Home insurance
A 2% wind deductible is not 2% of your claim
It is a percentage of the amount your house is insured for. That one distinction is the difference between a deductible you understood and a claim that pays nothing.
Written by the AiM Insurance negotiation deskLast updated
The arithmetic
A percentage wind or hail deductible is applied to Coverage A, the dwelling limit. On a policy with a $400,000 dwelling limit and a 2% wind and hail deductible, the deductible on a wind or hail loss is $8,000 — whether the damage comes to $9,000 or $90,000. It does not scale down with the claim. Substitute your own limit and percentage; the multiplication is the whole story.
Where to find yours
On the declarations page, in the deductible block — but often not next to the deductible you think of as yours. Carriers print the all-other-perils deductible prominently and the percentage deductible separately, sometimes in a notes or endorsement section further down the page.
- Look for the words wind, hail, windstorm, named storm, hurricane or tropical cyclone anywhere in a deductible context.
- Look for a percentage symbol anywhere on the page. On most homeowners policies, a percentage means a deductible.
- Check the endorsement list. A percentage deductible is usually attached by endorsement, and the endorsement number is your reference when you ask about it.
- If the page mentions a minimum dollar amount alongside the percentage, read the clause: it usually means the deductible is the greater of the two.
The variants, and why the wording matters
- Wind and hail deductible
- Applies to any loss caused by wind or hail, named storm or not. The broadest trigger and the one most likely to affect an ordinary storm claim.
- Named storm deductible
- Applies only when the loss is caused by a storm that has been given a name by the relevant weather authority. The definition of when the trigger starts and ends is in the policy wording.
- Hurricane deductible
- Applies to losses from a storm meeting a defined hurricane trigger, such as a warning or watch issued for your area. Triggers and duration differ between policies.
- Flat wind deductible
- A dollar figure rather than a percentage, sometimes available at a higher premium. Worth asking about if the percentage number is uncomfortable.
Check it yourselfThe policy wording is the authority on what triggers the deductible and for how long, not the summary on the declarations page. Ask your carrier for the endorsement form number and read that form.
Working out what yours would cost you
Three steps, using your own numbers. The example figures below are illustrative — substitute the ones on your own declarations page.
| Dwelling limit (Coverage A) | Percentage deductible | Deductible in dollars | What a $12,000 hail claim would pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | 1% | $3,000 | $9,000 |
| $300,000 | 2% | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| $400,000 | 2% | $8,000 | $4,000 |
| $500,000 | 5% | $25,000 | Nothing — the claim is below the deductible |
This is multiplication on hypothetical figures, not market data. The point is the shape: the deductible is fixed by your dwelling limit, so as the claim gets smaller, the proportion you carry gets larger — until the claim disappears entirely.
The fourth row is the one worth sitting with. A percentage deductible large enough can mean that the ordinary, survivable storm damage — the kind that actually happens — is entirely yours, and the policy is functionally catastrophe-only cover for wind. That may be a trade you are happy to make for the premium. It should be a decision, not a discovery.
What to ask your carrier
- What is my wind and hail deductible in dollars at my current dwelling limit? Ask for the number, not the percentage.
- What triggers it — any wind or hail, or only a named storm? And how is the trigger defined in the form?
- Does it apply per occurrence, per season, or annually? Policies differ, and two storms in a season is a different exposure from one.
- Is a flat-dollar option or a lower percentage available, and what does each cost?
- If the dwelling limit rises automatically next year, does the deductible rise with it? On a percentage deductible the answer is normally yes, which means it grows every renewal without anyone deciding anything.
- Are there mitigation credits — impact-resistant roofing, roof tie-downs, opening protection — that would reduce the premium or the deductible?
When you are comparing quotes
Two home quotes with identical limits and identical all-perils deductibles can still be very different products if one carries a percentage wind deductible and the other does not. This is one of the four places a home comparison most often goes wrong — see the line-by-line comparison method for the others.
Does this explain why my premium went up?
Sometimes, in an indirect way. Adding or increasing a percentage deductible normally reduces a premium rather than raising it — the carrier is transferring risk to you. So if your renewal both went up and acquired a larger percentage deductible, the underlying increase was larger than the number you are looking at, and part of it was absorbed by the deductible change. That is worth knowing before you decide the renewal is reasonable.
The rest of the picture is in why homeowners premiums are rising.
Common questions
How does a percentage wind and hail deductible work?
It is calculated as a percentage of your dwelling limit — Coverage A — rather than as a percentage of the claim or as a flat dollar amount. If your dwelling limit is $400,000 and the wind and hail deductible is 2%, the deductible on a wind or hail loss is $8,000, whatever the claim comes to. That figure does not change as the claim gets smaller, which is why small hail losses on a percentage deductible often produce no payment at all.
Is a percentage deductible calculated on the claim or the coverage?
On the coverage limit, in almost every case. This is the single most common misunderstanding about these deductibles, and it is the reason they surprise people at claim time. Read the deductible clause on your own policy to confirm which figure it is applied to, because the wording is what governs.
Why did my policy get a separate wind and hail deductible?
Carriers introduce them to manage exposure to storm losses, and they are frequently added at renewal rather than at the start of a policy. The change can appear as an endorsement with no change to your headline coverage limits, which is why comparing endorsement lists between two declarations pages matters as much as comparing the limits.
Can I get rid of a percentage wind and hail deductible?
Sometimes. Some carriers offer a flat-dollar wind deductible option at a higher premium, some offer a lower percentage, and some do not offer an alternative at all in exposed areas. It is a question worth asking explicitly rather than assuming, and it is one of the places where two quotes at identical limits can be genuinely different products.
What is a named storm or hurricane deductible?
A variant that applies only when the loss is caused by a storm that has been named, or that meets a defined trigger such as a hurricane warning for your area. The trigger wording is what matters: two policies with the same percentage can behave very differently depending on what activates the deductible and for how long after the storm. Ask for the trigger definition in writing.
Does raising my regular deductible help if I have a wind deductible?
Only for the perils the regular deductible applies to. On a wind or hail loss the separate deductible governs, so raising the all-other-perils deductible does nothing about the exposure that is probably largest. Price both deductibles as one decision rather than treating the headline number as the deductible.
Not sure what your deductibles actually are?
Send the declarations page. We work out every deductible on the policy in dollars, price the same coverage across 50+ carriers including the deductible structure, and take the result back to your carrier first. An answer either way within 24 hours.
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