What is Windstorm Insurance?
What is Windstorm Insurance?
Additional insurance coverage for a home or property and the belongings inside should a wind-based weather event cause damage or loss.
Windstorm Insurance Details
Windstorm insurance covers damage caused by typhoons, tornados, hurricanes, and gales. Individuals who live in vulnerable areas, Tornado Alley, for example, can benefit greatly from this added protection. Waterfront properties, where storms and cyclones are fairly common, also fall into this classification.
Windstorm insurance will cover actual harm to the property and individual possessions inside the home. Numerous insurances likewise incorporate inclusion for withdrawn construction properties like carports and sheds. When large breezes damage rooftops and windows, downpour and flotsam and jetsam can cause extra harm. In such cases, most insurances will cover fixes as long as the case is documented not long after the occasion.
Windstorms go hand in hand with a storm flood and flooding; however, windstorm insurance won't commonly cover harm brought about by these rising waters. You should buy flood insurance inclusion given by the government should independently, requiring 30 days to come full circle.
Example of Windstorm Insurance
Sarah and Josh have recently moved to Florida to retire. The pair have never had to deal with extreme weather but are gearing up for hurricane season. To further protect their new home and belongings, the couple decides to take out a windstorm insurance policy. The windstorm insurance policy has a deductible of $1,000. Monthly payments are about $200 a month, but the windstorm insurance provides peace of mind to Sarah and Josh.
Two years after the purchase of their windstorm insurance Sarah and Josh need to make a claim. A tropical storm blew through their neighborhood, tearing their roof from their garage. The couple is unharmed, but their roof now needs to be replaced. In the process of the storm, their holiday decorations were also damaged when the roof tore off.
Sarah and Josh make a claim the day after the storm. They get an estimate for a new roof and create a spreadsheet of the decorations they lost. In total, the roof will cost $12,000 in repairs with $2,300 of holiday decorations needing to be replaced, for a total claim of $14,300. Because Sarah and Josh have windstorm insurance and made a claim shortly after the windstorm, the couple's claim was approved, and work can begin on their roof as soon as they pay their $1,000 deductible.
Significance of Windstorm Insurance
Currently, multiple states require an added windstorm insurance policy. The states include Washington, D.C., Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
While most common insurance policies offer wind coverage, home and property owners may need added wind coverage depending on their home or property location. Do beware most windstorm insurance policies provide a specific timeframe in which policyholders must file a claim following a windstorm in your area. Failure to make a claim during the appropriate window may be grounds for an automatic denial of your claim.