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Wind and Hail Deductibles: How Percentage Deductibles Work

  • Published November 7, 2026
  • Also under Homeowners insurance and roof damage

A percentage wind, hail or hurricane deductible is figured on your home’s insured dwelling limit, not on the damage: the Insurance Information Institute’s example puts a 5 percent deductible on a house insured for $300,000 at the first $15,000 of the claim, paid by the policyholder. Find the percentage and the dwelling limit on your policy first, because together they tell you whether a roof claim pays anything.

The misreading to avoid is “2 percent means 2 percent of the damage.” It means 2 percent of the dwelling limit, a dollar figure that stays the same whatever the roof damage costs.

Flat vs. Percentage: What the Percentage Is Taken From

A flat deductible is a fixed dollar amount per claim, such as $1,000. A percentage deductible is a share of your home’s insured value. The NAIC’s page on hurricane deductibles describes them as “a percentage of the home’s insured value,” and the same logic applies to a wind and hail deductible written as a percentage.

Separate deductibles for wind and hail are not limited to hurricane coasts. The Oklahoma Insurance Department’s wind and hail page notes that in higher-risk areas “your policy may have a separate deductible specifically for that peril.” So a policy can carry an all-other-perils deductible for other claims and a different one, which may be a percentage, for wind and hail.

Because the percentage is tied to the dwelling limit, it moves when the limit moves. Raise your dwelling coverage at renewal and the dollar value of a 2 percent deductible rises with it, even though the roof did not change. For how deductibles fit with the rest of a roof claim, see how a homeowners policy handles roof damage.

Find Your Deductible and Dwelling Limit

Both numbers are on your declarations page. Look for:

  • The dwelling limit (Coverage A). This is the base for a percentage wind, hail or hurricane deductible.
  • The all-other-perils deductible, which applies when no special deductible does.
  • Any wind and hail, windstorm, hurricane or named storm deductible, shown as a percentage, a dollar amount, or both, plus Florida’s optional roof deductible if you selected it.
  • Endorsements that create those deductibles; the declarations page lists them by form number.

If the declarations page shows only a percentage, do the multiplication yourself before you need it.

Calculate Your Out-of-Pocket Cost

The formula has two steps:

Deductible in dollars = deductible percentage × dwelling limit

Insurer’s share before depreciation = covered damage minus deductible in dollars (zero if the damage is smaller)

The Insurance Information Institute’s background on hurricane and windstorm deductibles uses this example: with a house insured for $300,000 and a 5 percent deductible, “the first $15,000 of a claim must be paid out of the policyholder’s pocket.”

Hypothetical example: Your dwelling limit is $350,000 and your wind and hail deductible is 2 percent, so the deductible is $7,000. A roofer estimates $16,000 to replace the hail-damaged roof. The insurer’s share before depreciation is $9,000. If the estimate were $6,500, the claim would pay nothing for the roof, because the damage is below the deductible. With a flat $1,500 deductible instead, the same $16,000 roof would leave the insurer’s share at $14,500.

Which deductible applies matters as much as its size.

Hypothetical example: The same $350,000 house also carries a 5 percent hurricane deductible, or $17,500. If the $16,000 roof damage falls under the hurricane trigger instead of the wind and hail deductible, the roof claim pays nothing, even though the damage is identical. Read both endorsements before you estimate what a claim is worth.

That share is not yet the check. If your roof is settled at actual cash value, or the insurer holds back depreciation until the work is done, the first payment shrinks further; how depreciation changes your roof payout shows the next step of the math.

Hurricane and Named-Storm Deductibles

Hurricane deductibles follow their own rules. The NAIC page, last updated June 2, 2025, says they are “applied separately from standard peril deductibles,” typically as a percentage of the home’s insured value that “can vary from 1% to as high as 15%.” As of June 2025, 19 states and the District of Columbia had some form of hurricane or named storm deductible. The Insurance Information Institute puts the typical range at 1 percent to 5 percent and names the states.

Whether the hurricane deductible applies to your loss depends on wording. The NAIC notes that it “depends on the applicable ‘trigger’ selected by the insurance company.” Find the trigger in your hurricane or named storm endorsement and read exactly what event it names. That wording, not the weather report, decides when the higher deductible replaces your regular one.

Florida sets specific options. The Florida Department of Financial Services page on Florida’s hurricane deductible says insurers must offer hurricane deductible options of “$500, 2 percent, 5 percent, or 10 percent of the policy dwelling or structure limits,” and that the hurricane deductible “applies on an annual basis to all covered hurricane losses that occur during the calendar year.” If a second hurricane damages the roof in the same calendar year, ask your insurer how much of the annual deductible you have already satisfied.

Florida and Texas Rules That Change the Math

Florida’s optional roof deductible. The Department of Financial Services summary of property insurance changes describes an optional separate roof deductible created by SB 2-D in 2022: up to 2 percent of the Coverage A limit or 50 percent of the roof replacement cost, whichever is less. If you chose it, run both numbers.

Hypothetical example: Coverage A is $300,000, so 2 percent is $6,000. The roof’s replacement cost is $14,000, so 50 percent is $7,000. The lesser figure, $6,000, is the most the roof deductible could be.

Texas: you pay it. Texas Insurance Code Chapter 707, effective September 1, 2019, says an insured “shall pay any deductible applicable to a first-party claim,” and section 707.004 lets the insurer withhold recoverable depreciation or a replacement cost holdback until it receives reasonable proof that you paid. Keep the canceled check or card receipt. If a contractor offers to cover your deductible, read whether a roofer can pay or waive your deductible before you answer.

Should You Change Your Deductible at Renewal?

Start by checking the dwelling limit on this year’s declarations page against last year’s; if it rose, your percentage deductible rose in dollars with it.

Run your deductible in dollars, then ask one question: could you pay that amount from savings within weeks of a storm? If not, ask your agent for quotes at a lower percentage or a flat wind and hail deductible, and compare the yearly premium difference against the extra amount you would carry on a claim. If you can comfortably pay it, keeping the higher deductible can make sense when your quotes show a premium difference worth the extra exposure.

If your roof is new or has impact-rated or FORTIFIED features, ask in the same conversation which credits apply, using the proof list in the guide to roof insurance credits. And if you are deciding whether to file after a storm right now, compare your roofer’s estimate with your deductible in dollars before you call; the roof claim steps start there.

Multiply your percentage by your Coverage A limit now, write the dollar figure on your declarations page, and compare it with any contractor’s estimate before filing.

This guide is general information for U.S. homeowners, not legal, insurance, tax, or engineering advice. Codes, laws, and policy terms vary by location and change over time; confirm details with your local building department, your insurer, or a licensed professional.

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