Wind deductible calculator: what a 5% deductible actually costs you.
It is not 5% of the loss. It is 5% of the insured value of every location the storm touches — added together, subject to a dollar minimum, with no occurrence cap unless you bought one. Put your schedule in and see the real retained number.
- Deductible per location, after the dollar minimum
- What one storm across several locations retains
- Retention in months of NOI and multiples of premium
- What a buy-down is worth at your own odds
No email required to see your results. Nothing is transmitted until you ask.
Step one
Your schedule of values
Insured value per location, as the policy schedules it — building, contents, and loss of rents, since that's the figure the percentage runs against. It all runs in your browser, with no account. Nothing leaves your browser until you click Email this result or ask for a review further down.
Prefilled with an example schedule, not a benchmark. and enter yours.
Step two
Your deductible terms
Straight off the declarations page. The minimum is the dollar floor the deductible can't drop below — it's what makes a small location cost more than its percentage.
Step three — optional
Translate it into your statement
Retained risk in dollars is abstract. In months of NOI it isn't. Every field here is optional and each one unlocks one figure.
What you retain
Before the policy pays a dollar
A 5.0% deductible is 5.0% of each affected location's insured value — not of the loss, and not of the schedule.
Largest single location
$1,500,000
$30.0M insured × 5.00%
One storm, 2 locations
$2,425,000
2 deductibles, added together
Months of NOI
—
Add annual NOI above
Times your annual premium
—
Add annual premium above
The part nobody prices
$1,500,000
A loss at your largest location has to exceed $1,500,000 before the policy pays anything at all. A $600K roof claim on that building is entirely yours — not underinsured, not disputed, just below the deductible.
If the whole schedule is hit
$3,025,000
3 locations, $60.5M insured, and 3 separate deductibles. With no occurrence cap, that is the ceiling on a single event.
Illustrative estimate only, based solely on the numbers you entered. This is not a quote, rate indication, coverage recommendation, or offer of insurance. Actual premiums, deductibles, and settlements depend on underwriting and policy wording.
Location by location
Where the retention sits
Sorted by deductible, not by value — because the dollar minimum can put a small building ahead of a larger one.
| Location | Insured value | Deductible | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location 1in the storm | $30,000,000 | $1,500,000 | 5.00% |
| Location 2in the storm | $18,500,000 | $925,000 | 5.00% |
| Location 3 | $12,000,000 | $600,000 | 5.00% |
| Whole schedule | $60,500,000 | $3,025,000 | 5.00% |
Two ways it gets worse
A season, and a renewal
A deductible is an annual exposure, not a one-time one — and the percentage on your declarations page is the number most likely to move at renewal.
Retained across a season
| 1 event | $2,425,000 |
| 2 events | $4,850,000 |
| 3 events | $7,275,000 |
With no annual aggregate, a second storm costs the same as the first. Gulf and hail-belt schedules see repeat years.
The same schedule at other deductibles
| Deductible | Largest | One storm |
|---|---|---|
| 1% | $300K | $550K |
| 2% | $600K | $970K |
| 3% | $900K | $1.46M |
| 5%yours | $1.50M | $2.42M |
| 10% | $3.00M | $4.85M |
Moving from 2% to 5% is not a small concession. It is usually the largest change on a renewal nobody negotiated.
What a buy-down is worth
Price the trade before you take it
A buy-down replaces the per-location percentage with one flat retention. It is worth buying when it costs less than the risk it removes — which depends on how often you think a storm actually finds the schedule.
Retained today
$2,425,000
One storm, percentage deductible
Retained after buy-down
$250,000
One flat deductible per occurrence
Worth up to
$326,250/yr
$2.17M removed × 15% odds
Read it this way
$2,175,000 of risk moved off your balance sheet
If a broker can buy your 5.0% deductible down to $250,000 flat for less than $326,250 a year, the trade pays for itself at the odds you just set. Above that, you are better off retaining and funding it. The number moves a lot with the slider, which is the honest part: nobody knows the odds, so the question is whether the quote is close to the line or nowhere near it.
Keep this
Take it into the renewal meeting.
Print it, or copy the link, which reopens this page with the whole schedule filled in. Or have what you retain per location and per storm emailed to you.
The deductible is the part of the program nobody prices
Every owner can tell you their premium. Far fewer can tell you what they retain before that premium buys them anything, and almost nobody has added it up across a schedule. A percentage wind deductible is retained risk carried at a stated value of zero — it appears on no statement, accrues to no reserve, and shows up for the first time in the week after a storm.
The mechanics are where it gets expensive. The percentage applies to the insured value of the damaged property, not to the size of the loss, so a $400,000 roof claim on a building carrying a $1.5 million deductible is not a partial recovery — it is no recovery. And on nearly every commercial form the deductible applies per location, so a named storm that tracks across four assets applies four deductibles. Owners budget for one.
That structure is also the quietest way a renewal gets worse. Moving a schedule from a 2% deductible to 5% is a larger transfer of risk than most rate increases, costs the carrier nothing to ask for, and arrives inside a quote that looks flat or better on premium. Deductible minimums do the same thing from the other direction: a $250,000 per-location minimum makes every building under $5 million retain more than its stated percentage, which is why portfolios with a long tail of small assets get hit hardest by a term that reads like a rounding detail.
The buy-down question follows directly. A buy-down replaces the per-location percentage with one flat retention, and it is worth buying whenever it costs less than the risk it removes. That calculation needs a view on how often a damaging event actually finds your schedule, which is a judgment, not a fact — so the calculator above puts that assumption on a slider rather than burying it. What usually matters is not the precise number but whether the quoted buy-down sits near the break-even line or nowhere near it. For how a buy-down is structured and placed, read our wind deductible buy-down guide. If the property has an agency loan, check the deductible against the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac named storm deductible caps. To see whether the quoted rate itself is in line with the market, check the commercial insurance rate barometer.
Common questions
How does a percentage wind deductible work?
It is a percentage of the insured value of the property that was damaged, not a percentage of the loss. A 5% wind deductible on a building insured for $30 million is a $1.5 million deductible, whether the storm caused $2 million of damage or $200,000. That is why a percentage deductible can turn a real claim into no recovery at all: any loss below the deductible is entirely retained.
Does the wind deductible apply per building or per occurrence?
On almost every commercial property form it applies per location, or per unit of insurance, which means one named storm across four buildings applies four separate deductibles. Owners routinely budget for one. The calculator above adds them the way the policy does, so the retained number matches what a storm would actually cost.
How do I calculate a 5% wind deductible?
Multiply each affected location's insured value — building, business personal property, and loss of rents as the policy schedules it — by 5%, then apply any dollar minimum, then add the affected locations together. On a $30 million, $18.5 million, and $12 million schedule, a storm across the two largest locations retains $2.425 million before the policy responds.
What does a minimum per location mean on a wind deductible?
It is a dollar floor the deductible cannot fall below. A 5% deductible with a $250,000 minimum on a $4 million building is $250,000, not $200,000 — an effective rate of 6.25%. The minimum is what makes small locations disproportionately expensive to retain, and it is the clause most often missed when owners price the schedule themselves.
What is the difference between a named storm, hurricane, and wind/hail deductible?
A wind/hail deductible triggers on any wind or hail damage. A named storm deductible triggers only once the National Hurricane Center names the system, and a hurricane deductible usually requires a declared hurricane category at landfall. The narrower the trigger, the more losses fall under the smaller all-other-perils deductible instead — which is why the trigger language is worth as much negotiation as the percentage.
Is a wind deductible buy-down worth buying?
It depends on what it costs against the risk it removes. A buy-down replaces the per-location percentage with one flat retention, so the value is the difference between the two, weighted by how often you expect a damaging event. If a buy-down removes $2.1 million of retention and you believe a storm finds the schedule roughly one year in seven, the trade is worth up to about $300,000 a year. The calculator above prices that line at whatever odds you set.
Why did my wind deductible go from 2% to 5%?
Catastrophe capacity repriced sharply after the 2017-2024 storm and hail years, and carriers moved retention onto owners rather than raise rate alone. A deductible change is a quieter concession than a premium increase and often passes through a renewal unnegotiated, even though moving a $64 million schedule from 2% to 5% can more than double what a single storm retains.
Own apartments?
Size the whole program — premium against NOI, value at your cap rate, DSCR headroom, and this deductible alongside it.
Multifamily insurance calculatorOwn hotels?
Price the premium in RevPAR, see the ADR move a renewal implies, and check whether business income funds a peak-season closure.
Hotel insurance calculatorLooking for the program, not the math?
Named storm and hail capacity, deductible buy-downs, and parametric structures for coastal and hail-belt schedules.
Catastrophe & coastal property insuranceIs your limit still enough?
A coinsurance clause cuts every claim, not just a total loss, when the limit trails replacement cost. Price the penalty on your own loss.
Coinsurance penalty calculatorFree renewal review
Have someone price the buy-down against the market
The calculator sizes what you retain. Whether that retention is worth buying down depends on your loss history, your construction and roof ages, and what catastrophe capacity is charging for accounts like yours this quarter. Send the schedule over, or just the renewal date.
- A second set of expert eyes on your program, free.
- Marketed to the carriers that actually want your risk.
- No obligation, fully confidential.
Book 20 minutes or call (205) 999-4884