The Atlantic hurricane season is predicted to be severe and as it progresses, insurance agents in Louisiana are urging homeowners to review their homeowner insurance policies before a storm hits.

When it comes to some homeowner coverages, there can be a waiting period before coverage goes into effect so waiting for a storm to form to upgrade your coverage may be too late.

Almost all flood insurance policies have a 30-day waiting period for coverage, so it is important to have coverage in place well before a storm forms. Once a storm is named or enters the Gulf of Mexico, changes to your policy, upping your coverage levels or adding new coverages becomes difficult to impossible.

“Flood insurance is the main thing. That’s a 30-day wait,” said Stephen Lovecchio, a TWFG Insurance branch owner in a recent Fox 8 story. “When it comes to property on homeowners’ insurance, it depends on the carrier. But, usually, it’s once there’s a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, they’ll stop binding.”

Ross Fayard, owner of Amstate Insurance Agency in St. Tammany Parish, confirms Lovecchio’s warning in the recent Fox 8 article. “Once it’s in the Gulf, if you don’t have insurance, you’re not getting it until after they open insurance back up,” Fayard said.

Experts have predicted a very active hurricane season this year which combined with Louisiana’s growing insurance crisis has resulted in premiums headed up for homeowners.

Many homeowners have seen their mortgage payments rise as their insurance costs increase and their premium is paid via their mortgage escrow account. It is always a good idea to verify your lender has paid your insurance premium, so you are not caught without coverage.

“Call your agent, call the insurance company say, ‘Can I just verify that payment’s been received?’” Fayard said in the Fox 8 story. “As much as insurance companies want to try and help the public out, if they get hit with something they don’t have to pay, they’re not going to pay,” he said.

Experts also recommend checking your policy to verify that all discounts are being applied, especially if you have had a roof replaced recently. Thousands of homeowners in New Orleans have had a roof replacement after Hurricane Ida hit the area.

“I recommend for everybody to take a look at your Dec Page (declarations page) and make sure,” Lovecchio said in the Fox 8 article.  “We’ve had thousands of roofs put on over the last three year. Make sure your policy shows that you have a roof that was put on in ‘21 or ‘22 or ‘23 or ‘24. Because that’s about a 15-20 percent discount.”

One way to save a bit of money on coverage is by splitting policies. Louisiana residents often have to purchase wind and hail damage coverage in addition to standard insurance that includes fire.

“What I mean by split policy, means put the wind and hail (coverage) with one company, and the fire and EC (extended coverage) with another company,” Fayard said in the Fox 8 article.  “You just got to watch and make sure your agent has your best interests with that.”

One final tip when it comes to protecting your finances from hurricane and flood damage is to maintain flood insurance as it makes it easier to sell your home. Because existing flood insurance policies are not subjected to the full impact of FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 pricing methodology they are typically cheaper than a new policy.

“It’s easy to sell a house when (a buyer) can assume a flood policy under $1,000, as opposed to having the customer have to get a new policy,” Fayard said in Fox 8 story.