Storm insurance by state · Updated October 23, 2026
Texas homeowners insurance and hail: what your policy and state law say
The National Weather Service logs about 1,300 hail reports a year in Texas, and Texas homeowners policies have their own habits: percentage deductibles, roof payment by age, and a separate windstorm pool on the coast. This page sums up what is common in Texas and what state law says, with a source for every point. Your own policy decides what applies to you.
What does your own policy say?
The Storm Coverage Brief reads your homeowners policy and explains your wind and hail deductible in dollars, how your roof is paid, what is excluded and every deadline, each tied to the page it came from. Built and tested on Texas policies. $19 plus tax.
How Texas policies tend to handle hail
- Percentage deductibles. Many Texas policies have a separate wind and hail deductible set as a percent of your dwelling coverage, not of the claim. These typically run 1% to 5%. On a home insured for $400,000, a 2% deductible means the first $8,000 of storm damage is yours. Source: United Policyholders, April 2026
- Replacement cost or actual cash value. Replacement cost pays what a new roof costs. Actual cash value takes off depreciation for age and wear first, and the deductible comes off after that. In a TDI example with a $10,000 roof and a $4,000 deductible, replacement cost pays $6,000, actual cash value pays $3,000 on a 10-year-old roof, and $0 on a 20-year-old roof. Source: TDI, Replacement cost or actual cash value
- Roof payment schedules. Some policies pay a set percent of the roof's cost based on its age and material, through an endorsement with a table. A 2026 industry study of insurer filings found roof schedules used by 82% of carriers filing in Texas. It counted filings, not policies in force. Source: ZestyAI study, July 2026
- Renewals can change roof coverage. TDI says to check your roof coverage each time you renew, because some companies switch roofs to actual cash value as they age. Source: TDI, Insurance and your roof
- Cosmetic hail damage. Texas approved optional endorsements that exclude cosmetic hail damage (dents that change how a roof looks but not how it works) on impact-resistant roofs that get a premium credit. The endorsement is void unless the policyholder signs it. Source: TDI Bulletin B-0030-98
- The coast is different. In the 14 first-tier coastal counties (Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Willacy) and parts of Harris County east of Highway 146, wind and hail coverage often comes from a separate policy with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). Source: TWIA overview
Deadlines in Texas
- Your insurer's deadlines. Within 15 days after you file a claim, the company must let you know it received it. Once it has all the information it needs, it has 15 business days to approve or deny the claim in writing, or up to 45 days if it tells you why it needs more time. TDI can add 15 more days after a weather catastrophe. Source: TDI homeowners guide, 2026
- TWIA's one-year window. A TWIA windstorm claim must be filed within one year of the date the damage occurred. The commissioner can extend that by up to 180 days for good cause. Source: TDI rule proposal on Ins. Code 2210.573 and 2210.205
- Your policy's own deadlines. Most policies also set their own time limits for notice, for finishing repairs and collecting held-back depreciation, and for lawsuits. They are in the duties after loss, loss settlement and suit sections of your policy.
Texas rules for contractors and adjusters
- No deductible waivers. It is illegal in Texas for a contractor to offer to waive, rebate or absorb your deductible (Business and Commerce Code 27.02). Contracts of $1,000 or more paid from insurance must include a notice that you must pay the deductible, and insurers may ask for proof it was paid. Report offers to the Texas Attorney General at 800-621-0508. Source: TDI, Roofing and insurance: know the law; Bus. & Com. Code 27.02
- Contractors cannot act as your adjuster. A roofer or contractor working on your property may not act as a public adjuster on that claim or advertise that they will, for example by offering to negotiate your settlement or file your claim (Insurance Code 4102.163). Source: TDI, Roofing and insurance: know the law
- Public adjusters are licensed by TDI. You do not have to hire one. If you do, the fee can be up to 10% of what the insurer pays on the claim, and you still pay your deductible. TDI's Help Line can confirm a public adjuster's license and complaint history. Source: TDI, Public adjusters
- Texas does not license roofers. There is no state roofer license, so anyone can call themselves a roofer. Ask for proof of insurance and local references. Source: KWTX, May 2024
Recent Texas changes
- Written reasons. For decisions after January 1, 2026, insurers must give written reasons when they decline, cancel or don't renew a home policy. Nonrenewal notice is 60 days for policies bought or renewed in 2024 or later. Source: TDI, reasons policies are declined or not renewed
- Roof age alone. On September 29, 2026, TDI announced it is clarifying a rule so insurers cannot decline or nonrenew a home policy based only on the age of the house or roof. The roof's condition can still count, and the change does not stop a switch to actual cash value. Source: TDI news release, Sept. 29, 2026
Texas hail history from NOAA
From 2016 through 2025, the National Weather Service logged an average of 1,292 hail reports a year in Texas, on about 91 days a year. Hail of 1.75 inches (golf ball) or larger was reported on about 57 days a year, and 2.75 inches (baseball) or larger on about 24. The largest stone in that period was 7.02 inches, near Vigo Park in Swisher County on June 2, 2024.
| Year | Hail reports | Days with hail | Days with 1.75 in+ | Days with 2.75 in+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,453 | 95 | 62 | 32 |
| 2024 | 1,588 | 99 | 62 | 29 |
| 2023 | 1,912 | 113 | 78 | 37 |
| 2022 | 751 | 81 | 37 | 12 |
| 2021 | 1,214 | 81 | 53 | 18 |
| 2020 | 1,018 | 72 | 42 | 16 |
| 2019 | 1,394 | 101 | 62 | 30 |
| 2018 | 911 | 83 | 51 | 17 |
| 2017 | 1,290 | 95 | 58 | 24 |
| 2016 | 1,388 | 93 | 65 | 22 |
Counties with the most reports (2016-2025): Tarrant (465), Denton (373), Collin (310), Bexar (294), Williamson (203), Dallas (196), Tom Green (189), Wichita (187), Potter (185), Pecos (183). Busy counties partly reflect where more people live to report hail.
Biggest recent hail days (most reports of golf-ball hail or larger since October 2024):
- May 10, 2026: 32 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- April 29, 2026: 20 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- April 28, 2026: 43 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- April 25, 2026: 27 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- June 8, 2025: 29 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- June 1, 2025: 28 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- May 26, 2025: 32 reports of 1.75 in or larger
- May 16, 2025: 21 reports of 1.75 in or larger
Want the record for one address? Hail Proof Report lists every radar hail day and ground report near it, free.
Free help in Texas
- TDI Consumer Help Line: 800-252-3439 (questions, complaints, license checks)
- TDI: Insurance and your roof
- United Policyholders (nonprofit guides for policyholders)
- Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection Hotline: 800-621-0508 (deductible waiver offers)
What this page is, and what it is not
This page sums up common policy wording and public law and data, with sources. It is general information, not insurance or legal advice, and it is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. It does not say whether you have damage or whether to file a claim. Your own policy and your insurer's decisions control. DecodeMyPolicy has no sponsors and is not paid by insurers, contractors, adjusters or lawyers.
Hail data: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (National Weather Service reports), pulled 2026-10-23. Reports are where people saw hail, so they undercount rural areas. The current year is left out until NOAA finishes it.