Palm Beach County is outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, which stops at the Broward line, so a wind mitigation report is how a home here proves what it was built with. Florida's hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year with the same insurer, a rule that matters in a county that took Frances and Jeanne three weeks apart. A non-renewal takes 120 days' written notice, and flood from surge, the Intracoastal or rain needs its own policy.
Frances and Jeanne: one landfall point, three weeks apart
The National Hurricane Center puts Hurricane Frances ashore at the southern end of Hutchinson Island early on September 5, 2004, and Hurricane Jeanne at the southern end of Hutchinson Island, just east of Stuart, on the night of September 25 to 26. The National Weather Service in Miami calls the two landfall points nearly coincident and says the southern eyewall crossed northeast Palm Beach County both times. Its account of Frances counts about 15,000 houses and 2,400 businesses damaged in Palm Beach County and 13.56 inches of rain at the West Palm Beach airport; for Jeanne it records a 94 mph gust at the Lake Worth pier. Thirteen months later Hurricane Wilma crossed the state from the Gulf and exited the coast near Palm Beach Gardens, with a 101 mph gust at Palm Beach International.
Two hurricanes in one policy year is the case section 627.701 now answers. For personal residential policies issued or renewed on or after May 1, 2005, the hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year to all hurricane losses with the same insurer or insurer group. If an earlier storm used part of it, the insurer may apply to the next hurricane the greater of what remains or the ordinary deductible. The statute also lets insurers require you to report hurricane damage that falls below the deductible, or to keep the receipts, so that it counts toward the year. I tell Palm Beach County owners to document every hurricane loss, however small, and to remember that the annual rule is written for losses with the same insurer or insurer group. More: how the Florida hurricane deductible works.
Milton's tornadoes and which deductible applies
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on the Gulf coast on the night of October 9, 2024. The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed 15 tornadoes in its South Florida area that day, a daily record for the office. One, rated EF-3, tracked from Wellington through Loxahatchee and The Acreage into the Avenir community of Palm Beach Gardens and on to Jupiter Farms; surveyors found heavy roof damage, impact-resistant windows shattered and vehicles moved at least 100 yards, and the North Palm Beach County airport measured a 92 mph gust as it passed.
It is natural to assume a tornado claim falls under the ordinary deductible. Section 627.4025 defines hurricane coverage as windstorm loss during a hurricane, and defines windstorm to include tornadoes caused by or resulting from a hurricane. The hurricane period runs from the first hurricane warning for any part of Florida until 72 hours after the last watch or warning ends. A tornado inside that window, spun off a declared hurricane, falls under the hurricane deductible, which the statute requires insurers to offer at five hundred dollars or 2, 5 or 10 percent of the dwelling limit. The policy wording controls, and it is the first page I read on a Palm Beach County file.
Outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone
The Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone covers Miami-Dade and Broward counties only. Palm Beach County builds to the statewide code; the county's building division says all of unincorporated Palm Beach County is within the wind-borne debris region and publishes design wind speed maps for looking up a parcel. A West Palm Beach house can be as well built as one in Fort Lauderdale, and the insurer will want it shown.
A wind mitigation inspection report does that, and section 627.0629 requires rate filings to include credits for roof covering, roof deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections and opening protection. On roofs, section 627.7011 bars refusing to write or renew solely for age under 15 years; past that, the insurer must allow an inspection and cannot refuse on age alone if the roof has five or more years of useful life. See Florida roof age rules. As of November 2026 My Safe Florida Home lists free wind mitigation inspections and grants for owner-occupied, site-built, homesteaded single-family homes.
Barrier island, Intracoastal and inland water
Palm Beach County's emergency management office says the coastal areas are susceptible to storm-surge flooding, the northern and southern coasts somewhat more than the central section, and that intense or prolonged rain is the primary cause of localized flooding across flat terrain that drains through canals and pumps. It names a breach of the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee as an improbable but worst-case flood threat for the western county. The county also separates two maps people confuse: the evacuation zone (surge) and the flood zone (flood risk from drainage, sheet flow or tides).
The record matches. The Weather Service notes up to 3 feet of standing water in parts of the county after Frances, and the National Hurricane Center's Irma report has 2 to 4 feet of inundation along the coast, with a sensor on the Intracoastal Waterway at Boca Raton recording the water level. FEMA says most homeowners insurance does not cover flood. A flood policy comes from the National Flood Insurance Program, with a normal 30-day wait, or from a private insurer authorized under section 627.715.
Citizens, and where it stops
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state's insurer of last resort, is open when no private company offers coverage at approved rates or when the private premium is more than 20 percent higher than Citizens' for comparable coverage; the Clearinghouse runs that test at application and at every renewal.
- Dwelling cap. Less than seven hundred thousand outside Miami-Dade and Monroe, which rules out many island and waterfront homes. Those go to the private or surplus lines market.
- Inspections. A four-point inspection past 20 years; shingle roofs past 25 and tile, concrete or metal roofs past 50 need five years of useful life documented.
- Thin spots. A special limit on accidental water discharge; no water backup, animal liability or extended replacement cost.
- Flood. Proof of flood coverage on wind policies in a special flood hazard area now, and on all of them from January 1, 2027.
Notice, deadlines and state help
Section 627.4133 requires 120 days' written notice of a non-renewal with the reason, and says act-of-God claims cannot be the cause unless you ignored steps the insurer reasonably requested. More: Florida non-renewal rules. Section 627.70132 bars a claim unless notice is given within one year of the date of loss, which for a hurricane is the landfall date and for a tornado the date federal weather officials verify it. The Department of Financial Services takes insurance questions at 1-877-693-5236, and the Florida Market Assistance Plan is a free referral service to agents who can place a home with authorized insurers.
What I need to quote
The non-renewal or renewal notice, the current declarations page with its hurricane deductible, the address and year built, the roof's material and the year of its last full replacement, a wind mitigation report and four-point inspection if you have them, any claims in the last five years including storm damage you did not file, whether you live in the home, and the flood policy if there is one. I can start from the notice and the declarations page.
Common questions
Who insures a home in West Palm Beach after a non-renewal?
Authorized private insurers first, then surplus lines insurers, then Citizens Property Insurance if no private insurer offers coverage or the private price is more than 20 percent above Citizens' for comparable coverage.
Is Palm Beach County in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone?
No. That zone of the Florida Building Code is Miami-Dade and Broward counties only. The county's building division says all of unincorporated Palm Beach County is in the wind-borne debris region.
If two hurricanes hit Palm Beach County in one year, do I pay the hurricane deductible twice?
Not with the same insurer. Section 627.701 applies the hurricane deductible once per calendar year; for a later hurricane the insurer may apply the greater of what remains of it or your ordinary deductible.
Does the hurricane deductible apply to a tornado in Florida?
It can. Section 627.4025 counts tornadoes caused by or resulting from a declared hurricane as windstorm during the hurricane period, as with the Palm Beach County tornadoes during Hurricane Milton in October 2024.
Does homeowners insurance cover storm surge from the Intracoastal in West Palm Beach?
No. Surge and rising water are flood, which needs a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer.
Can Citizens insure a high-value home in Palm Beach?
Only below its dwelling cap, which its homeowners worksheet sets at less than seven hundred thousand outside Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Larger homes go to private or surplus lines insurers.
General information about home insurance in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County as of November 2026, not legal advice. Florida statutes, Citizens rules, county maps and program funding change; the policy and the insurer's filed rules control. Flood is never part of a homeowners policy and needs its own policy. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.