Hey Bull,

Your deductible is a percentage of your homes estimated value. The value they use is an estimate of what it would cost to rebuild from the foundation up. So any improvements you have made or just general inflation of commodities like lumber, cement, etc drive up the replacement cost. With that rises the amount of your deductible... which I have seen range from 1 - 4% depending on your lenders requirements. If the policy is affordable it is likely that your wind portion of the premium is not too high, so a change in the deductible might be very low compared to the coverage offered.

Also, in florida we have a plan called "my safe florida home" which allows residents to request a free wind mitigation inspection of their home. In my case the gentleman came out and reviewed the home. I thought the rating he gave me was low versus work we had done on the house. none the less, sent the inspection to the underwriters at my insurance company. low and behold, about a month later I got a check back for about 30% of my total policy premium. It would turn out that beyond shutters they look for the type of roof strap, type of roof, etc. So for any florida residents I say check it out... It is free or rather paid for through your taxes.

BGF