There is a particular phone call we get every hurricane season. It comes from someone watching a cone on the news, and it usually starts with "I think I need to check something." By then, the honest answer is often that there's nothing left to change — coverage locks before landfall, and the week you most want to fix your policy is the week nobody is allowed to sell you one.
So this guide is written for the dry season. It covers which policy actually responds to which part of a named storm, why your storm deductible is a much bigger number than the one on your inland friend's policy, what has to be done before a storm has a name, and — because this is the part almost nobody knows — the deadlines Texas law puts on your insurer once you file. We're an independent agency in Friendswood, in Galveston County, which means we've had this conversation on both sides of a landfall more times than we'd like.
After a hurricane, which policy pays for what?
The short answer: It depends entirely on how the damage got there. A hurricane isn't one peril — it's wind, water, and debris arriving together, and Texas insurance splits them apart.
This is the single most valuable thing to understand before a storm, because it determines whether you have three of the four policies you needed.
| What happened | Which policy responds | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wind tore off shingles or broke a window | Windstorm policy (TWIA or private wind), or homeowners outside designated territory | Rain that enters through a wind-created opening usually follows the wind claim |
| Storm surge or street flooding entered the house | Flood only NFIP or private flood | Excluded by every standard homeowners policy, no exceptions |
| A tree fell on the roof | Homeowners or windstorm, depending on your structure | Removal costs are often limited — check the sublimit |
| Your car was flooded or crushed | Comprehensive on the auto policy | Optional coverage in Texas — see the auto guide. No comprehensive, no payment. |
| Fire or looting after the storm | Homeowners | Which is why letting the wraparound policy lapse is dangerous |
| Food spoiled during a multi-day outage | Homeowners, sometimes by endorsement | Small limits, and frequently overlooked entirely |
Read that table twice and you'll see why coastal claims get complicated. A single storm can generate three simultaneous claims with three adjusters, three deductibles, and three different sets of paperwork — and the seams between them are where money gets lost.
The seam that causes the most trouble
Wind versus water is the classic dispute, and it has a physical logic worth holding onto: water that comes in from above, through an opening the storm created, generally follows the wind policy. Water that rises from the ground up — surge, bayou, street — is a flood claim, and only a flood policy pays it. When both happen to the same house, the adjustment turns on which did what, which is exactly why documentation matters so much.
The product mechanics for each side live in their own guides: the Texas flood insurance guide covers what NFIP and private flood actually pay, and the Texas windstorm insurance guide covers TWIA, WPI-8 certification and the private wind market. This guide is about the storm as an event.
Why your hurricane deductible is bigger than you think
The short answer: Because on the coast it's a percentage of your dwelling limit, not a flat dollar figure — and each policy that responds carries its own separate deductible.
Inland Texas homeowners often carry a $1,000 or $2,500 deductible and think of it as a fixed number. Coastal wind coverage doesn't work that way. The deductible is a share of Coverage A, so it scales with your dwelling limit:
| Dwelling limit | 1% | 2% | 5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| $450,000 | $4,500 | $9,000 | $22,500 |
| $600,000 | $6,000 | $12,000 | $30,000 |
Two compounding details catch people out. First, the deductibles stack: if wind damages the roof and floodwater ruins the ground floor, you pay the wind deductible and the flood deductible, because they're two claims on two policies. Second, your deductible grows when your limit does. TWIA's inflation-guard endorsement raises residential dwelling limits automatically by about 3% for policies renewing on or after September 1, 2026 — and because the deductible is a percentage of that limit, it rises by roughly 3% too.
Our rule is unglamorous: choose the deductible you could write a check for during the worst week of your life. After a landfall, contractors want deposits and hotels want cards, and every dollar of the deductible comes out of your pocket before any claim money moves.
What has to happen before the season — not before the storm
The short answer: Everything. Coverage changes stop being available once a storm threatens, so the review has to happen while the Gulf is quiet.
The moratorium is the deadline that matters
When a storm threatens the Texas coast, TWIA implements a policy moratorium: it temporarily stops issuing new policies and stops increasing coverage on existing ones. Private carriers commonly impose binding restrictions of their own on the same logic.
So the practical deadline for fixing your coverage isn't landfall. It's the moment a system organizes in the Gulf — which can be days earlier and is entirely outside your control. If you have been meaning to review limits, the honest advice is that today beats next week, every week of hurricane season.
The pre-season checklist
All your declarations pages
Homeowners, wind, flood, auto. Confirm each is in force and that the dwelling limit still reflects what rebuilding would cost today, not what you paid.
Your deductible into dollars
Multiply the percentage by your dwelling limit. If that number would be a genuine problem, now is when it can still be changed.
The flood gap
NFIP coverage generally takes 30 days to take effect. A flood policy bought in August protects you in September, not this week.
A home inventory
Walk every room on video, narrating as you go. Open closets and cabinets. Photograph serial numbers on major appliances and electronics.
Documents off-site
Policies, declarations pages, the deed, and your inventory in cloud storage — not in a drawer in the house that may flood.
The undamaged house
Exterior from all four sides, the roof if you can safely, and each room. "Before" pictures resolve arguments about pre-existing condition faster than anything else.
The first 48 hours after the storm
The short answer: Stay safe, stop the damage from getting worse, document before you clean, and keep every receipt.
Order matters here, and the instinct to tidy up is the one to resist for a few hours.
1. Safety first, genuinely
Standing water can be electrified and can hide debris. Do not enter a structure with visible structural damage, and treat any downed line as live. Nothing in your policy is worth a hospital visit.
2. Document before you touch anything
Photograph and video everything — wide shots showing the whole room and the whole exterior, then close-ups of specific damage. Capture standing water levels against a wall or door frame before the water recedes, because a waterline is the clearest evidence of depth there is. If wind opened the roof, get an image showing the opening and the interior damage beneath it in the same frame, since that connection is what links the interior loss to the wind claim.
3. Make temporary repairs — and only temporary ones
Your policy expects you to prevent further damage: tarp the roof, board a broken window, get standing water out. Do not begin permanent repairs before the adjuster has seen the loss, and do not have the roof replaced because a contractor knocked on your door with a clipboard.
4. Don't throw damaged property away yet
Ruined carpet, furniture and drywall are your evidence. If health or safety requires removing it, photograph it thoroughly first — including labels and serial numbers where they survive — and keep a written list of what went to the curb.
5. Keep every receipt, including the small ones
Tarps, plywood, a generator, fuel, a pump, hotel nights, meals out because your kitchen is gone. Some of these are reimbursable and some aren't, but nothing gets reimbursed without documentation. A single envelope or a photo album on your phone is enough.
How to file so the clock actually starts
The short answer: Report promptly, file separately with each policy that might respond, and get a claim number in writing for each one — because the statutory deadlines run from the insurer's receipt of notice.
The mechanics are simple, but two mistakes are common enough to name.
Mistake one: assuming one call covers everything. If wind, water and your car are all involved, that's three claims with three carriers. Nobody coordinates them for you. Report each one, and keep the claim numbers together in a single note on your phone.
Mistake two: waiting until you understand the full extent of the damage. You don't need a damage estimate to report a claim. Report it, then supplement as you learn more. Delay only shortens your own runway.
What the insurer will ask for
Expect a request for your documentation, an inventory of damaged property, receipts for temporary repairs, and access for an adjuster's inspection. This part matters more than it looks: as you'll see in the next section, the statutory clock for the accept-or-reject decision doesn't begin until the insurer has everything it reasonably requested. Sending a complete, organized package quickly is the single best thing you can do to make the law work in your favor.
Keep a dated log of every phone call and email — who you spoke to, when, and what was said. It takes seconds and it is the difference between a clear record and a disagreement about what happened in October.
What we do at this stage
This is where having an actual agent rather than an app earns its keep. We can tell you which of your policies to file under and in what order, what the adjuster will want before they ask, whether a repair estimate looks plausible for this market, and whether something is worth escalating. We don't adjust claims and we can't overrule a carrier's decision — but we've read a lot of these, and knowing what normal looks like is worth a great deal at 8am the morning after.
The deadlines Texas law puts on your insurer
The short answer: Real ones, with a financial penalty attached. Under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act — Insurance Code Chapter 542 — most insurers face a 15-day, 15-business-day, and 5-business-day sequence, with an outer limit of 60 days.
Almost nobody knows this exists, and it changes how a slow claim feels. Here's the sequence, in plain English, from Chapter 542, Subchapter B:
| Stage | Deadline | What has to happen |
|---|---|---|
| §542.055 | 15 days from notice of claim | Acknowledge the claim, begin investigating, and request everything it reasonably believes it will need from you |
| §542.056 | 15 business days after receiving all requested items | Notify you in writing that it accepts or rejects the claim. A rejection must state the reasons. |
| §542.056(d) | + up to 45 days | It may extend the decision once, but must tell you why it needs longer |
| §542.057 | 5 business days after accepting | Pay the accepted amount |
| §542.058 | 60 days outer limit | Delay past 60 days after receiving everything reasonably requested exposes the insurer to penalties |
| §542.060 | The penalty | 18% per year on the amount of the claim, plus attorney's fees |
In plain English: your insurer owes you acknowledgement quickly, a decision reasonably quickly once it has what it asked for, and payment promptly after saying yes — and if it sits on a claim for more than sixty days after you've given it everything, the statute attaches an 18% annual penalty plus fees. Certain surplus lines carriers get longer windows, and the deadlines can be affected by what the insurer reasonably needs to reach final proof of loss, which is precisely why prompt, complete documentation on your side is so useful.
None of this makes a slow claim pleasant. But it does mean "we're still reviewing it" is not an indefinite answer, and knowing the section numbers changes the tone of a follow-up call.
If your wind policy is TWIA, the dispute rules are different
The short answer: Chapter 542A — the law requiring 61 days' notice before suing a property insurer over storm damage — expressly does not apply to actions against TWIA. The state pool has its own statutory process.
This is a genuinely useful thing to know if you're one of the coastal households whose wind coverage sits with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.
Chapter 542A of the Insurance Code, added by H.B. 1774 in 2017, governs consumer actions over property damage "caused, wholly or partly, by forces of nature" — hurricane, hail, wind, flood, tornado, lightning, rainstorm. Among other things it requires a claimant to give the insurer written notice, stating a specific amount alleged to be owed, at least 61 days before filing suit.
But the statute's own definition of "insurer" is written as everyone other than the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, and §542A.002 says the chapter does not apply to an action against TWIA, or to a policy ceded by TWIA under its depopulation program. It does apply to policies renewed under §2210.703.
What that means practically: TWIA claim disputes are handled under TWIA's own framework in Insurance Code Chapter 2210, not under the 542A path that applies to private carriers. The deadlines, the notice requirements and the remedies are not the same — so advice you read about "the 61-day letter" may simply not apply to your policy.
Where will you actually live?
The short answer: That depends on which peril made your house unlivable — and if it was flood on an NFIP policy, the answer is nowhere, at your own expense.
This is the gap that hurts fastest and gets discussed least. Your homeowners policy generally includes additional living expenses coverage: if a covered loss makes the home uninhabitable, it pays the reasonable extra cost of living elsewhere — a rental, a hotel, meals above your normal grocery spend, sometimes pet boarding and extra commuting.
But an NFIP flood policy pays nothing toward living expenses. There is no additional living expenses coverage on the federal flood form. So the household whose home flooded — not blew apart, flooded — is often the one paying for six months of rent out of pocket while the repairs happen. Private flood policies sometimes include living expenses, which is one of the better reasons to compare the two rather than assuming they're the same product. Our flood guide lays that comparison out.
Three things to check on your ALE coverage now
- The limit. It's often expressed as a percentage of your dwelling coverage or capped in dollars. Coastal repairs after a major storm take months, not weeks, because every contractor in the region is booked at once.
- The time limit. Many policies cap ALE by duration as well as dollars. After a regional catastrophe, the duration cap is frequently the binding one.
- Which policy carries it. If your wind coverage is a separate TWIA policy, understand which of your policies would actually be funding your rent — and remember that TWIA covers wind and hail only.
The households that come through a hurricane in the best shape are almost never the ones who found the cheapest premium. They're the ones whose limits matched reality, whose deductible was a number they could actually cover, and who knew before the storm where they'd be sleeping after it. Reviewing coverage while re-shopping is also where the honest savings live — when we re-shop coverage, clients save on average about $500 a year, and the exercise surfaces gaps like this one at the same time.
A season timeline you can actually use
The short answer: Review in spring, verify in early summer, and treat every named storm as the end of your ability to change anything.
Review and re-shop
All four policies. Rebuild cost versus dwelling limit, deductible converted to dollars, ALE limits, comprehensive on the vehicles. This is the only unhurried window you get.
Buy flood early
NFIP coverage generally has a 30-day waiting period. Flood bought during a season is protection for the next storm, not this one.
Document the house
Video inventory, exterior from four sides, serial numbers, documents into cloud storage. Redo it after any significant purchase or renovation.
Coverage locks
Moratorium and binding restrictions. Nothing can be added or increased. Shift entirely to physical preparation and documentation.
If you're reading this in the middle of hurricane season with an unreviewed policy, don't wait for the off-season to become tidy. The review takes about fifteen minutes and the only bad time to do it is after a storm has a name.
The bottom line
A hurricane is one event that your insurance treats as four separate problems. Wind is one policy, rising water is another, your vehicles are a third, and everything else is a fourth — each with its own deductible, its own adjuster, and its own paperwork. The households that recover well are the ones who sorted that out on a quiet Tuesday in March.
Three things carry most of the weight. Convert your percentage deductible into actual dollars and make sure it's a number you could cover. Make sure your dwelling limit reflects what rebuilding costs now, not what the house cost then — the Texas home insurance guide walks through that calculation. And find out where you would live for six months, because the answer on an NFIP flood policy is "at your own expense."
When the storm does come, the rules cut both ways. You owe prompt notice and reasonable documentation. Your insurer owes you acknowledgement in 15 days, a decision within 15 business days of having what it asked for, payment within 5 business days of accepting — and 18% a year plus fees if it sits past sixty days. Document before you clean, keep the receipts, log the calls.
We're an independent brokerage in Friendswood, and we place all four of these policies — home, wind, flood and auto — which means we can look at the seams between them rather than defending any one of them. Bring us your declarations pages before the season, not during it. The most common thing we find isn't an overpriced policy. It's a deductible nobody ever multiplied out.
Last reviewed by the Watson Insurance team on August 24, 2026. This guide is educational and is not legal or personalized insurance advice — a disputed claim is a conversation with an attorney, and the coverage that fits your address takes a conversation with us. Texas statutes, TWIA endorsement factors and NFIP rules change, and we refresh this guide quarterly.
