Texas Dept. of Insurance Urges Homeowners To Check Policies For Hurricane Coverage

  Just three weeks into the 2015 hurricane season, most of Texas has already seen the damage even a minor storm can do.
 
The Texas Dept. of Insurance says now is the time to review home insurance policies - before the next tropical event.  
 
Spokesman Jerry Hagins said the typical homeowner policy does not cover wind damage. He says property owners on the coast must get special coverage from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association -- and timing is critical. 
 
“That kind of policy is available to folks in the 14 coastal counties – also in parts of Harris County," Hagins said. "And you can’t get a policy when there’s a storm in the gulf, so you have to have your policy before that.”
 
The other side of special hurricane and storm coverage is a flood policy. Hagins said recent Texas storms have demonstrated that people don’t have to live in a flood plain to suffer flood damage. He says homeowners policies do not cover loss from rising water, and flood policies have a 30-day waiting period.
 
Hurricane season is June 1 to November 30.