Stormy Weather 2011 - Special Report

7 States With Sky-High Insurance

Published Mon, Aug 1 20119:49 AM EDTUpdated Mon, Aug 1 20111:49 PM EDT

Jennifer Leigh Parker, Special to CNBC.com

States With Expensive Insurance Rates

With forecasters predicting 12 to 18 named storms in 2011, homeowners in the Southern United States may already be looking past the sunny days of summer and bracing for the hurricane season. Insurance providers have already bet on it. Homeowners in certain hurricane prone states are at the mercy of an entirely separate insurance market — the so-called “market of last resort” — created to pick up the slack from private insurers who don't provide coverage for hurricanes — or, for that matter, torn

Photo: Don Klumpp | Getty Images

With forecasters predicting 12 to 18 storms in 2011, homeowners in the Southern United States may already be looking past the sunny days of summer and bracing for the hurricane season. Insurance providers have already bet on it.
Homeowners in certain hurricane prone states are at the mercy of an entirely separate insurance market — the so-called “market of last resort” — created to pick up the slack from private insurers who don't provide coverage for hurricanes — or, for that matter, tornadoes and hailstorms.

The industry’s umbrella term for this secondary market is “Windstorm Insurance.” True to its name, it generally refers to wind or hailstorm damage only.

Residents of seven coastal states can opt for this extra coverage or else leave the rest to chance.

While premiums certainly vary depending on the price of your property and the risk profile of your location — these averages allow for benchmark comparisons.

Click ahead to see average annual homeowners insurance premiums in these states (based on Property Casualty Insurers Association of America data), as well as average windstorm insurance premiums from the least expensive to the most expensive.

By Jennifer Leigh Parker
Posted 29 July 2011