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Maryland Insurance Administration • 800-492-6116 • www.insurance.maryland.gov
A CONSUMER GUIDE TO HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE
Some homeowners policies contain special deductibles for losses caused by wind,
hurricanes or other storms. ese deductibles are applied instead of the “all peril”
or general policy deductible if the damage is caused by wind, hurricanes or other
storms. Some insurers automatically include a deductible for wind, hurricanes
or other storms, while other insurers make these deductibles available at the
option of the policyholder. Some deductibles for wind, hurricanes or other
storms are written as a at amount, such as $1,000, while others are applied to
the loss as a percentage of the insurance coverage on the dwelling. For example,
assume a wind storm causes $3,000 damage to your house and your dwelling is
insured for $100,000. If you had a $1,000 deductible for wind storms on your
policy, your insurer would pay $2,000 towards the damage. Using that same
example, but changing the cause of loss to a hurricane, if your policy has a 2%
hurricane deductible, the deductible would be $2,000 (2% of your $100,000
limit) and the insurer would pay $1,000 towards the damage. By law, if the policy
requires that a deductible in the case of a hurricane or other storm be expressed
as a percentage, it cannot exceed 5% of the coverage limit unless the Insurance
Commissioner has granted written approval to the insurer. However, you can
purchase a wind, hurricanes or other storms deductible in an amount greater than
5% if you so choose. When the insurer requires a deductible equal to a percentage
of the dwelling coverage limit, it is also required to provide the policyholder with an
annual statement explaining the manner in which the deductible is applied. Please
ask about this deductible when shopping for insurance to become aware of how it
may aect you.
Also, some insurers may charge a dierent deductible for certain claims. For
example, you may have an “all peril” deductible of $1,000 for all claims except
for water/sewer backup, which might have a $5,000 deductible. If you do not
understand your deductible(s), contact your insurer or insurance producer.
G. Mobile Home Policies. ere are some special considerations for those
purchasing mobile homeowners insurance. Some insurers require notice before
your mobile home is moved or all protection under the policy may be suspended.
In addition, the typical mobile homeowners policy usually does not cover collision
damage to your mobile home while it is in-transit. You can usually buy trip
collision coverage from your insurer to cover a certain number of days while you