Texas homeowners · The gaps
What most homeowners insurance does not protect in Texas
The headline gap is flood. A standard homeowners policy does not pay for water that comes from outside: storm surge, a creek, or sheet flow across the yard. A hurricane can also tear the roof off with wind. Wind and flood are different causes, and on the coast they are often different policies.
Season context: hurricane season. A Colorado sibling on gaps: what Colorado homeowners often misses.
Flood and coastal wind are not the same check
Wind that lifts shingles can be a homeowners or TWIA claim, minus the wind deductible. TWIA, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, is a residual market for wind and hail in designated coastal areas when the voluntary market will not write it. It is not flood insurance. Water that enters because the roof is gone can be part of the wind claim. Water that rises from the bay or the street is flood, even in the same storm. People lose claims by describing all of it as “the hurricane.” The adjuster separates the causes.
Flood insurance is its own policy, NFIP or private, with its own waiting period and its own deductible. Texas flood and a longer flood guide. TWIA: what it covers and how its price gets discussed.
Other holes that survive a “full” homeowners policy
- Earth movement and earthquake. Earthquakes in Texas.
- Wear, settling, and a slow leak. A sudden burst pipe can be covered. Seepage over months usually is not.
- Water that backs up through a drain or a sump, unless you added that endorsement, and then only up to its sublimit.
- Jewelry, cash, and some electronics above the special limits, unless scheduled.
What the policy does pay: what Texas homeowners insurance covers.
