If you’re a Florida homeowner, the time to review your insurance policy and prepare your home for the 2025 Hurricane Season is now.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 with the peak of the season on Sept. 10. But it’s never too early to prepare for the major storms that hit the Sunshine State every year and understand any of the coverage gaps in your home insurance policy, well-before there’s a named storm in the tropics.
Even those that do know how their policy works and what it covers still might not think to prep “before” pictures of their home and property until they’re notified a storm is on its way.
Here are some things you can do now to make sure you get the best insurance payout possible, should your home or property be damaged in a storm this hurricane season.
How do I prepare my house for flooding?
Aside from the obvious ways to physically prepare your home for any expected damage — boarding up windows, having sandbags, securing patio furniture, etc. — there is an often-overlooked hurricane prep step that could save you money.
Familiarizing yourself with a few key things in your home and flood insurance policies will help you understand what costs you are responsible for covering should your home be damaged. Documenting the condition of your home and most valuable possessions could make the process of filing a claim after the storm much easier.
What are the exclusions on a homeowners’ policy?
The “exclusions” section of your home insurance policy details specific types of damage that your policy doesn’t cover the cost of.
If disaster hits, you don’t want to be left in the dark about any gaps in your policy coverage. For example, if you’re a new homeowner, you might not know that flood and home insurance are typically sold separately. Most home insurance policies don’t cover damages sustained from flooding.
To familiarize yourself with what your policy or policies do and don’t cover and if there are costs you might be responsible for covering after the storm, re-read the “Exclusions” and “Duties After Loss” sections of your home or flood insurance policies.
Homeowners’ insurance policies usually cover damage from strong winds, including strong winds from hurricanes. But your policy might have a separate deductible for hurricane damage.
Hurricane Season 2025: What to document for insurance before a storm hits
Don’t wait until your belongings are gone to find out how valuable they are.
If your insurance company has to assess any post-storm damage to your home or property, they will probably ask if you have any proof or documentation of its condition before the storm.
Whether you can give that to your insurer will likely determine how much compensation you get back for damages.
Before the storm hits or before you evacuate, use your phone camera to take a long, slow video of your home and property to document what it looks like when everything is in its place. Take photos of your home and property as well.
If you want to be really thorough, make a detailed list of your valuable belongings and include receipts for more expensive items like appliances, furniture and electronics. At the very least, you may want to take pictures of these items to be able to prove that they were not damaged before the storm.
What should I do with my important documents before a hurricane?
Don’t rely on paper copies of your most important documents, including your home or flood insurance policy documents.
Most Floridians know to keep their insurance policies, family medical information, deeds, wills and other important paperwork in a fire-proof, water-proof box or safe deposit box. But getting to those physical copies can be challenging if you’re in an emergent situation.
Scanning and uploading your insurance policies and other important documents to a cloud storage service like Google Drive, iCloud or Dropbox allows you to access them as long as you have cell service or access to Wi-Fi. If you do this before the hurricane season officially begins, it’s one less thing to think about when a storm is approaching.
When is the 2025 Hurricane Season?
The Atlantic Hurricane Season officially starts on June 1 and ends on Nov. 30 every year.
Can you get home insurance during hurricane season?
There are certain times when buying homeowners’ insurance is virtually impossible in Florida. You can sometimes buy homeowners’ insurance during hurricane season, but not always. When insurance companies issue a policy, they’re hoping you won’t have to file a claim. The likelier it is that you will file a claim for storm damages, the warier they are of issuing you a policy.
This is why most insurance companies don’t sell homeowners’ insurance 24 to 48 hours before a storm is anticipated to hit the state. Rules around when you can and can’t buy homeowners’ insurance vary depending on which insurance provider you buy from. But it’s usually very difficult to get a new home insurance policy during hurricane season in Florida, no matter who you insure with.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hurricane Season preparedness: What to document for insurance before Hurricane Season 2025
Reporting by Lianna Norman, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
