A percentage home deductible: turn it into dollars

Questions covered in this guide

Find the percentage and its base

A percentage alone is not a dollar amount. NAIC explains that homeowners deductibles may be fixed amounts or percentages of insured value. Look at the declarations and applicable endorsement, then ask the insurer which stated value the percentage uses and which type of loss triggers it.

Work through an example

Assume a policy states a 2 percent deductible based on a $400,000 dwelling limit. The arithmetic is 0.02 × $400,000 = $8,000. This is an invented example, not a quote or a prediction of a claim payment. Do not substitute the repair bill as the base unless the actual contract says that is how this deductible works.

Keep different loss types separate

Create a row for the ordinary deductible and another for each special deductible shown in the policy. Record the trigger, percentage or dollar amount, base and any minimum described in the contract. If a renewal changes the insured value, ask the insurer to confirm the resulting deductible in dollars as well as the new premium.

Use the comparison tool with confirmed amounts

Once you have the applicable dollar deductibles, enter them with comparable premiums in our deductible calculator. Its zero-claim and one-claim scenarios are simplified comparisons, not coverage determinations. They do not apply special policy wording or multiple-loss rules. Ask the insurer to resolve any ambiguous base or trigger before interpreting the result as a comparison of your options.

Putting it into practice

The worked example converts a policy-stated percentage into a dollar figure and explicitly separates the insured-value base from a repair invoice. Comparing policies requires the same loss scenario and confirmed deductible terms.

Sources and supported claims

NAIC describes homeowners deductibles as either fixed-dollar amounts or percentages of insured value.
Source ↗ · national · Checked 2026-10-12

NAIC distinguishes replacement-cost and actual-cash-value coverage, which can also affect an insurance comparison.
Source ↗ · national · Checked 2026-10-12