Acutely aware of the costly damage storm force winds wreak locally, most Bermudian home owners opt to include hurricane damage when insuring their homes.

And one local insurer revealed that it considers the coverage so vital that it will decline business if the customer insists on omitting it.

"We won't sell a policy without hurricane protection,'' said William Madeiros, senior general manager at Colonial Insurance.

Argus Insurance and BF&M said that hurricane coverage is part of the standard package offered for home insurance at their companies.

"Anyone who has a house insured with our comprehensive package, has it,'' said Vincent Outerbridge, senior underwriter property & casualty at Argus.

"Many properties have a mortgage and the mortgagee makes it a requirement that they have insurance,'' noted Ross Hillen, vice president of technical services at BF&M.

"Owners who own their homes outright, continue to consider it prudent to effect insurance given the perils of hurricanes.'' Justin Freisenbruch of Freisenbruch-Meyer pointed out that there are no statistics detailing the exact number of homeowners who do carry hurricane insurance.

"I would say certainly more than half do, but not more than 75 percent,'' he said.

Mr. Freisenbruch pointed out that owners who opt for the coverage "can control the level of their premiums by setting their own windstorm deductible''.

"With us there is a minimum of $500 and some customers are as high as $2,500,'' he said.

"This tells the insurer the amount you are willing to pay before you would look for their help,'' he added, "and obviously the higher the windstorm deductible the lower your premiums will be.'' While none of the insurers contacted was willing to divulge their rates, Mr.

Madeiros at Colonial said on average the annual home insurance payments are in the region of $800 and $1,500.

"Remember we are insuring just the building,'' he said, "not the property it sits on or the contents.'' Rates are based on the insurance value of the home which is calculated based on its square footage. Other factors which affect hurricane insurance rates include the age of the home, the materials used in its construction, the type of roof and its exposure to wind.

Mr. Madeiros noting that Bermudian consumers enjoy relatively stable insurance premiums pointed out that the local providers are very competitive.

"There is significant competition out there,'' he said, "and the Bermudian customer is very savvy.

"But there is an understanding among the local insurance companies that we will keep the rates reasonable,'' he continued, "we don't have major slash rates and cut-throat competition. This keeps the rates fairly stable for consumers.'' Mr. Madeiros said that despite Bermuda's close proximity to the Caribbean, reinsurers tend to view the Island as a "responsible jurisdiction''.

"There can be huge see-saws of rates in other jurisdictions especially the Caribbean,'' he said.

"I've seen rates multiply by as much as ten in a single year, but those are extreme cases,'' he added.

And the stable rates forced local insurers "to work harder because they don't have the (low) rates to rely on''.

Mr. Freisenbruch said that most of his customers have enjoyed declines in their premiums (as much as 15 percent) over the past five years, due to good weather conditions in the region.

"There has been a reduction of hurricane activity in the area over the past five years,'' he said. "Weather conditions in the Caribbean and the Eastern US, who are included as part of our region has been quite good,'' he continued.

The results enable Freisenbruch-Meyer to secure cheaper rates from the reinsurance companies and ultimately pass on those savings to their clients.

Mr. Freisenbruch and Mr. Madeiros both admitted that in the lead up to, and immediately following a hurricane, requests for hurricane insurance coverage increases significantly.

"If we know a hurricane is going to hit, we close our books,'' Mr.

Freisenbruch said. "The callers are trying to engage in a move called `selecting against the insurance company','' he continued.

"Insurance is designed to protect against the unforeseen. It would not be prudent for us to accept risk where the danger is impending.'' At Colonial Mr. Madeiros said there were situations where the company was very sympathetic on an approaching hurricane.

"We are sympathetic to our customers who find that their policy is expiring today, and the hurricane is slated to hit tomorrow,'' he said.

He said that heavy storms and hurricanes were an opportune time for his company to shine.

"Most of the local insurers are geared up for hurricanes,'' he said.

"Immediately following every major storm and hurricane we have had including hurricane Emily, Felix and Gert, our team has been in the office ready to help our customers. That is important for people and our clients really get a chance to see us strut our stuff at that time.'' To avoid major disappointments to customers in insurance payouts, Argus Insurance reminds their policy holders in their annual renewal notifications, of the necessity to be insured for the replacement value of their homes.

Colonial have their value assessor visit the homes of each of their policy holders annually. Clients are then advised if appropriate, to increase or decrease the insurance value of their homes.

"This gives our clients one less thing to worry about each year,'' said Mr.

Madeiros. In Bermuda hurricane season begins on June 1 and runs through until October 31.

HURRICANE CHECK LIST Hurricane check list Check that your home owners' insurance policy is current Check that it includes hurricane or windstorm damage protection Check the amount your home is valued at and ensure it is current Feeling the blow: Hurricane coverage is part of the standard package offered for home insurance in Bermuda -- and home owners are advised to pay the premiums in case their houses end up like this one, hit by last year's Hurricane Gert.