What is Windstorm Insurance? Who Needs It?

If you don’t have windstorm insurance, then your homeowners insurance policy may not protect you against hurricane damage, tornado damage, or even hailstorm damage. Depending on your location, your lender may require windstorm insurance.

Find out everything you need to know about windstorm insurance and why you may need it.

What is Windstorm Insurance?

Windstorm insurance is a type of property and casualty insurance carried by homeowners and businesses.

Like other property and casualty insurance, windstorm insurance protects things you own – like your home and the things inside your home – from losses linked to a specific cause.

Windstorm insurance specifically protects against damage caused by:

• Gales
• Winds
• Hail
• Thunderstorms and other heavy storms
• Hurricanes, tornadoes, and cyclones

If your property is damaged by wind, your windstorm insurance policy should cover the cost of repairing or replacing your property.

Who Needs Windstorm Insurance?

Most Americans don’t need to buy windstorm insurance. In most parts of the country, windstorm coverage is included in a standard homeowners insurance policy.

However, homeowners in the southeastern United States – from Texas to Florida to Virginia – often require windstorm insurance as an endorsement, as do some homeowners in the Midwest, which is prone to heavy windstorms. Some homeowners in Hawaii buy additional windstorm insurance coverage.

If you don’t have windstorm coverage and your house is damaged by wind, then you could be forced to pay out of pocket for hurricane damage, tornado damage, and hailstorm damage.

Here’s how it works:

• If you live in a coastal region or an area prone to hurricanes or tornadoes, then you may need to buy additional windstorm coverage.
• Ordinary homeowners insurance, in certain wind-prone regions of the country, will not cover wind damage. Instead, you need to buy windstorm coverage as an endorsement or separate policy.
• If you have a mortgage, then your lender may require windstorm insurance (assuming you live in a wind-prone region).
• If you live in an area not prone to hurricanes or tornadoes, then windstorm coverage is generally (but not always) included with your homeowners insurance policy. Homeowners in the western United States and the Northeast, for example, may not need to carry windstorm insurance (but check your policy to make sure you know what’s covered and what isn’t).

Areas that May Need Extra Windstorm Insurance Coverage

Depending on where you live, you may or may not need to buy extra windstorm insurance coverage.

Areas where you may, however, need extra windstorm insurance include:

• The Midwestern United States
• Coastal regions of the Southeast United States
• Texas
• Hawaii

What Windstorm Insurance Covers

Windstorm insurance works like any other insurance policy coverage: it covers the cost of repairing or replacing your property after a covered event (like a hurricane, hailstorm, or windstorm).

Typically, windstorm insurance covers:

• Physical damage to your property
• Your possessions
• Detached structures like garages and sheds

Windstorm insurance does not cover repairs or replacements for vehicles. All auto-related claims go through your car insurance provider

What Windstorm Insurance Doesn’t Cover

You may carry windstorm insurance to protect against hurricanes and other severe thunderstorms. However, windstorm insurance doesn’t automatically protect against all damage associated with heavy winds – like flooding.

Here are some of the things not covered by windstorm insurance:

• Flood damage (even if it’s caused by rising floodwaters or a storm surge during a covered storm like a hurricane)
• Damage caused by other excluded events
• Car repairs and replacements

How to File a Windstorm Insurance Claim

Your insurer treats a windstorm insurance claim similar to any other property and casualty insurance claim.

Here’s how a typical windstorm insurance claim works:

1. Your property is damaged by a covered windstorm – like a severe thunderstorm, hailstorm, tornado, or hurricane.
2. Secure the scene and, when safe to do so, contact your insurance company to start the claim.
3. Record the date and time of the storm. Take photos and videos of any damage.
4. Wait for your insurance company’s adjuster to advise on the next steps. They may authorize emergency funds, arrive at your property to inspect the damage, or recommend emergency contractors to secure the scene.
5. Contact additional contractors for additional repair estimates.
6. Work with the insurance company’s adjuster to complete repairs and receive compensation to cover those repairs.

Ideally, the insurance claim goes smoothly and you’re happy with the amount of compensation you receive.

In many cases, however, a windstorm insurance claim doesn’t go smoothly; your insurer could deny your claim. They could argue most of the damage was already there before the storm and call it pre-existing damage. They could use exclusions hidden within your policy to give you significantly less money than expected.

Other Things to Know About Windstorm Insurance

Other things you need to know about windstorm insurance include:

Lenders May Require Windstorm Insurance: Most homeowners in the United States do not need to carry windstorm insurance. However, if you live in a coastal area or wind-prone area, your lender may require windstorm insurance to protect the collateral of the loan (your home).

Windstorm Insurance Can Be Expensive: Windstorm insurance can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 per year if you live in a wind-prone area or coastal region prone to hurricanes. It’s a substantial part of your regular insurance bill. Costs vary depending on the size of your home and insurer.

It Doesn’t Cover Flooding: Hurricanes often bring flooding and a storm surge. Windstorm insurance covers wind damage associated with a hurricane – but it doesn’t cover flooding (consider buying a separate flood insurance policy for coverage).

Your Windstorm Insurance May Come Through a Separate Provider: Some wind-prone areas of the country have such high risk that insurers don’t cover homes in these areas. That’s why the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) and the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA) exist. You can buy windstorm insurance through your ordinary insurer, but the policy itself may come through one of these organizations.

How Public Adjusters Help with Windstorm Insurance Claims

Homeowners typically hire public adjusters in situations where there’s a large amount being disputed – say, more than $10,000.

Your insurer may have denied or reduced your insurance claim, for example. Or, your insurer may have simply given you a lowball offer.

That’s where public adjusters help.

Public adjusters use proven strategies – and their intricate knowledge of the insurance industry – to negotiate an optimal outcome for your insurance claim.

Some of the services they perform include:

• Comprehensively reviewing your claim and insurance policy to ensure your claim covers all appropriate damage.
• Negotiating with your insurer on your behalf and with your best interests in mind.
• Fighting to ensure you receive the highest possible amount of compensation.
• Overseeing the insurance claim from start to finish to ensure you’re made whole after a loss.

Public adjusters play an important role in ensuring insurance claims go smoothly. In many cases, homeowners receive 200% to 300% above the original settlement offered by their insurer.

Contact ClaimsMate today to speak with an expert public adjuster for a no-cost consultation. We have public adjusters specializing in windstorm insurance claims ready to help you today.

Stephanie Corona

Stephanie is a property insurance claim expert with over 20 years of experience working as an insurance adjuster, expert witness, appraiser and umpire. She is passionate about sharing her expertise, knowledge, tips and training to help both property owners and Public Adjusters in their pursuit of effectively managing claims and recovering the claim settlement they deserve after a loss.