Hail and windstorm coverage costs for your Arkansas home will vary with your location in the state and any localized hazards that may affect the area. Other aspects such as your insurance history will also play a part. Keep reading to learn more about the factors that determine your wind and hail insurance costs in Arkansas
Is home wind and hail insurance required in Arkansas?
Homeowners insurance and the wind and hail coverage are not required by law in the state of Arkansas. However, it is almost always required by mortgage lenders and other parties involved in the purchase of a home.
What’s the difference between home insurance and hail insurance?
Homeowners insurance provides coverage for your dwelling and the property within. These policies typically cover the exterior of the home from a set list of perils, including wind and hail. But that isn’t always the case. In areas prone to strong wind and hail, such as the Midwest and southern states, wind and hail insurance is sometimes excluded from being covered by a home insurance policy.
In other cases, wind and hail coverage will be included under a home insurance policy, but will carry its own deductible, which may be calculated differently than the deductible for the home policy as a whole. Payment for wind and hail insurance of this kind would be included in the monthly premium charged by the insurance provider.
Insurance Premium - The premium is another name for your monthly or yearly insurance bill. You pay the premium up front to start your insurance coverage, and then pay on a schedule to cover each term of coverage. The term could be a month, a year, or a compromise such as six months.
How much does my home hail premium cost in Arkansas?
In Arkansas, home insurance premiums vary with the policyholder’s location in the state, but recent average prices range from $350 to $440 per month and between $4,200 and $5,300 per year.
For most homeowners, there won’t be a separate premium for their hail insurance, but the payment for that coverage will be paid for by a significant portion of each homeowners insurance policy premium.
Does hail insurance have a deductible?
While the premium for your hail insurance coverage is likely to be included when you pay your homeowners insurance bill, the wind and hail provision of your policy will most often carry a separate deductible that is calculated and priced differently from the primary one.
Insurance Deductible - The deductible for your insurance policy is the amount you'll owe towards the covered repairs before the insurance company pays out to cover the rest. Deductibles can be a flat fee (often $500, $1,000, or $2,000) or calculated amounts equal to a percentage (often 1, 2, or 5%) of the total insured value of the property.
Hail insurance deductibles are most frequently calculated as a percentage of the total insured property value. The percentage used is most often 1-2%, but deductibles up to 5% of the home’s value are common in some higher-risk areas.
How much does my home hail deductible cost in Arkansas?
By comparing your home's current value to the average Arkansas home prices below, you can estimate the cost of a wind and hail deductible at the most common percentage deductible rates.
Insured Home Value | 1% | 2% | 5% |
$300,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $15,000 |
$450,000 | $4,500 | $9,000 | $22,500 |
$600,000 | $6,000 | $12,000 | $30,000 |
How can I pay less for wind/hail insurance in Arkansas?
One popular option is to take on a higher wind/hail deductible in exchange for a lower premium. If you are comfortable with the added risk of a higher deductible, consider this option based on the size of your home insurance budget, the likelihood of a specific peril in your area, and any other relevant factors. In addition to taking on only the amount of deductible risk you can comfortably pay, a standalone wind and hail deductible assistance policy can provide a flexible payout to help cover that larger deductible in the event that you make a claim. Parametric or parametric hybrid policies of this sort are independent of your primary home policy, and do not affect your Arkansas home insurance premiums if a claim is made on them.
Another plan that continues to gain popularity in many states is an allowance for a discount on home insurance costs for homeowners who utilize newer, more efficient and effective construction technologies and materials for their planned home maintenance or repair jobs.
Replacing your aging roof with Class-4 impact resistant shingles, and using FORTIFIED-certified construction techniques can mean a discount between 15% and 35% in certain wind-prone states. Ask your local insurance agent if these discounts are offered by your carrier, and use that information to plan your home improvement projects with your next insurance renewal date in mind.
Does wind/hail insurance vary by state?
The price you pay for wind and hail insurance in Arkansas is likely to differ from that in other states, even the ones next door. While you can shop for insurance across state lines, the state-by-state regulations that define how policies work in each one create some limitations. In any case, going into an insurance negotiation with information about prices near your home, even if they are across a state border, can only be helpful in finding the best prices and getting the answers you need to purchase confidently.
Gray is the Senior Content Specialist at Sola Insurance, working with the Sales and Marketing teams to provide helpful, valuable content for homeowners and agents. Gray has worked previously in finance, logistics, and advertising.
