurers within the states.

They are higher than the traditional deductibles due to the higher risks and greater losses involved in hurricane, hail, and wind storms. You will also often find “hail storm” deductibles too.

So, if you had a traditional loss last year and paid a $500 deductible and a hurricane loss related to Hurricane Ike, I’m confident that what you are seeing is your hurricane deductible. For example, if you have $150,000 in dwelling coverage and are subject to a 2% hurricane deductible, that’s where the $3000 figure probably came from. Of course, I don’t know what state you are in nor how much insurance coverage you have – just trying to give you an example that *hopefully* makes sense.

Arrggh. You are sooooo spot on – it’s scary! I checked my policy and you are right. It IS the hurricane deductible. Lucky me! The timing couldn’t be worse. Does anyone know how to get FEMA to help? Is that even an option?

You would need to contact FEMA directly and it depends on if your home is in a designated disaster area or not. Didn’t your community have any Disaster Recovery Centers where you could meet with FEMA and apply for grants? That’s how I did it. I went down to the center (it was in our city’s rec center) and filled out a few forms. I think you can do it online too. They had me apply for “individual disaster assistance” or something like that to help. They do grants and loans so you may have to pay back the money.

Also, not everyone qualifies. My neighbors didn’t qualify because they own a vacant rental property. FEMA told them that since they can live in their rental house for free, they didn’t qualify for assistance.

Anyhow, I don’t know if it’s an option or not but you might want to contact them and find out for sure. Good luck!

Yes, they did have FEMA people that came into town right after IKE. I didn’t go because I didn’t think I needed to since I have homeowners insurance AND the roof damage didn’t seem THAT bad. But I didn’t know about the hurricane deductible. I thought I’d just have to pay $500 and I’d be done. Now, I have a much bigger bill and I’m not sure how I’m going to pay for it. My credit cards are maxed out. LOL I may have to sell my Jimmy Choos.

OK. I found FEMA’s web page and I registered online. They say that FEMA assistance “provides money to people in disaster areas when losses are not covered by insurance and property has been damaged or destroyed.” So, part of my loss is NOT covered by insurance (the $3000 hurricane deductible) and my property HAS been damaged. Hopefully, they will accept my application.

Belle, you might want to read up on FEMA’s policy regarding insurance deductibles:
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=14628
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 0880910043

For example, if you have $50,000 in insurance coverage but $60,000 in damage you will pay the insurance company your $3000 deductible and the insurance company will pay $50,000 for repairs. That leaves you with a shortage of $7000 of needed repairs. FEMA may help you with the $7000 but you are still responsible for the deductible.

Drat! I knew it was too good to be true. I’ll miss my Jimmy Choos.

As a consumer, I am always trying to make ends meet. So I am concerned that I don't over-insure myself and my family. Some insurance is required by law, for example, car insurance. But do I need term life? Young families buy term life so that if something happens to one of the parents the children will be properly cared for and assured of a good college education. Do I need health insurance? Health insurance is only necessary if you get sick or injured, but we can never foretell that. So we do need health insurance.
Insurance policies can be issued at the group or individual level. When group insurance is issued, minimal underwriting is required and the group as a whole is afforded insurance coverage based on a relatively average premium rate determined by the class of people being covered.When individual policies are issued, the insurance company evaluates the individual to determine coverage risk.
Automobile, homeowner and health insurance policies can be issued at higher deductible levels in order to keep premiums affordable for the insured.

The reason of having a high-deductible health insurance plan is to guard against the major unpredicted expenses. Yet a high deductible can make some people a little nervous. Even a short trip to the emergency room to get stitches can cost several hundred dollars. If you break your leg, the cost could quickly run into thousands of dollars.