As we are currently in the middle of hurricane season, we’d like to discuss another unique feature to Florida home insurance.  It is the infamous “hurricane box”. What is the box you ask? It is a geographical “box” that insurance companies draw, according to specific coordinates, around certain states and their surrounding areas. This means that when a named storm or tropical depression enters into this geographical box, Florida home insurance companies will temporarily stop writing home insurance. Often times, the insurance company, depending on the size of the storm, will not write life insurance either. This scenario can actually affect a home closing.  If a named storm has entered the geographical “box” and someone has a signed contract to close on a new home purchase during that time, the home insurance company is most likely not going to allow the agent to bind the coverage on the home until the named storm has moved safely out of the “box”. During the 2004 storm season Florida had almost a 30 day non-binding period due to named storms “sitting” in the geographical “hurricane box”.  Again, the reason behind this is that the home insurance company doesn’t want to insure something that is about to be hit by a storm. The answer? Plan ahead as much as possible.   If you are going to be closing on a home during hurricane season and you know that there is a storm approaching; go ahead and speed up the closing process. Try to get it finished prior to the storm entering the “box”.