Home insurance deductibles compared

A deductible is the part of each claim you pay before the insurer pays anything. Raise it and the premium drops, but you carry more of every loss. The question that matters is how long it takes for the yearly saving to add up to the extra amount you'd pay on one claim.

What a higher deductible saves, on average

Insurify publishes this deductible table separately from its headline average ($2,772 on the how much page); the two come from different quote samples, so the $1,000 row here is not the same number as the headline.

Insurify's averages for one sample home, from its page updated on November 1, 2026 and read by us on 6 November; the link is on our sources page. Insurify publishes no $2,500 row, so for that step the calculator uses NerdWallet's finding that going from $1,000 to $2,500 saves about 9%, and interpolates between the points. Your insurer's own table may be steeper or flatter.

Note the shape: the first step up saves the most per dollar of extra risk. Going from $500 to $1,000 adds $500 of risk and, on these averages, cuts about $240 a year. Going from $5,000 to $10,000 adds $5,000 of risk to save about $120.

Break-even, worked through

The calculator divides the extra amount you'd carry by the yearly saving.

Homeowners don't claim often, so a break-even of two or three years is quick by most standards, provided the larger sum is there when you need it. Nine years is a closer call: it pays off only if you rarely claim and could find the larger sum the week after a burst pipe. A higher deductible also keeps small claims off your record, and a claim on record is one of the factors on the page about what raises a premium.

Percentage deductibles for wind and hurricanes

In much of the coastal South and parts of the Plains, the policy has two deductibles: a flat one for most claims and a separate one for wind, hail or hurricane damage, stated as a percentage of Coverage A. A 2% hurricane deductible on a $400,000 house means the first $8,000 of hurricane damage is yours.

Switch the calculator to More factors to see the amounts for your own dwelling limit.

Florida's rules on hurricane deductibles

Before issuing a homeowners policy, a Florida insurer has to offer hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the dwelling limit (s. 627.701(3), Florida Statutes, 2026 text, read November 6, 2026). The statute trims that list for dearer homes:

The hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year to all hurricane losses under policies from the same insurer or group, not once per storm (s. 627.701(5)).

Florida also allows a separate roof deductible on some policies. Its cap and the losses it can't touch are set out, with a calculator, on the roof and four-point page.

Questions to ask before you raise it

• Is the change to the all-perils deductible, or the wind or hurricane one? The premium effect and the risk differ.
• Does your mortgage contract set a maximum deductible? Many lenders do.
• If you claim, can the deductible be paid from savings without borrowing?
• Will the insurer quote both options side by side? Their own figures beat any average.