Does My House Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage?

Although your house insurance covers most eventualities, not everything will be covered with your regular policy. If you live in an area that is known for hurricanes you are going to have to carry special insurance in order for you to be covered for hurricanes. The Gulf States are hit by hurricanes frequently. The insurance companies will make these states carry special hurricane insurance in order to be covered if they are hit by a hurricane. This is known as a rider. Not all insurance companies will carry hurricane insurance. You are going to want to shop around for this coverage. In Florida you must carry a certain amount of hurricane insurance. It is difficult to find an insurance company that carries it. After the devastating hurricanes that hit Florida, many insurance companies were forced out of business. Now you must look for ones that will give you the protection you need.

This will be the most expensive part of your insurance policy. Besides hurricane insurance riders there are other riders that you will want depending on where you live. Residents of California are going to want to carry a rider that covers earthquake damage. In flood areas you are going to want to carry flood insurance. This is another necessary rider for some areas. These are considered Acts of God and will not be covered by all home insurance policies. When you go shopping for house insurance talk to the agent and make sure you have all of the insurance that you need. Not all areas are in flood zones so not all people will need to carry flood insurance. That is true of hurricane insurance. To be sure your insurance is adequate you will want to discuss riders. Your normal insurance should cover against fires and other damages. You want to make sure you have enough insurance to pay to have your house rebuilt. The cost of rebuilding is more than what your house was worth. Make sure your insurance will cover the additional money needed to rebuild. Always make sure you carry enough personal property insurance to cover your belongings. Many people misjudge and don’t get enough insurance for their possessions, this is sometimes due to the cost of house insurance premiums, but it’s well worth taking out.