When a high-pressure governor meets a low-sympathy insurance company during a time of high stress:

Homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will save thousands of dollars in insurance costs after several state governors declared that Sandy did not make landfall as a hurricane, exempting them from insurers' hurricane deductibles

Unlike regular deductibles that require homeowners to pay a set dollar amount -- typically $500 or $1,000 -- hurricane deductibles often require you to cough up 1% to 5% of your property's value. So a policyholder with a house worth $300,000 and a hurricane deductible of 5% would have to pay for the first $15,000 in damages before insurance payments kick in.

Hurricane deductibles only go into effect when storms have sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or more, or Category 1 hurricane strength. And state governors from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are saying Sandy didn't make that cut.