What your storm deductible actually comes to in dollars, and whether raising your regular deductible is worth the exposure. Estimates only — not a quote.
A typical 2% catastrophe deductible on $300,000 of coverage means you pay the first $6,000 of storm damage yourself — 6x the $1,000 deductible that applies to everything else. That is $5,000 more you would need on hand after a named storm than after a kitchen fire.
Shown on Arkansas’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Arkansas sits in the severe-convective-storm corridor - tornado, straight-line wind and hail, not hurricane - and its carriers have moved decisively onto separate percentage wind-and-hail deductibles. The common structure is a wind/hail deductible of 1% to 5% of the dwelling limit, with 1% to 2% the prevailing choice, sitting alongside a much smaller flat all-other-perils deductible on the same declarations page. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, 2% is $6,000 out of pocket before the insurer pays anything toward a hail-damaged roof, versus $1,000 for a kitchen fire. This is carrier practice, not an Arkansas statute - the state does not legislate a deductible menu the way Florida does, so the percentage is negotiable at the point of sale and worth negotiating. Arkansas is not on the Insurance Information Institute's hurricane/windstorm deductible list, which covers coastal states; that absence reflects the peril, not the absence of a percentage deductible. Offsetting relief exists: under Act 427 of 2025 property insurers must offer premium discounts of 20% to 35% for IBHS FORTIFIED-certified homes, and the Strengthen Arkansas Homes grant program (effective January 2026) funds up to $15,000 toward a FORTIFIED roof retrofit on an existing home.
This needs your two real quoted premiums. We deliberately don’t apply a “typical savings” percentage: deductible credits vary by carrier, state, and filing, so a made-up multiplier would give you a break-even that looks precise and isn’t. Ask your insurer to quote both deductibles — it takes one phone call, and the answer is specific to you.
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