The hurricane coverage myths that cost homeowners the most

Farmers Insurance published a list of the coverage misunderstandings its claims teams see most often during hurricane season, aimed at both homeowners and small business owners. The company's framing is simple: coverage varies most where water is involved. A homeowners or business owners policy generally responds to certain hurricane damage, wind driving rain through a damaged roof being the clearest example, and that is where people assume the rest is covered too.

In Florida the distinction is the whole ballgame. Wind that opens your roof is a homeowners claim. Water that rises from the ground, whether it comes off a storm surge, a swollen canal, or a street that could not drain, is a flood claim, and flood is a separate policy you have to buy on purpose. A new NFIP policy generally takes 30 days to take effect, so it is not something you add once a system is named. Business owners have a second gap to check: a policy can pay to repair the building and still not replace the income you lose while the doors are shut. Business interruption coverage is what handles that, and it often has its own waiting period.

An independent agent can read your declarations page against this list, tell you which of these gaps you actually have, and re-shop the coverage while the tropics are quiet.