In the wake of TS(Hurricane) Irene concerns have surfaced regarding the application of property insurance Hurricane deductibles. In November of 2009, the CT Insurance Department issued a set of Coastal Insurance Guidelines. The guidelines in part defined what was to be an acceptable minimum requirement for a Hurricane deductible “trigger”. The minimum “trigger” is presently the declaration of a hurricane warning issued by theNationalHurricaneCenterfor anywhere in CT. The application of the deductible must end 24 hours after the hurricane warning is terminated.
The guidelines do not address the situation of the issuance of a hurricane warning and the arrival of the storm in a lower category – a tropical storm as in the case of Irene. At present following Irene, some insurance companies are living with the wording of their deductible. This means that the Hurricane deductible will be invoked though Irene arrived in CT at less than Hurricane strength. Other carriers are not invoking the Hurricane wording and are applying the general all perils policy deductible.
We would suggest that anyone being adversely impacted by this situation, contact the CT Insurance Department. Our hope is that this situation can be avoided in the future with an adjustment to the wording of the minimum requirements for the application of a Hurricane deductible in CT.
