ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There's a wide variety of damage from Hurricane Ian both here in our area and across the state.
Whether you had trees fall on your property, roof damage or your home or car flooded, you're going to want to touch base with your insurance agent.
If you are filing a property insurance claim, there's likely a separate hurricane deductible for your out-of-pocket expenses.
Florida is one of 19 states where these apply during a named storm. It can vary from 1 to 5 percent of your coverage limit. For example, if your home is insured for $200,000 and you have a 2 percent hurricane deductible, you would have to cover $4,000 in repairs if your place was a total loss.
Insurance Information Institute spokesman Mark Friedlander says insurance adjusters are already out in the hardest hit area trying to help customers with recovery. Even though there has been turmoil in the state's insurance market, he shared this sharper insight about the backstops to help make sure your claim is covered.
“One is the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. That is for claims that cannot be paid by your insurer because they don't have enough reserves. Say they didn't have enough personnel to get the exact return, but if your company goes insolvent, then it moves over to what's called the Florida Insurance Guarantee Association. That is established to pay claims for companies that are declared soft. So either way, your claim is paid regardless of the financial health of your company,” Friedlander said.
If your home was damaged from rising waters, that falls under your flood insurance policy. If you don't have that coverage, you can apply for a FEMA grant.
Also keep in mind, if anything happens to your car, whether it's flooding or a tree fell on it, you can claim that on your comprehensive car insurance.