Homeowners insurance for North Texas weather.

A homeowners policy is really four policies in one: it repairs the structure, replaces what is inside it, covers you if someone is hurt on your property, and pays to house your family while the place is put right. Most people buy it once with their mortgage and never look at it again — which is how households end up insured for a home they no longer own.

Replacement cost versus actual cash value on roofs

This is the most important line in a North Texas homeowners policy and the one most people never read. Under replacement cost, a damaged roof is settled at what it costs to replace today. Under actual cash value, the insurer subtracts depreciation for the roof's age first — and on a fifteen-year-old roof that deduction can be most of the claim.

Carriers have moved steadily toward actual cash value roof schedules in hail-exposed parts of Texas, often without the homeowner registering the change. We tell you which basis a quote is written on before you buy, because two policies at the same premium can settle a hail claim tens of thousands of dollars apart.

What a standard policy does not cover

Flood is excluded from every standard homeowners policy in the country, and that includes the flash flooding DFW sees after heavy rain. It is bought separately, through the NFIP or a private carrier.

Earth movement, ordinary wear and damage from long-term seepage also sit outside a standard form. Foundation movement in particular is a common source of declined claims in North Texas clay soils — worth understanding before you need to make one.