We are continuing to cover the price of paradise and the state of insurance with the top insurance headlines for the week.
1. Florida hurricane deductibles leave customers with sticker shock
Florida hurricane deductibles leave customers with sticker shock
This week includes more lessons learned for Tampa Bay area homeowners filing claims after Debby. Specifically when one homeowner emailed us shocked about his hurricane deductible.
Juan Mercado woke up to flooding inside his home on August 4th— evidence that Tropical Storm Debby had dumped water into his home overnight.
So, he filed an insurance claim with State Farm and was shocked to see a hurricane deductible even though Debby was still a tropical storm when it hit.
Winds were in North Florida, not here in Tampa Bay. “I try to recreate the path, and I try to with times and dates of when it became a hurricane and when it did that. And apparently that doesn’t, that’s irrelevant,” he said.
The insurance information institute says that’s because if a hurricane watch is issued for any part of the state, the hurricane deductible provision lasts until 72 hours after that watch or warning is issued.