Hail and wind are common with summer storms, and can cause serious damage to your vehicle or your home. Louisiana is not only subject to wind and hail from severe storms, but also from tornadoes and hurricanes.
Hail can break windows, damage gutters and siding on your home and even damage your roof. Wind can do the same, and it can down trees that can fall on your house, as well as send all kinds of debris into the air that can collide with your home and create serious damage.
Does your Louisiana homeowners insurance cover damage due to wind and hail? It depends where you live. Away from the coast, windstorms are one of the basic perils that all standard homeowners policies cover, which means that if your home sustains wind damage from a tornado or other windstorm, you will receive compensation for the damage to your home or its contents—up to the limits of your policy, and after your deductible.
In certain coastal areas, many major insurers now exclude wind and hail damage from standard homeowners insurance. Any exclusion should be clearly listed on your policy so you know what is not covered. In these cases, you can purchase an endorsement (for an additional cost) for wind and hail coverage. If you are unable to secure wind or hail coverage from a private insurer, you can find supplemental coverage through Louisiana’s FAIR and Coastal insurance plans.
If you live in coastal Louisiana and have windstorm and hail coverage under your standard homeowners policy, you will likely have a separate “named storm deductible,” or hurricane deductible. Hurricane deductibles are usually a percentage of the insured property value, such as 2 – 5% or more.
It is important to know what your homeowners insurance policy covers, and what it doesn’t to make sure that you are prepared when the storm hits. Do you have questions about wind and hail coverage, hurricane deductibles and other issues related to your Louisiana home insurance? Contact us today to learn more and find out how we can help secure the coverage that you need.