By Steve Kilar
The Baltimore Sun
5:52 p.m. EDT, October 31, 2012
Homeowners should be wary of property insurers trying to charge percentage deductibles for damage caused by Sandy, the hurricane-turned-post-tropical-cyclone, according to a bulletin released Tuesday by the Maryland Insurance Administration.
Only if the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service issues a hurricane warning for Maryland can property and casualty insurance carriers charge a percentage deductible — instead of the more familiar flat-rate deductible — for damage done by a hurricane or other storm, according to Maryland law.
The National Hurricane Center did not issue a hurricane warning for Maryland before Sandy hit. Therefore, most homeowners should be charged a flat rate “dollar deductible” on their property insurance claims, not a deductible that is calculated as a percentage of the total value of the policy.