Homeowners Insurance in Houston, TX

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association writes wind and hail coverage in the fourteen first-tier coastal counties and, in its own words, in “parts of Harris County east of Highway 146.” That strip is the only slice of this county inside the designated catastrophe area. It takes in Seabrook, La Porte, Shoreacres, Morgan's Point and the eastern edge of Pasadena. Our office is in it.

What that means in practice: inside the corridor, private carriers commonly exclude wind and hail from the homeowners policy altogether. The house is still insured for fire, theft and liability, but the peril most likely to damage it has been carved out and has to be bought back separately — usually on a TWIA policy, which has five conditions attached and can only be applied for by a registered agent. That is a page of its own: windstorm insurance and TWIA eligibility. We submit those applications ourselves.

The boundary runs by address, not by city. Half a ZIP code can fall one side of it, so do not go by the name of your suburb — and be wary of anyone who tells you which side you are on without looking. A mile inland the same house usually keeps the peril, subject to the wind and hail deductible worked through above.

Sources: TWIA — coverage and eligibility; TWIA — get windstorm insurance. Verified 26 July 2026.

A house does not have to be in bad shape to fall out of the preferred market. An older roof, one hail claim, or a carrier deciding it has enough exposure in your ZIP code will do it. That is a placement problem, and placement is what an independent agency is for.

The roof, and what actual cash value does to a claim

Past a certain roof age most carriers stop paying replacement cost on it and move to actual cash value, so depreciation comes off before the payment. TDI publishes the arithmetic: on a $10,000 roof with a $4,000 deductible, replacement cost pays $6,000 whatever the roof's age, while actual cash value pays about $4,500 at five years, $3,000 at ten, and nothing at twenty. A cheap quote and a quote that pays your roof are not always the same quote.

Claims history follows the house

Carriers check a claims database before quoting, and it reports claims on the property rather than only claims by you — a hail claim the previous owner filed can shape your renewal, and claims you reported and withdrew are on it too. You can request your own report — worth reading before we shop it.

The letter is the most useful thing you have

From January 2026, if a Texas insurer declines, cancels, or does not renew your policy, it has to tell you why in writing — you no longer have to ask (HB 2067). Those three words are not interchangeable: a declination was never issued, a cancellation ends a policy mid-term, a non-renewal lets the term run out. Different timing, different remedies, and the letter says which happened. Bring it in. The stated reason — roof age, claim frequency, distance to the coast — decides which carrier we try next, and the wrong one adds a declination to your record for nothing.

Where these houses actually get placed

Not with the household names. Our home markets include Foremost, American Modern, National Lloyds, Aegis General, Assurant and Logic Underwriters — specialty dwelling, manufactured-home and excess-and-surplus carriers that price a roof or a claims record rather than declining it. Terms run narrower than a preferred policy, and we will say where before you buy. Full list: the companies we represent.

Source: TDI — Home insurance policies: replacement cost or actual cash value; enrolled text of HB 2067.

Home insurance questions we get every week

Does homeowners insurance cover flood in Houston?

No. Rising water from outside the house is excluded from every homeowners policy, and no endorsement adds it back. Flood is a separate policy — and the most common gap we find on an existing one here.

What wind and hail deductible should I pick?

Work it out in dollars first. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, 1 percent is $3,000 and 2 percent is $6,000 — so the cheaper premium buys you $3,000 more of your own roof. Pick the figure you could pay the week after a storm.

Is a named-storm deductible the same thing?

No, and both can sit on one policy at different percentages. A wind and hail deductible applies to wind and hail generally; a named-storm deductible applies only once the National Weather Service has named the storm. The trigger is the naming.

My insurer non-renewed me. What now?

Bring us the letter. Since January 2026 a Texas insurer has to state in writing why it declined, cancelled, or did not renew you — three different events with three different remedies. That stated reason decides which carrier we try next.

Does an older roof make a house uninsurable?

Rarely uninsurable, often expensive, sometimes only on terms worth reading. Past a certain age carriers move the roof to actual cash value, so depreciation comes off: TDI puts a $10,000 roof with a $4,000 deductible at $6,000 on replacement cost and $3,000 at ten years old on actual cash value.

Is windstorm coverage separate in Seabrook or La Porte?

It can be. In the strip of Harris County east of Highway 146, carriers commonly exclude wind and hail from the homeowners policy and it is bought back separately, usually from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. The boundary runs by address, so check yours.