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 Delaware’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Delaware is one of nineteen states plus the District of Columbia where hurricane or named-storm deductibles are in use, per the Insurance Information Institute. In practice this is a COASTAL Delaware issue, not a statewide one: policies on homes in lower Sussex County -- Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island and the surrounding shore communities -- commonly carry a separate percentage deductible for hurricane or named-storm wind, while a typical New Castle or Kent County policy inland carries a single flat all-perils deductible and nothing else. Published ranges for the coastal percentage run 1% to 5% of the dwelling limit (occasionally higher on true beachfront). The 2% recorded here is the midpoint of that published range, NOT a separately measured modal value -- Delaware is a small market and no source publishes a Delaware-specific distribution of hurricane deductible selections. The trigger is the usual one: a National Weather Service hurricane watch or warning, with a timing window that typically extends from shortly before the storm is named until roughly 24-72 hours after it is downgraded. Note the state's own residual market takes a different approach: the Insurance Placement Facility of Delaware applies a FLAT $2,000 hurricane deductible, mandatory in designated coastal ZIP codes and optional elsewhere.
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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