What Is a Deductible in Home Insurance?
What Is a Deductible in Home Insurance? Insurance Basics · Last reviewed August 14, 2026 · General information, not policy-specific advice. Your home insurance deductible is the share of a covered loss you absorb before the insurer pays anything, and it is subtracted from your settlement rather than billed to you. The Texas Department of Insurance works the example plainly: a $6,500 covered roof loss with a $500 deductible produces a $6,000 payment. Change nothing about that roof except the deductible structure — 5% of a $150,000 dwelling limit, or $7,500 — and the same loss pays nothing at all . If you have never opened your declarations page past the premium line, this guide is for you. I pulled every figure below from regulator and industry sources on August 14, 2026 — Texas DOI, NAIC, the Florida Department of Financial Services, the California Earthquake Authority, and the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) — and flagged the ones the sources themselves disagree on. W...