Topping this year’s list of unwanted guests between June and December include Andrea, Barry, Chantal and Dexter – those are names designated for the first four named hurricanes of the 2025 season, which officially begins Sunday, June 1.

It’s not too soon to think about ways to protect your property to reduce potential damage in the event a hurricane or its after-effects cause problems.

Western North Carolina is still dealing with the aftermath of destruction caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene last fall.

And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an “above-normal” season.

With that in mind, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association suggests that homeowners review insurance policies to make sure you can financially weather a storm.

“Natural disasters in recent years have caused billions of dollars in damages, which is a key reason why insurance costs have risen,” says Michael Richmond-Crum, senior director of personal lines at APCIA. “To help make insurance more affordable and available long-term, it is critical to increase the resiliency of homes and communities and reduce costly damage from severe weather. Many insurers offer premium discounts for certain steps that homeowners take to reduce the potential for damage from a storm. Discounts vary by company, so talk to your insurer or agent to see what discounts are available.”

The following steps are low-cost ways homeowners can strengthen their property for hurricane season:

• Start by checking around your home or business and trimming back any nearby branches or trees, especially ones that hang over or close to your home.
• Inspect the roof and repair any loose or damaged shingles.
• Secure loose gutters and seal gaps and cracks around windows and doors to prevent water intrusion.
• Installing a wind-rated garage door or hurricane shutters and upgrading the home to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s FORTIFIEDconstruction standard are additional measures to consider.

In recent years, costs to repair and rebuild homes and businesses after a natural disaster have risen significantly. In the last five years, the cost of construction labor has increased 36.3 percent while the cost of building materials are up 42.7 percent.

“As part of your hurricane season prep, take time to review your insurance policy and verify with your insurer or agent that your coverage is keeping pace with these cost increases,” added Richmond-Crum.

When reviewing your insurance policy, consider the following:

• Carefully review your policy limits and deductible (i.e., the amount you will pay out of pocket if you have a claim), and make adjustments, if needed, to ensure you have an appropriate amount of coverage to recover if your property is damaged. Raising your deductible is one way to potentially lower your premium, but make sure you can afford the higher deductible and understand that any damage that falls below the deductible will be out of pocket.
• Ask if your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value. Actual cash value takes depreciation into account and replacement cost is the amount necessary to rebuild your home with materials of like kind and quality up to policy limits.
• Consider adding key additional coverages, such as automatic inflation guard, extended replacement cost, and building code/ordinance coverage.
• Evaluate your need for flood insurance.Flood damage is typically not covered under a standard homeowners policy. Flood insurance is available as a separate policy through the National Flood Insurance Program or the private market.

Other steps to take to prepare for hurricane season:

• Make a home inventory using your cell phone to take pictures and videos of your home and your home’s contents.
• Gather copies of your home, auto, and flood insurance policies and keep them in a safe, accessible place.
• Save your insurer’s contact info to your phone’s contacts so you can easily and quickly start the claims process if your home is damaged.
• If your insurer has an app available, download it on to your phone for easy access to policy information.

For the record, in addition to Andrea, Barry, Chantal and Dexter, the following names will be used if needed for the 2025 hurricane season:

Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van, and Wendy.