Your deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in – and it’s easy to overlook until you’re staring at an estimate wondering why the check is smaller than expected.
How it works: if your deductible is $2,500 and your covered damage totals $15,000, your insurance company pays $12,500. The $2,500 comes from you, either paid directly to the contractor or subtracted from your settlement.
A few things worth knowing:
- Deductibles are typically a flat dollar amount, but some policies – especially for wind/hail damage in certain states – use a percentage of your home’s insured value instead. That can be a much bigger number than people expect.
- Your deductible applies per claim, not per year. If you file two separate claims, you may owe the deductible twice.
- Some policies have separate, higher deductibles specifically for named storms or hurricanes. Worth checking before storm season.
Why this matters before you file: if the damage is close to your deductible amount, filing a claim might not make financial sense – you’d be paying most or all of the repair cost yourself anyway, while a claim still goes on your record. We’ll tell you honestly if that’s the situation, even if it means we don’t get the job.
Where we come in: because we read policies as closely as we read framing, we’ll help you understand your actual deductible exposure before you decide whether to file – not after.