Most Oklahoma homeowners can tell you their deductible. Very few of them are right, because the number they are thinking of is the one that applies to a kitchen fire or a burst pipe. The one that applies to hail, which is the peril that actually damages houses here, is a different number and it is usually much larger.
This article explains why there are two deductibles on one policy, how the wind and hail figure is calculated, how to find yours on the declarations page, what happens when a percentage deductible meets a depreciated roof, and what all of it means when you go to sell.
We buy houses including ones with storm damage, so read the last section knowing that. We are not insurance advisers, agents or adjusters. Deductible structures vary enormously between carriers and between policies from the same carrier, and they change at renewal, so confirm everything here against your own declarations page and your own agent.
Two deductibles on one policy
A standard homeowner policy in a hail exposed state commonly carries an all other perils deductible and a separate wind and hail deductible. The first is usually a flat dollar figure, a thousand or two thousand dollars. The second is frequently expressed as a percentage.
The flat deductible is the one people remember. The percentage one is the one that applies when Oklahoma weather does what Oklahoma weather does.
The separation is not hidden. It is printed on the declarations page, it appears in the policy form, and the agent almost certainly mentioned it at some point. It gets forgotten because it only becomes real during a storm claim, which for most households happens rarely enough that the detail has faded.
How the percentage is calculated
Here is the point that surprises people most. The percentage is applied to your dwelling limit, which is Coverage A on the declarations page. It is not applied to the size of the claim.
So a two percent wind and hail deductible on a house insured for three hundred thousand dollars is a six thousand dollar deductible, whether the hail did eight thousand dollars of damage or eighty thousand. The claim size does not enter the calculation at all.
The arithmetic on a few common figures
- Coverage A of 200,000 at 1 percent gives a 2,000 deductible
- Coverage A of 200,000 at 2 percent gives a 4,000 deductible
- Coverage A of 300,000 at 2 percent gives a 6,000 deductible
- Coverage A of 300,000 at 5 percent gives a 15,000 deductible
- Coverage A of 450,000 at 5 percent gives a 22,500 deductible
Notice what happens as insured values rise. Rebuilding costs have climbed sharply over recent years and carriers have increased dwelling limits to keep pace, which is generally correct underwriting. The side effect is that a percentage deductible attached to that limit rises with it, silently, at every renewal, without anybody making a decision to raise it.
A household that set a two percent deductible when their house was insured for two hundred thousand now has a considerably larger one on a policy insuring the same house for three hundred and twenty thousand. Nothing was done to them. The mechanism simply worked as designed.
Finding yours on the declarations page
The declarations page is the two or three page summary at the front of your policy packet, the one with your name, the property address, the policy period and the coverage limits. Your agent can email a current one in minutes.
Look for these lines.
- Coverage A, Dwelling. This is the number the percentage is applied to
- Deductible, All Other Perils. Usually a flat dollar amount
- Deductible, Wind and Hail, or Windstorm or Hail, or Named Storm. This is the one that matters here, and it may read as a percentage, as a dollar figure, or as both
- Endorsement or form numbers near the deductible line, which are worth asking about because they are how special deductible rules get attached
Some declarations pages helpfully print the dollar equivalent next to the percentage. Many do not, and leave you to do the multiplication yourself. If yours does not, do it now rather than during a claim.
Named storm, wind and hail, and everything in between
The labels are not interchangeable and the differences matter.
Wind and hail
The broadest of the special deductibles. It applies to damage from wind or hail regardless of whether the event was named, categorised or officially declared. In an inland hail state this is the common form, and it is triggered by an ordinary spring thunderstorm.
Named storm
Applies only to a storm that has been formally named by the relevant weather authority. More typical of coastal policies. If your Oklahoma policy carries a named storm deductible rather than a wind and hail one, read carefully, because a Tulsa hailstorm is generally not a named storm.
Hail only, or roof specific
Some carriers apply the special deductible to hail alone, or attach a separate schedule to the roof. Roof specific provisions are increasingly common and frequently combine a percentage deductible with a depreciation schedule based on roof age.
Our article on why insurers are tightening roof coverage covers the wider shift these provisions belong to.
Why carriers moved to percentage deductibles
Hail is a high frequency, high severity peril across a wide geographic footprint. A single storm track can generate thousands of roof claims in an afternoon across one metropolitan area. That is a very different exposure from a scattered set of kitchen fires, and a flat deductible does not scale with it.
Percentage deductibles do two things for a carrier. They scale the retained portion with the value at risk, and they discourage claims on smaller losses, which reduces claim handling volume after a storm. Whether you consider that reasonable or not, it is the reason, and the trend has been in one direction for some years.
When a percentage deductible meets a depreciated roof
This is the combination that produces the worst outcomes, and it is not rare.
Suppose the roof is settled on an actual cash value basis, meaning depreciation for age and condition is deducted and not recoverable. Suppose also that the wind and hail deductible is five percent. A genuine loss can produce a payment near zero.
A worked example, using round numbers for clarity
- Coverage A dwelling limit: 300,000
- Wind and hail deductible at 5 percent: 15,000
- Replacement cost of the roof: 22,000
- Roof is eighteen years old and settled at actual cash value, depreciated by roughly 60 percent, leaving around 8,800
- Deductible of 15,000 applied to 8,800 leaves nothing to pay
The claim was valid. The damage was real. The payment is zero, and the homeowner still owns a house with a failed roof. Nothing improper has happened, which is precisely the problem. Every piece of this was disclosed in the policy.
Our article on actual cash value against replacement cost goes through the depreciation side, and hail damage and what insurance really pays covers the claim itself.
Working out your own number before you need it
Take three figures off your declarations page and do the sum on paper. Coverage A, the wind and hail deductible percentage, and whether the roof is on replacement cost or actual cash value.
Then ask yourself a simple question. If a hailstorm destroyed the roof tonight, could you fund the deductible? For a household with a five percent deductible on a mid range house, that is a five figure sum available at short notice. Many households cannot, and would rather have known that in advance.
Can you buy it down
Sometimes. It depends on the carrier, on the age and condition of the roof, on the claim history at the property and on the current appetite of the market.
- Ask for the options in writing. A one percent, two percent and five percent comparison with the premium difference for each, on the same coverage
- Weigh it properly. If moving from five percent to two percent costs a few hundred dollars a year and reduces the deductible by nine thousand, that is a different calculation from a premium increase that nearly matches the saving
- Expect roof age to govern. Carriers are frequently unwilling to offer a low deductible on an older roof, and may decline the option entirely
- Check the whole quote, not the deductible line. A cheaper policy that swaps replacement cost for actual cash value on the roof is not cheaper in any meaningful sense
- Shop before a claim, not after. Options narrow considerably once there is a recent loss on the record at that address
Deciding whether to claim at all
With a large deductible, plenty of real damage falls below it. Filing a claim that pays nothing still creates a claim record, and claim history affects future pricing and availability.
That is not an argument for never claiming. It is an argument for finding out roughly what the damage costs before deciding. A reputable roofer will inspect and give you a written estimate without demanding that you file first. Be wary of anyone who wants you to sign paperwork on the doorstep before anybody has produced a number, which is a pattern we cover in the hail claims article.
What it means at sale
Deductible structure is not something sellers usually think about, and it reaches the transaction in three ways.
First, it explains why so many houses come to market with hail damaged roofs that were never repaired. The owner was not negligent. The claim did not cover the work and they could not fund the gap. That is one of the most common stories behind a roof that needs replacing.
Second, it affects your buyer. A buyer obtaining a mortgage needs insurance, and insurance on a house with an aged or damaged roof may come with a large percentage deductible, a roof schedule, or a refusal. Buyers do discover this during the option period and some of them walk.
Third, it affects timing. If you are waiting on a claim to fund a roof before listing, the deductible gap decides whether that plan works at all. Waiting six months for a settlement that pays nothing is six months lost.
Where we come in
We buy houses in Tulsa and the surrounding towns as they are, including houses whose roofs are past their life and houses where a hail claim paid little or nothing after the deductible.
We say the same thing here we say everywhere. If your roof is on replacement cost with a modest deductible and the claim is clean, use the policy. That will nearly always leave you better off than selling the house damaged. Where a sale to us makes sense is when the deductible has swallowed the claim, when the roof is one of several problems rather than the only one, or when the money to bridge the gap simply is not there.
We price the roof into the offer rather than asking you to replace it first, and there is no obligation to accept. Our offer process is free.
The short version
- Most Oklahoma homeowner policies carry two deductibles, a flat all other perils figure and a separate wind and hail figure
- The wind and hail deductible is frequently a percentage of Coverage A, your dwelling limit
- It is not a percentage of the claim. Claim size does not enter the calculation
- As dwelling limits rise to keep pace with building costs, percentage deductibles rise with them at every renewal
- Named storm, wind and hail, and hail only are different triggers. Check which one you have
- A percentage deductible combined with an actual cash value roof can reduce a genuine claim to nothing
- Work out your own dollar figure now, from Coverage A and the percentage, rather than during a storm
- Buying the deductible down is sometimes possible and usually depends on roof age. Ask for options in writing before a claim, not after
- The deductible gap is the most common reason a house arrives on the market with an unrepaired roof
Frequently asked questions
Why does my policy have two different deductibles?
Because wind and hail is treated as a separate exposure in states where it is frequent and widespread. The flat deductible applies to most perils, and a separate, usually larger one applies to wind and hail damage.
Is the wind and hail deductible a percentage of my claim?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. It is normally a percentage of Coverage A, your dwelling limit, not of the loss. The size of the claim does not affect the deductible calculation at all.
How do I work out my deductible in dollars?
Take the Coverage A figure from your declarations page and multiply it by the percentage on the wind and hail deductible line. A 2 percent deductible on a 300,000 dwelling limit is 6,000.
Where do I find it?
On the declarations page, the summary at the front of your policy packet. Look for a deductible line labelled wind and hail, windstorm or hail, or named storm, separate from the all other perils line.
Why has my deductible gone up when I did not change anything?
If it is a percentage and your dwelling limit has been increased to keep pace with rebuilding costs, the deductible rises automatically with the limit. Nothing needs to be actively changed for this to happen.
What is the difference between named storm and wind and hail?
A named storm deductible only applies to storms formally named by the weather authority, which is more typical of coastal policies. A wind and hail deductible applies to wind or hail damage generally, including an ordinary spring thunderstorm.
Is a percentage deductible legal in Oklahoma?
Percentage wind and hail deductibles are widely used in hail exposed states. Regulation of policy forms and disclosure sits with the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which is the place to direct questions about what is permitted.
Can I get rid of the percentage deductible?
Sometimes you can buy it down to a lower percentage or a flat amount, depending on the carrier, the roof age, the claim history and current market appetite. Ask your agent for written options with the premium difference for each.
Is buying it down worth the premium?
It depends on the numbers. Compare the annual premium increase against the reduction in what you would have to fund after a storm, and consider whether you could actually produce the larger figure at short notice.
Why do carriers use percentage deductibles at all?
Because a single hailstorm can generate thousands of claims across a metropolitan area in one afternoon. Percentage deductibles scale the retained portion with the value at risk and reduce claim volume on smaller losses.
Can my claim pay nothing even though it was approved?
Yes. If the roof settles on an actual cash value basis and the depreciated figure is below the deductible, the calculation produces no payment. The claim was valid and the outcome is still zero.
What is actual cash value on a roof?
Replacement cost less depreciation for age and condition. On an older roof the depreciation can be substantial, and when it is not recoverable it is simply lost rather than paid on completion of the work.
Should I file a claim if the damage might be below the deductible?
Get a written estimate from a reputable roofer first. A claim that pays nothing still creates a claim record at the address, and claim history affects future pricing and availability.
Does a claim record follow the house or the person?
Both matter to underwriters. Loss history at a property address and the claim history of the named insured are each considered, which is why a nil paying claim is not costless.
Can a roofer tell me what my deductible is?
They can read it off your declarations page, but they are not your insurance adviser. Anyone offering to make the deductible disappear is describing something you should not be part of.
My neighbour got a new roof and I got nothing. Why?
Almost certainly different policies. Different deductible structures, different replacement cost or actual cash value terms on the roof, and different roof ages produce very different outcomes from the same storm.
Does the deductible apply once per storm or once per year?
Normally per occurrence, so each separate storm event carries its own deductible. Some policies contain annual aggregate provisions, so check the wording rather than assume.
Does the deductible come off before or after depreciation?
Depreciation is generally applied first to arrive at the actual cash value of the loss, and the deductible is then applied to that figure. The order is what makes the two together so punishing.
How does this affect selling my house?
It is the most common reason houses reach the market with unrepaired hail damage. The claim did not cover the work and the owner could not fund the gap, so the roof stayed as it was.
Will my buyer have the same problem?
Possibly. A buyer needs insurance to obtain a mortgage, and a house with an aged or damaged roof can attract a large percentage deductible, a roof schedule, or a declination. Buyers do find this out during the option period.
Should I replace the roof before selling?
It depends on what the work costs, what you can fund, and how quickly you need to sell. A new roof generally widens the buyer pool, but it rarely returns its full cost, and financing the work to sell faster can be a poor trade.
Can I check my deductible without calling my agent?
Yes, if you have the declarations page. Most carriers also make it available in their online portal or app. Print it and keep it somewhere you can find it in a hurry.
We buy houses including ones with storm damage, so read the last section knowing that. We are not insurance advisers, agents or adjusters. Deductible structures vary between carriers and change at renewal, so confirm everything against your own declarations page.