Deductibles in general reflect the dollar amount that you are willing to take on in any given loss aka your self-insurance amount. The higher the amount you are willing to take on/self-insure the lower your premiums will be. Each product type, home, auto, umbrella etc. have different kinds of deductibles to choose from. In this section I will explain the different kinds of deductibles available for the most used types of insurance, home and auto.
Home Insurance Deductibles
Home insurance typically has two different deductible options first being wind/hail and the second being all perils and these deductible options typically range from $500 all the way up to $10,000. Your wind and hail deductible is going to be applied to, exactly what it sounds like, losses that occur due to wind or hail. The all-perils deductible is going to cover everything else that is included on the policy. Typically, we will see clients choose a larger wind and hail deductible to reduce on their premiums.
Auto Insurance Deductibles
Auto insurance deductibles are much more complicated than home, simply because there are more options. On your auto policy, you have two different deductible types, comprehensive & collision. Comprehensive is also sometimes called the act of God coverage because it covers things we have no control of like fire, vandalism, car deer accidents, tree falling on the car, etc. Whereas your collision deductible is going to cover if you are in an accident while driving whether that be with another vehicle, a sign, the ditch, etc. Both kinds of deductibles typically range from $100 up to $2,000.
The comprehensive deductible typically has an additional option that you can add and that is a glass deductible option. This glass option typically either eliminates the deductible when glass is being repaired/replaced or it reduces the deductible significantly, in most cases to about $50.
The collision deductible is offered in three different types Limited, Standard and Broad. If you have a limited collision deductible the loss is only going to be covered if you are not at fault in the accident, this is not a very common option to see on a policy. The second option, standard collision, is the middle option and with this option no matter who is at fault you pay your deductible, and the company covers the remainder of the damages. The last and I personally think best option, Broad Collision, states that if you are less than 50% at fault in an accident the company will waive your deductible and repair your vehicle with no cost to you.