If you live in an area where hurricanes can occur you may want to make sure you are prepared for when a storm damages your property. Preparation means getting familiar with the types of insurance policies that offer coverage for damages caused by wind and water. Not all policies cover all potential damages caused by hurricanes. There are three different policies that combine to provide you with full coverage if a hurricane damages your property:

  • (1) Homeowners/Building
  • (2) Flood
  • (3) Wind

Homeowners/Building Policies: These policies offer protection to your home and belongings but exclude damage from rising water (flood). In some areas, mainly coastal regions, it excludes wind damage as well. Protecting against flood and, in some cases, wind, requires additional insurance.

Flood Policies: Even if you live several miles inland or in a low-risk area, you can suffer flooding from tropical storms and hurricanes. Remember: If it can rain, it can flood. Flood insurance is available through most brokers and private carriers through the National Flood Insurance Program and becomes effective 30 days after purchase, so it’s best not to wait.

Wind Policies: Damage from wind may be covered with its own deductible in some homeowners insurance policies. In high-risk coastal areas, wind damage is often excluded from homeowners’ policies and is only available through a state-managed insurance pool. There may be a waiting period before coverage begins.

Do yourself a favor and schedule a sit down with your insurance agent or point of contact at your insurance company to make sure you are fully covered this hurricane season. We have represented many clients who did not have the proper coverage needed to protect their commercial and residential properties and even with legal counsel assisting you in an insurance dispute, if the coverage is not available anywhere in the policy you are going to have a very hard time recovering the proceeds you need to rebuild after a storm damages your property. In Texas, you are deemed to have knowledge of the contracts you sign so make sure you spend at least as much time shopping for insurance and discussing it with your agent as you do planning your next vacation. We promise you it’s worth the time investment. You want to know what’s in (and what’s not in) your policy before you have to file a claim, not afterward.

For any questions on insurance policies and/or the claims process or disputes with your insurance company please feel free to contact us at info@stormlex.com or call us at 210.361.0070. We will be happy to provide you with a copy of our free Insurance Claim Survival Kit. www.stormlex.com

Disclaimer and credit are given to USAA who sent out an informative email about Hurricane preparedness. We completely took some of the information in their email and repurposed it here.