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 Rhode Island’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Rhode Island is small but fully exposed - it is one of the 19 states plus DC that the Insurance Information Institute identifies as having hurricane deductibles, and coastal policies here routinely carry a separate named-storm or hurricane deductible of 2% to 5% of the dwelling limit instead of the flat all-perils deductible. State regulation 230-RICR-20-05-13 (Property Insurance and Weather Related Claims) caps the hurricane deductible at 5% of the insured dwelling value and forbids insurers from offering optional hurricane deductibles above that. Windstorm deductibles as such - the broader, non-named-storm kind - are prohibited. The trigger is a National Weather Service hurricane warning, running from the warning through 24 hours after the last hurricane warning for any part of the state is terminated, with a separate sustained-hurricane-force-wind trigger written specifically for Block Island. Two things make Rhode Island distinctive. First, the deductible rule applies statewide rather than only in shore communities, so an inland Providence County policy can carry one. Second, the regulation requires the insurer to WAIVE the hurricane deductible where the owner has voluntarily installed qualifying mitigation - permanent or plywood storm shutters, hurricane glass, or roof tie-downs depending on building code zone - subject to inspection or proof of installation. That waiver is unusual nationally and is the single most actionable thing a Rhode Island coastal owner can do about this deductible. Practice also varies by carrier: some large national insurers require a 5% windstorm deductible on coastal risks, while several coastal specialists write with no separate hurricane deductible at all, so 2% is the middle of a genuinely wide range rather than a near-universal default.
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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