Irene Raises Hurricane Deductible Questions in Hard-Hit Northeast States

New York and New Jersey regulators said recently that hurricane deductibles should not apply on homeowners’ insurance policies for Irene damages in their states. That’s because Irene was downgraded and designated as a tropical storm, not a hurricane, when it reached those states, according to the officials. They said standard dollar deductibles should apply instead of the hurricane deductibles, which are based on a percentage of a property’s insured value rather than a set dollar amount.