What it covers
A homeowners policy protects the building, what is inside it, and you, if someone is hurt on your property. In Florida the wind and water parts deserve a slower read.
Dwelling
Rebuilds the house itself after a covered loss: fire, wind, a burst pipe. The limit should track what it costs to rebuild, not what you paid.
Other structures
Fence, shed, detached garage, pool cage. Usually a percentage of the dwelling limit.
Personal property
Your things: furniture, clothes, electronics. High-value items like jewelry often have a sub-limit; see Jewelry & valuables for scheduling them.
Loss of use
Somewhere to live and the extra costs while your home is being repaired.
Personal liability
If someone is injured on your property or you damage someone else’s, this is what answers. Also the layer an umbrella policy sits on top of.
Medical payments to others
Small medical bills for a guest, paid without anyone having to be at fault.
One good first question
“If the house had to be rebuilt from the slab today, would the dwelling limit actually cover it?”
Bring this one to Elona and the rest of the conversation gets easier.
What Elona looks at
- Your current declarations page, which tells us your rebuild value, deductibles and any wind mitigation credits already on file.
- Wind or hurricane deductibles, which in Florida are often a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat amount [confirm].
- Whether you need flood insurance: it is not in a home policy, and in Florida that matters. See Flood.
- The age and shape of the roof, and whether a wind mitigation inspection would lower the premium [confirm].
The complete guide
Home insurance in Florida (and Illinois), explained: the complete guide
A home policy rebuilds the house after a covered loss, replaces your belongings, pays for somewhere to stay while repairs happen, and protects you if someone is hurt on your property. It usually doesn’t cover flood. In Florida, the wind side deserves the slowest read: hurricane deductibles, roofs and inspections. In Illinois, it’s water: frozen pipes, basements and sewer backups.
Most of what I write about home insurance is Florida-specific, because that’s where the rules move fastest. This guide gathers all of it, each section the short version of a full post linked at the end. Sections that apply to one state are marked with it.
Replacement cost vs actual cash value
These are the two ways a policy puts a value on a loss. Replacement cost is today’s price to repair or replace with something of like kind and quality, with no deduction for age. Actual cash value subtracts depreciation first, so a ten-year-old sofa pays out as a ten-year-old sofa. The house, your belongings and the roof can each be settled differently, and an endorsement further back in the policy can override the front page. On home claims it’s common to receive the actual cash value first and the rest once repairs are finished, which is why every invoice matters.
Florida · Switch to
In Florida, insurers must offer replacement cost before issuing a homeowners policy, and on a total loss they must pay it without holding back depreciation (Fla. Stat. 627.7011).
Illinois · Switch to
In Illinois, the Department of Insurance notes that most policies pay belongings at actual cash value unless you’ve added replacement cost, and that some policies limit what they pay for roofs.
After a storm like Hurricane Michael, that difference is real; Insurance in North Florida & the Panhandle explains why.
Read the full guide: Replacement cost vs actual cash value
Florida · Switch to
Why Florida home insurance costs so much
Mostly hurricanes, and everything hurricanes touch. Insurers here rely heavily on reinsurance, their own insurance against one bad season, and its cost flows into every policy. Rebuilding costs more than it used to, and Florida’s code builds repairs to a higher standard. For years, an unusually large share of property claims also ended up in court. The Legislature responded in 2022 and 2023: assignment of benefits ended for policies issued from January 1, 2023, one-way attorney fees ended, and claim deadlines got shorter.
You can’t change the weather, but you can make sure your insurer sees your home’s wind features, keep your roof and paperwork current, choose deductibles honestly, fix what an inspection would flag, check whether My Safe Florida Home is open, and compare insurers every year or two. None of those is a guaranteed discount.
Read the full guide: Why Florida home insurance costs so much, and what actually helps
Hurricane deductibles
In Florida, hurricane damage has its own deductible, usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage (Coverage A), not of the repair bill. The higher your dwelling limit, the more you pay before the policy does. You don’t have to do the math: Florida law requires the dollar amount on your declarations page (Fla. Stat. 627.701).
It applies from the moment the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning for any part of Florida until 72 hours after the last watch or warning ends (Fla. Stat. 627.4025), and it applies once per calendar year to all hurricane losses with the same insurer or group. A second hurricane that year doesn’t start a new hurricane deductible, but the insurer can apply whichever is greater: what’s left of it, or your regular deductible. Insurers must offer $500, 2%, 5% and 10% options, with some exceptions for higher-value homes. A roof deductible, where a policy has one, can’t apply to a hurricane roof loss.
Read the full guide: Hurricane deductibles, explained
Wind mitigation inspections
A wind mitigation inspection records how well your home is built to stand up to hurricane winds, on the state’s Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form: the roof covering, how the roof deck and the roof-to-wall connections are fastened, the roof’s shape, any secondary water barrier, and whether windows and doors are protected. Florida law requires insurers to offer credits for features that reduce hurricane damage, but an insurer can only credit what it can verify.
The form lasts up to five years if nothing important changes, and the state updated it on April 1, 2026. Replace the roof or add shutters, and a new inspection is worth it. In Miami-Dade and Broward, the tougher High-Velocity Hurricane Zone code makes that paperwork matter even more.
Read the full guide: Wind mitigation, explained
The 4-point inspection
On an older home, insurers want a quick report on four things before they write it: roof, electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling, mainly how old each is, what type it is and what shape it’s in. That’s the 4-point inspection. It comes from the insurer’s underwriting rules, not from a Florida statute, so the age that triggers one varies; Citizens, for instance, wants one on new applications once a home is past 20 years old.
There’s no pass or fail grade. The insurer reads the report, and a real hazard, such as a leak that’s still active or wiring left exposed, can hold up the policy until it’s repaired. Fix the cheap things before the inspector comes, use a Florida-licensed inspector, and ask for the photos. It’s different from wind mitigation, though many inspectors do both on one visit.
Read the full guide: The 4-point inspection: what it is and when you need one
Roof age
Florida doesn’t set one age where a roof stops being insurable. What it does set, since July 2022, is a floor (Fla. Stat. 627.7011): a roof under 15 years old can’t be the only reason an insurer refuses to write or renew a homeowners policy. Once a roof is 15 or older, the insurer has to allow an inspection before it demands a new one, and if the inspector finds 5 or more years of useful life remaining, age alone can’t be the reason it says no.
Notice the word “solely”: a roof’s condition, a leak or storm damage can still count against it. Underneath the age question, an insurer is really asking how many years the roof has left, and that turns on the material. So have the install year, the permit, the roofer’s invoice and the warranty ready; an underwriter needs a date, not a guess.
Read the full guide: Roof age and your home insurance in Florida
If your insurer non-renews you
A Florida home insurer generally has to give you at least 120 days’ written notice before a non-renewal, and the notice must say why (Fla. Stat. 627.4133). That’s about four months to shop, so use them. Read the letter for three things: the end date, the reason, and whether it’s really a non-renewal or a cancellation, which has its own rules.
After a hurricane or wind loss under a declared emergency, an insurer generally can’t cancel or non-renew until 90 days after the repairs are done, with exceptions. The reason on the letter tells you what helps next: a roof inspection, a fix and a fresh 4-point, or simply a new company. Keep paying the current policy, tell your lender, and never let it lapse.
Read the full guide: What to do if your home insurer non-renews you
Citizens Property Insurance
Citizens is Florida’s state-created insurer for homes that can’t find coverage in the private market. It’s a government entity, not a private company, and it’s meant to be a safety net. For a primary home, you can’t choose it if a private insurer offers comparable coverage at a premium no more than 20 percent higher than Citizens’ (Fla. Stat. 627.351(6)).
Takeout letters are how Citizens shrinks: approved private insurers offer to take over policies. If every offer is more than 20 percent higher, you can stay; if you don’t answer by the deadline, your policy goes to the lowest offer, and once it moves, it’s final. Compare deductibles and how claims are paid before you accept. For Citizens policies with wind, a flood insurance requirement is phasing in too.
Read the full guide: Citizens Property Insurance: what it is, takeouts, and leaving it
Your hurricane-season checklist
The insurance part of hurricane prep has to happen before a storm is on the map, so do it in spring. By June 1: know your hurricane deductible in dollars, check that your dwelling limit would still rebuild the house, decide about flood (an NFIP policy usually takes 30 days to start), update your wind mitigation form, and record a video inventory of every room, saved somewhere other than your house.
Once the storm has passed and it’s safe, report the damage without waiting. The legal deadlines are 1 year from the date of loss for a new or reopened claim and 18 months for a supplemental claim (Fla. Stat. 627.70132), but sooner is always easier. Take photos before any cleanup, hold on to every receipt, and don’t sign your benefits over to a contractor; on policies issued from January 1, 2023, you can’t.
Read the full guide: Your hurricane-season insurance checklist
Condo insurance (HO-6)
Your condo association’s master policy rebuilds the shared building and the common areas. It doesn’t cover your belongings or your personal liability, and it often stops short of your floors, cabinets, fixtures and upgrades. An HO-6 policy covers your part: the pieces of the unit the association doesn’t insure, your things, your liability, extra living costs after a covered loss, and loss assessment coverage. Your state’s law and your condo’s declaration draw the line.
Florida · Switch to
In Florida, the association insures the property as originally installed, and leaves you floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures and appliances, water heaters, built-in cabinets and countertops, and window treatments (Fla. Stat. 718.111). Every unit owner policy must include at least $2,000 of loss assessment coverage, which is a legal floor, not a target (Fla. Stat. 627.714).
Illinois · Switch to
In Illinois, the association must insure the units, including their bare walls, floors and ceilings unless the board decides otherwise, but not the improvements owners installed. The board can also make the owners of damaged units pay the master policy’s deductible (765 ILCS 605/12). Insurance in Chicago & the suburbs looks at older condo buildings.
Read the full guide: Condo insurance (HO-6): what the association covers and what you do
Florida · Switch to
Condo owners after Surfside
After the Surfside collapse in 2021, Florida began requiring milestone structural inspections for condo and co-op buildings three or more habitable stories tall, by the end of the year a building turns 30 (or 25, if the local building official requires it) and every 10 years after (Fla. Stat. 553.899). Those buildings also need a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years, and for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners generally can’t vote to waive or cut those reserves (Fla. Stat. 718.112).
That’s why special assessments are showing up, and most of them aren’t something your HO-6 pays. Loss assessment coverage is built for an assessment that follows a covered loss, like a storm hitting the shared building and the master policy’s deductible coming back to owners. It usually doesn’t pay for inspection repairs or reserves. Insurance in Palm Beach County covers the same rules along the coast.
Read the full guide: Condo owners after Surfside: inspections, reserves, special assessments and loss assessment coverage
Illinois · Switch to
Frozen pipes and water damage in Illinois
A pipe that freezes and bursts is usually covered by a homeowners policy, because the damage is sudden and accidental. The catch is reasonable care: policies generally expect the home to be kept heated, or the water shut off and the pipes drained, especially if it will sit empty. A slow drip that rots a cabinet over months isn’t sudden, and many policies treat it differently.
Two kinds of water aren’t covered by a standard policy: flood, which is a separate policy, and sewer or sump pump backup, which is covered only if you’ve added it. For many Illinois homes with basements, that’s the line to check first. When a pipe bursts, shut the water off at the main, call a plumber and your insurer, and photograph everything before you clean up.
Read the full guide: Frozen pipes and water damage in Illinois homes
Everything Illinois in one place: Car and home insurance in Illinois: the complete guide
Flood is a separate policy
Every section above comes back to this: a standard home, condo or renters policy doesn’t cover flood. Wind that damages the roof is a home-policy claim. Storm surge, and rain that rises from outside and comes in under the door, is flood, and only a flood policy answers it. A new NFIP flood policy usually starts 30 days after you apply and pay, so it has to be decided before the season. The whole subject is in Flood insurance, explained, and the short answer is in Is flood covered by my home insurance?
Questions people ask
Does home insurance cover hurricane damage?
The wind part, usually. Wind damage, and rain that blows in through an opening the wind made, is typically a claim on your home policy, and in Florida it falls under your hurricane deductible.
Storm surge and rising water are flood, which a home policy usually excludes. That part needs a separate flood policy. Flood insurance, explained.
Should I raise my hurricane deductible?
A higher hurricane deductible usually means a lower premium, but only choose one you could actually pay after a storm without borrowing. Look at it in dollars on your declarations page, not as a percentage, and remember it rises with your dwelling limit.
What paperwork should I keep for my home insurance?
Your declarations pages, your wind mitigation form, any 4-point inspection, the permit or invoice for your roof and any updated systems, and a video inventory of every room saved somewhere other than your house. In Florida, those papers are what you'll be asked for every time you shop.
How often should I review my home policy?
At least once a year, at renewal, which is also what the Illinois Department of Insurance suggests. Check that your dwelling limit still matches what it would cost to rebuild today, and that nothing about how you're paid has changed in the renewal paperwork.
I live in Illinois. What should I check first on my home policy?
Whether you have water backup coverage. A standard homeowners policy covers sudden water from a burst pipe, but water backing up through a floor drain or sump pump is usually covered only if you've added it. Look for "water backup" on your declarations page.