Hurricane victims to get new shock

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Thousands of Floridians will get a welcome sight soon: a check that will allow them to begin repairing damage done by Hurricanes Charley or Frances.

But for many there will also be an unwelcome sight — the amount they’re responsible for paying could be steep.

Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, insurers doing business in Florida were allowed to charge dramatically higher deductibles on hurricane damage claims. Where homeowners are used to paying $500 or $1,000 deductibles for other damage, like from a tornado, they now will pay 2 percent of the value of their home or more for their hurricane deductible.

For homes worth more than $100,000, homeowners would be responsible for at least $2,000 in repair costs. Other homeowners could see higher deductibles, up to 5 percent of a home’s value.

The change was made in 1996, one of many concessions state lawmakers made to insurers to keep them selling hurricane coverage in Florida. But most residents making claims because of Charley or Frances are doing so for the first time since then. And a number will be stunned at how much they’re responsible for paying.

“People don’t realize they have a large deductible,” said Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer. “I really think that’s a surprise people aren’t expecting.”

Even for those who did know — because they read their policy — it’s still not any easier.

Ilyse Kusnetz knew her policy included the higher deductible. But, like most people, she didn’t expect to have to use it. When a 65-foot tree fell on her Orlando house during Charley, she became one of a thousands looking at a large repair bill, one that she’ll be largely responsible for because of the high deductible.

She doesn’t know how much yet — but it could approach the full $2,400 cost of removing the tree and repairing shingle damage to her roof.

“For somebody like me that’s an awful lot of money. It’s going to be a challenge to meet that deductible,” said Kusnetz, a community college professor.

She may also face another difficulty that some Floridians will see — having to pay a double deductible because insurers require separate claims and deductibles for damage from separately named storms. If she has to make two large repair payments, it would be “a real hardship to meet it twice.”

Gov. Jeb Bush said the double deductible is something that might need to be changed. “That could be an issue that the Legislature looks at,” he said Tuesday.

But insurers say the higher deductibles keep rates lower than they otherwise would be. And they say the deductibles, coupled with premium increases since Andrew, have left them able to write hurricane coverage in Florida, where millions live in homes in areas prone to hurricane force winds.

“The higher deductible can impose a hardship, but in return you get a substantial insurance discount for it,” said Sam Miller, spokesman for the Florida Insurance Council, which represents insurers. “If you set that money aside over the years you probably would have the money to pay the deductible.”

“I don’t think we have to justify it,” Miller said. “Without it, rates would be considerably higher than they are.”

The change was made in response to Andrew, which caused nearly $20 billion in damage in August 1992 and caused an exodus of insurance companies willing to write policies.

Insurers point out that policies on homes worth less than $100,000 still have a straight dollar-value deductibles, but that’s fewer than 1 million homes.

More than 15 other states have percentage deductibles on homeowners policies. For example, California does the same for earthquake policies.