What to Do Before a Hurricane to Protect Your Home and Insurance Claim
Photograph your home, secure loose outdoor items, and save receipts. Insurers expect proof of condition and reasonable effort to limit damage.
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Before the wind picks up, walk through your house with your phone and photograph every room, your roof if you can see it safely, and anything valuable. This is what you compare against after. Check your declarations page now for a separate hurricane or windstorm deductible, since that's a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount, and it changes what you'll owe before payment starts. Bring in furniture and anything that could become a projectile. Keep receipts for supplies. Those costs are often reimbursable if they kept damage from getting worse.
A hurricane deductible is often two to five percent of your dwelling coverage, not a flat amount, so on a $300,000 rebuild that can mean $6,000 to $15,000 before payment starts. That number comes straight from your declarations page, and it varies a lot between policies. Comparing what you'd owe and what you'd pay each year is worth doing before the next storm, not after.
What happens if you can't get back into your house after the storm
If the storm forces an evacuation or your house is unsafe to enter, document what you can before you leave and keep going once you're out. Text or email photos to yourself or a family member so there's a timestamped copy that doesn't depend on a phone that could get lost or damaged. If local officials won't let anyone back into the area yet, that delay is normal after a major storm and insurers expect it. Write down the date you evacuated and the date you were allowed back, since that gap matters if you're claiming additional living expenses.
Additional living expenses, often called loss of use, is the part of your policy that pays for a hotel, temporary rental, meals above what you'd normally spend, and similar costs while your house isn't livable. Keep every receipt from the time you leave until you're back in the house for good. This coverage usually has its own limit separate from your dwelling coverage, listed on your declarations page, and it typically pays for a set period or dollar amount rather than indefinitely.
Once you're allowed back, walk through before you touch anything, and photograph the damage room by room the same way you photographed the house beforehand. Compare the two sets side by side when you file. If a tree came through the roof or a window broke, cover the opening with a tarp or board as soon as it's safe to do so. That's the same reasonable-effort standard that applies to securing items before the storm, and insurers can ask about it after. Don't start permanent repairs until an adjuster has seen the damage or told you to proceed, but temporary measures to stop further damage are expected, not optional.
If the house is a total loss or close to it, the claim moves differently than a repair claim. An adjuster will need to establish the rebuild cost against your dwelling coverage limit, and if that limit is lower than what rebuilding actually costs in a post-storm market, where labor and materials often cost more because of regional demand, that gap is yours to cover unless your policy includes extended or guaranteed replacement cost coverage. That detail is also on your declarations page, and it's worth knowing before a storm rather than during the claim.
How a storm claim actually gets paid out
After you file, an adjuster will come out to inspect the damage, either from the insurer directly or a contractor they send on the insurer's behalf. This can take days after a major hurricane, since claims come in by the thousands at once. Call your insurer as soon as it's safe to do so, even if you haven't finished documenting everything, since getting into the queue early matters when adjusters are stretched thin across a whole region.
The adjuster's estimate becomes the basis for payment, but you're allowed to disagree with it. If the estimate seems low, get a contractor's quote for the actual repair cost and send it in writing. Insurers will sometimes revise an estimate when a reasonable second number backs it up. Keep a copy of everything you send and the date you sent it.
Payment for a covered claim often comes in more than one check. The first covers the actual cash value of the damage, which factors in depreciation on things like an older roof. If your policy includes replacement cost coverage, a second payment follows once the repair is done and you've shown the final cost, making up the difference between actual cash value and what it cost to actually fix. Ask your adjuster directly whether your policy works this way, since it changes how much cash you need on hand to start repairs.
If your mortgage is active, the insurer's check may be made out to both you and your lender. The lender holds the funds and releases them as repairs are completed and inspected, which is standard practice and not a sign anything is wrong with the claim. It does mean repair money doesn't land in your account all at once, so plan contractor payments around that schedule rather than assuming the full check clears up front.
Before the next storm warning
Pull up your declarations page and check your hurricane or windstorm deductible, your dwelling coverage limit, and your additional living expenses limit. Compare those numbers against a current rebuild estimate for your house.
