🧾 Insurance Deductible Impact Calculator

Enter your claim amount and policy deductible to see how much your insurer would pay out, and how much comes out of your own pocket.

Claim Amount ($)

Policy Deductible ($)

What the insurer actually sends

The deductible comes off the covered loss, and the payout is floored at zero so it can never go negative:

payout        = max(0, claim amount − deductible)
out of pocket = claim amount − payout

A $5,000 claim against a $1,000 deductible pays $4,000 and costs you $1,000. Below the deductible the arithmetic flips: an $800 loss with a $1,000 deductible pays nothing, and your out-of-pocket line reads $800 rather than $1,000, because you only ever lose what the damage cost.

Entering the right two numbers

Percentage deductibles must be converted first. A 2% hurricane or wind deductible on a $300,000 dwelling limit is $6,000, and $6,000 is what belongs in the box — not 2.
The claim amount is the settled figure, after any depreciation your policy applies. On an actual cash value settlement, work the item out on the ACV calculator and bring that number here.
Weigh a higher deductible against the premium saving. Dividing the extra risk by the annual saving gives the break-even: taking $1,500 more deductible to save $200 a year pays back in seven and a half claim-free years.

This assumes one fully covered loss inside your limits. Separate wind, hail and earthquake deductibles, per-category caps, excluded perils and policy limits all sit outside the subtraction, and any of them can make the real payout smaller.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth claiming just above my deductible?

A $1,200 loss on a $1,000 deductible nets $200. Weigh that against a claim on your record and what it may do to your renewal; small claims are often better paid yourself.

Does the deductible apply once a year or to every claim?

Homeowners deductibles are per claim, not annual. Two separate losses in one year means the deductible is taken twice, which is the usual surprise for anyone coming from health insurance.

Is a higher deductible worth it?

Only if you could write the check tomorrow without borrowing. The premium saving is real but slow; the higher deductible arrives all at once, on the day you can least absorb it.