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 Massachusetts’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Massachusetts is a two-market state and this field describes the coastal one. Inland Massachusetts policies generally carry only a flat all-perils deductible; on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the near-coastal South Shore a separate named-storm percentage deductible is standard, and it is set as a percentage of the Coverage A dwelling limit rather than of the damage. The FAIR Plan, which writes a large share of coastal property, publishes an explicit schedule that shows how the percentage scales with both location and dwelling limit: Dukes and Nantucket counties at 2% under $200,000 of Coverage A and 5% at $200,000 and above; Barnstable County within half a mile of the coast at 2% up to $599,999 and 5% at $600,000 and above; Barnstable County inland at 2% at all levels; and the rest of the state within half a mile of the coast at 1% up to $499,999 and 2% at $500,000 and above. On a $300,000 dwelling limit that is $3,000 at 1%, $6,000 at 2%, and $15,000 at 5%. The deductible is triggered only by a storm officially named by the National Hurricane Center - damage from an ordinary nor'easter or thunderstorm falls under the flat deductible instead. 2% is recorded as the typical value because it is the setting that appears at every coastal tier in that schedule.
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.
What homeowners insurance costs in your state, and whether what you pay is out of line.
Is your dwelling coverage actually enough to rebuild — and what a shortfall costs at claim time.
Did your renewal go up more than premiums did across your state — and what to do about it.
Your renewal jumped and the carrier said 'rates went up.' Here is what is actually driving it, how to tell whether yours outran your state's, and the four levers that genuinely move the number.
Flood and earth movement are excluded from every standard homeowners policy — and the clause that excludes them is written so a wind-and-water loss can be denied entirely. Here is what is out, and what fills each gap.
Non-renewed, cancelled, or declined: read the notice correctly, stop force-placed insurance, fix the reason code on it, and get the house insured again in 30 days.
The exact sequence to run when your house is damaged — mitigation, documentation, the claim call script, the adjuster visit, reading the estimate, and every escalation step in order.