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 Virginia’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Virginia is one of nineteen states plus DC where a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible is an established feature of the homeowners market. Virginia's own insurance regulator, the State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance, tells homeowners in its consumer guide that many insurers apply a separate deductible to wind, hail, or named storms such as hurricanes and tropical storms, IN ADDITION TO the deductible chosen for the policy - written either as a flat amount (the guide's example is $2,000) or as a percentage of the dwelling limit (its worked examples use 2% and 5%). This is not a statewide mandate the way Florida's mandatory-offer statute is; it is carrier practice concentrated where the exposure is, which in Virginia means Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake), the Eastern Shore, and the lower Chesapeake Bay counties. Inland Virginia policies frequently carry no separate wind deductible at all. The 2% recorded here is the common coastal landing point rather than a statewide average, and the practical consequence is large: on a $400,000 dwelling limit, 2% is $8,000 out of pocket before the insurer pays, and 5% is $20,000. Separately, and often confused with this: flood is excluded from the homeowners policy entirely, so storm-surge damage in Hampton Roads is an NFIP or private flood claim, not a hurricane-deductible claim.
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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