Texas Home Insurance Policy Cancellations, Non-Renewals & Lapses

Dealing with a policy cancellation is serious business. A home insurance cancellation can create not only financial risks but additional hurdles that could lead to higher rates, less coverage when you renew, and even foreclosure.

It’s also important to understand the differences between a cancellation and a non-renewal. But both can create a home insurance lapse, something all homeowners in Texas will want to avoid for many reasons.

Know your rights as a homeowner, understand the differences, and learn how to maintain your coverage to avoid unnecessary financial hardships.

How Long Is the Term for Homeowners Insurance in Texas?

The typical term of a homeowners insurance policy is 12 months in Texas. Depending on how you pay for your coverage, you may be able to pay monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or even yearly. However, your coverage term, barring any cancellations, will be for a year.

 

Can Homeowners Insurance Cancel Your Policy in Texas?

Yes, your homeowners insurance carrier can cancel your policy, but only under certain circumstances. There are home insurance cancellation rights in Texas to help regulate things for homeowners and insurance providers.

Here are the top homeowners insurance cancellation reasons you may encounter:

 

Policy Cancellation

Your provider cannot cancel home insurance after the policy is older than 60 days . However, there are exceptions:

• Providers may cancel when a homeowner fails to pay their premium.
• Insurance carriers can also cancel if you misrepresent yourself and/or commit insurance fraud on your application.

Home insurance canceled for underwriting reasons may also occur in the event your home is in a state of disrepair and doesn’t pass an insurance company’s inspection.

 

Non-Renewal

In addition to canceling your policy, home insurance carriers can decide to simply not keep you as a customer next year.

This can happen for any number of reasons including everything from filing too many claims, to an uptick in destructive weather in your region, having a roof that is old or in disrepair, etc.

You can challenge a non-renewal if you’d like, but often a better solution is to shop and find a new carrier, preferably with lower premiums than your last provider.

 

How To Cancel Home Insurance Policy in Texas

Homeowners in Texas can cancel their policy at any time, however, how you do it matters. You can contact your current provider yourself, but it’s always a good idea to have an agent from your new carrier assist in the process:

• By using an expert to assist, you’ll ensure that you have a new policy in place, avoid any lapses, and make the process much less stressful.
• Though in many cases, you’ll simply receive a refund for any premium already paid, some providers may charge a fee for canceling your policy early.
• If you are looking to cancel or switch your policy and have a claim, you’ll likely have to wait until your claim is resolved before completing the process.

 

Texas Homeowners Insurance Cancelled After Closing

Again, having a home insurance policy is a term and condition for almost every mortgage. If you cancel your home insurance after you close, you’ll want to be sure that you have enough policy in place to avoid a lapse in coverage and other financial issues.

 

What Happens to Mortgage if Homeowners Insurance Is Cancelled?

If your home insurance policy is canceled or not renewed for any reason and you have a mortgage, you’ll need to secure a new policy immediately.

Virtually every mortgage will have terms and conditions that require homeowners to maintain a valid home insurance policy for the duration of the loan.

Failure to do so doesn’t only expose you to a variety of potential risks, but if you don’t live up to your end of the deal, you can default on your loan.

This is an awkward place to be because your lending institution can decide to demand that you pay for the rest of the mortgage immediately in order to mitigate risk on their end.

For most, this is an insurmountable financial burden and can lead to the beginning of foreclosure proceedings.

Homeowners may also face a situation in which their lender will purchase a policy for their home immediately with little to no regard for how much it costs or what it covers beyond the structure of the home.

If you’ve had your home insurance policy canceled, affordable options are still available. Contact us today and we can help you find affordable coverage and avoid interfering with your home lender.

 

Homeowners Insurance Non-Renewal Notice for Texans

Before your home insurance coverage’s term is up, your carrier will send you either a notice to renew coverage or a notice that they will not be offering you a chance to renew your coverage for the upcoming year.

A non-renewal notice is your insurance provider comes after your home insurance provider has decided it doesn’t wish to have you as a client anymore. Here are some of the most common reasons homeowners lose coverage:

• Failure to pay your homeowners insurance premiums in a consistent and timely manner.
• Where your home is located has become too risky for the provider to operate in.
• You submitted too many claims for your provider to wish to keep you as a client.
• The home you live in is in disrepair or you’ve left the home vacant.
• Personal factors have increased your risk too much for a particular company. For example, your credit score has been lowered or you now have an attractive nuisance.
• Although rare, the type of home insurance you currently have is no longer offered by your insurance provider.

 

How Can I Get Homeowners Insurance After Non-Renewal?

If you are facing a non-renewal, you can still gain home insurance coverage by either shopping around to find an insurer willing to take you on as a client or through a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan.

Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA) helps provide property insurance to homeowners in Texas that may not be able to find coverage under private means. This is a state-run program and may be more expensive, depending on a variety of factors.

Non-renewals happen for a wide range of reasons and while some might see you paying much larger premiums, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for homeowners seeking clarity after being denied as a client.

Remember, a non-renewal is much different than a policy cancellation, and your best option, if you’ve been rejected, is to seek new coverage with a different brand before taking any next steps.

 

When Can I Stop Paying Hazard Insurance?

Hazard insurance can mean many different things, which unfortunately only complicates the answer. But no worries here’s a breakdown that we believe may help you no matter what situation you find yourself in:

 

When Leaving Your Coverage

If you are wondering when you can stop paying for your hazard insurance, referring to the part of your home insurance that protects your home’s structure from hazards, you’ll need to maintain payments until your term is up.

Failure to do so can only lead to trouble including your insurer rejecting your home insurance claim due to non-payment.

 

In Terms of Your Loan

Hazard insurance can also refer to private mortgage insurance (PMI). Contrary to what you might think, this insurance doesn’t help you at all. It’s protection for your lender in the event you fail to pay or default on your loan.

PMI is added to home loans when there is less than 20% of the loan paid off. For example, if you purchase a home with a mortgage but only put down 10% at closing, you’ll have PMI until your loan has another 10% of the principal repaid.

Once you reach this threshold, you’ll be able to save money because your PMI will be dropped as soon as you meet the 80/20 standard.

 

Once Your Home Is Paid For

A tempting notion for homeowners in Texas is to cancel their home insurance once their home is paid for. After all, if you don’t have a mortgage, there is no law stating that you must maintain coverage. It’s your choice.

But many Texans fail to realize that the financial burden they would undertake in the event of a major loss such as a house fire could be too much to bear.

Furthermore, another lapse in judgment often comes from homeowners believing they can handle the financial risk. As time goes by, the cost of building a home goes up, and what it cost to build your home, even the value of your home, may not reflect the actual cost to rebuild it.

You’ll also need to come up with the funds to restore the personal property, and living expenses during your displacement, as well as the money to rebuild your home.

A standard home insurance policy provides all of this and more. No matter whether or not you have a mortgage or not, it’s always advised to stay covered with affordable home insurance.

 

What Happens if Home Insurance Lapses in Texas?

As previously mentioned, a homeowners insurance lapse can lead to an unrelenting domino effect in which your lender will demand repayment immediately or foreclose on your home.

Thankfully, there are other options available, but they still come with negative consequences for you as a homeowner. Here’s what else you can face if you allow a lapse in home insurance coverage:

 

You Suffer a Loss and Pay Out of Pocket

One of the worse case scenarios for a homeowner with a lapse in coverage is to suffer a loss. Particularly, a major loss, without protection. Losses can come in many forms and even smaller setbacks can cost thousands of dollars.

 

Your Lender Purchases a New Policy (Forced Placed Insurance)

An alternative route to forcing you to pay back your loan is for your lender to simply purchase a new home insurance policy. Of course, they are unlikely to be as cheap when picking a policy, and you can also expect additional restrictions to apply.

Known as forced place insurance, these policies often come with higher premiums and less coverage than policies purchased by homeowners outright. For example, your policy will help restore personal items, but your lender’s new policy is unlikely to have such protection.

 

Higher Premiums Due to Your Lapse in Coverage

There are two reasons you can expect to likely pay higher premiums after a lapse in coverage:

1. Your new home insurance carrier will view you as having more risk and raise your rates.
2. After a lapse, whether it be your limited selection of brands to choose from or your lender choosing for you, the price of protecting your home will rise.

Any way you look at it, expect to pay more if you don’t maintain coverage on your home.

 

The Inability To Find a New Home Insurance Provider

It may not be impossible to find another homeowner insurance provider after a policy cancellation or a lapse in coverage, but it certainly won’t be as easy.

Some companies may not provide affordable coverage while other carriers may reject you as a client altogether. Shopping for home insurance is already a time-consuming process and after a lapse in coverage, expect it to take even longer.

 

Find Texas Home Insurance After Cancelling, Non-Renewal, or a Lapse

If you require coverage after having your policy canceled, being sent a non-renewal notice, or having a lapse in coverage, we can help.

Because Freedom Insurance Group works with over 25 top-rated insurance providers, our range of home insurance products helps us find you more options at the lowest cost to protect your property.

We help save our clients time, stress, and money by doing quick, accurate comparisons based on their individual coverage needs. On average, this equates to 40% lower premiums.

Even when you’re facing higher rates because of policy cancellation or are worried about where to go due to a non-renewal, our agents can help find you the right coverage for the lowest cost. Contact us today by calling (972)798-3769 or get a homeowners insurance quote using our free online tool!