Greg had lived in his house in Allen for almost 15 years. Like most folks in North Texas, he had watched his share of hailstorms roll through the neighborhood. A few had been pretty rough, but his roof had managed to survive without any serious problems. Then one Tuesday afternoon, his luck ran out.
The wind picked up, the sky turned dark, and quarter-sized hail started bouncing off the driveway. Greg watched from his front window as the storm pounded his roof for nearly twenty minutes. When the weather cleared, he walked outside and found shingles scattered across his yard. After he took pictures and cleaned up the shingles from his yard, he called a roofer.
The repair estimate came back at $8,500.
Greg wasn't happy about it, but he figured his homeowners insurance would help. Then he remembered his wind and hail deductible. He would have to pay the first $10,000 of a covered claim himself. With only $8,500 in damage, filing a homeowners insurance claim wasn't going to produce a payment. Fortunately, Greg had purchased a standalone hail policy earlier that year.
He contacted his insurance agent, submitted photos of the roof damage, and the standalone company checked the weather data to confirm the storm met its requirements. Greg received a cash payout that he used towards the cost of repairs on his home.
Your regular homeowners insurance and a standalone hail policy work very differently.
When you file a traditional homeowners claim, the insurance company determines whether the damage is covered, estimates the cost of repairs, and subtracts your deductible. Depending on your policy, it may also subtract depreciation or apply a roof payment schedule that reduces your payment.
A standalone hail policy works differently. Instead of paying based on the cost of repairs, it pays a specific cash amount that you select when you purchase the coverage.
The standalone hail policy currently available in Texas has two requirements. First, the storm must produce hail at least the size of a quarter or winds reaching speeds comparable to an EF0 tornado. Those winds can come from a tornado or straight-line winds. Second, you must provide documentation showing that the storm caused damage to your home.
The insurance company uses weather data to verify the storm and reviews your documentation to confirm the damage. When both requirements are met, you receive the cash benefit you purchased, which you can use however you choose.
And here's the biggest difference. You don't have to file a claim with your regular homeowners insurance company to receive that money.
The two policies are issued by separate insurance companies and operate independently. Your standalone hail payment isn't based on what your homeowners insurance company decides to pay, or whether you file a homeowners claim at all.
There are two good reasons a Texas homeowner might choose to use standalone hail coverage instead of filing a claim with their regular homeowners insurance.
The first is the deductible.
In Greg's situation, the roof damage totaled $8,500, but his homeowners insurance had a $10,000 wind and hail deductible. Since the damage was less than his deductible, his homeowners insurance wouldn't pay anything toward the repairs. But because Greg had a standalone hail policy, he could receive a cash payment when the storm met the policy's requirements, without filing a homeowners claim.
The second reason is your insurance claims history.
Home insurance companies look at previous claims when deciding whether to insure your home and how much to charge. Multiple claims can make finding affordable coverage more difficult. Here's another advantage of the standalone hail policy currently available in Texas. Claims made under that policy aren't reported to the CLUE database, which insurance companies commonly use to review a property's claims history.
That means you can receive a qualifying standalone hail payment without adding a claim to your regular homeowners insurance history.
For Texas homeowners facing large deductibles and rising premiums, having another way to pay for storm damage without filing a traditional homeowners claim can be a significant advantage.
One of my favorite things about standalone hail insurance is the flexibility it gives homeowners.
A standalone hail policy is an indemnity policy that pays a specific cash amount when a qualifying wind or hailstorm causes verifiable damage to your home. The payment is triggered by the storm meeting the policy's requirements, not by the actual cost of repairs.
That means when the policy pays, the money is yours to use however you choose.
You might use it to repair your roof, pay the wind and hail deductible on your homeowners insurance, or cover depreciation that your regular insurance company deducted from a claim.
You could also put the money toward replacing an aging roof, repairing other storm damage, or covering an unrelated expense.
Unlike traditional homeowners insurance, the standalone payment isn't calculated based on a contractor's repair estimate. Once the storm qualifies and the damage is verified, you receive the cash benefit you purchased.
The real advantage is that you decide how to spend the money, rather than having the insurance company dictate how much a particular repair is worth.
Absolutely. A major hailstorm can cause enough damage that filing claims with both your homeowners insurance and standalone hail company makes sense.
Your homeowners insurance pays for covered repairs after subtracting your deductible and applying any policy restrictions. The standalone hail policy provides a cash payment when the storm meets its requirements and causes verifiable damage to your home.
Because the policies operate independently, you may receive payments from both companies for the same storm. You can use the standalone cash payment to help cover your homeowners deductible, make up for depreciation, or handle other expenses.
But here's something worth remembering. You don't have to file a homeowners insurance claim to collect from your standalone hail policy. If that cash payment gives you enough money to handle the damage, you may decide there's no reason to involve your regular homeowners insurance company.
That flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of having both policies.
Standalone hail insurance pays when a storm meets specific weather requirements and causes verifiable damage to your home. The policy currently available in Texas requires hail at least the size of a quarter or winds reaching speeds comparable to an EF0 tornado. Straight-line winds can qualify, too. The company uses weather data and documentation of the damage to confirm that the storm meets those requirements. If it does, you receive the cash benefit you purchased.
But smaller storms may cause damage without meeting the policy’s criteria for a payout. This is one reason why this coverage works alongside your regular homeowners insurance rather than replacing it. And remember, you need to purchase the policy before the storm. You can't buy coverage after your home has already been damaged and expect it to pay for that loss.
Texas homeowners are dealing with higher premiums, larger wind and hail deductibles, and more restrictions on how insurance companies pay for storm damage. At Insurance For Texans, we believe you deserve more options than simply paying more for less protection.
Through our True Texas Home Insurance program, we help homeowners compare traditional coverage with standalone hail insurance to find a combination that makes financial sense.
We're also here to help when a storm hits. Whether you need to file a claim with one company or both, our team can guide you through the process and help you understand what to expect.
Stop overpaying for home insurance. Let us show you a different solution.
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