
- Beach Plan, FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan; and other involuntary or residual markets: insurers of last resort, state-run pools that provide insurance to people who are unable to obtain insurance in the voluntary market. Beach Plans operate in specific coastal territories, defined by zip codes, counties or geography; FAIR Plans are generally statewide.
- Deductible: amount of loss paid by the policyholder before insurance kicks in.
- Dollar deductibles: a flat dollar amount.
- Mandatory deductibles: may be set by insurance rules, regulations or state law, or by an insurer.
- Market Assistance Plan (MAP): a voluntary clearinghouse and referral system designed to put people looking for insurance in touch with insurance companies that have agreed to take on more business.
- Optional deductibles: mostly used in less vulnerable areas. Policyholders may opt for these higher deductibles in order to pay a lower premium.
- Percentage deductibles: calculated as a specified percentage, for example 2 percent, of the insured value of the property.
- Standard deductibles: an indication of the usual homeowners insurance deductibles in the state or area.
- Trigger: an event that is needed for a hurricane deductible to be applied. Hurricane deductibles are “triggered” only when there is a hurricane, or a tropical storm. Triggers vary by state and insurer and may apply when the National Weather Service (NWS) “names” a tropical storm, declares a hurricane watch or warning or defines the hurricane’s intensity. Triggers generally include a timing factor, i.e., damage occurring within 24 hours before the storm is named or a hurricane makes landfall up to as long as 72 hours after the hurricane is downgraded to a lesser storm or a hurricane watch cancelled.