When strong winds damage your home, you expect your homeowners’ insurance to cover the damage. Yet windstorm exclusions in insurance policies often thwart these plans, leaving homeowners stranded with no way to pay for their repairs.
Understanding windstorm exclusions can help you prepare for potential issues with your insurance policy and know exactly what your coverage includes. If you are having trouble navigating a wind damage claim, call upon our windstorm exclusions lawyers for assistance.
What Are Windstorm Exclusions in Texas?
One of the main purposes of carrying homeowners insurance is to cover natural disasters that wreak havoc on your home. Because of this, many homeowners falsely believe that their insurance will cover any disasters that come their way.
Many homeowners’ policies in Texas exclude coverage for wind damage, as is common in states prone to hurricanes and strong winds. This protects insurance companies from having to pay out countless claims each year and prevents homeowners’ policies from becoming too expensive for policyholders.
However, these insurance policy exclusions also mean that serious wind damage may not be covered by your homeowners’ policy, requiring you to pay for these repairs out of pocket — an expense many simply cannot afford.
What Is and Isn’t Covered By Homeowners Insurance?
The exact coverage under your homeowners insurance depends on the terms of your policy. Request a copy of your policy and read it closely with your windstorm exclusions lawyer to understand what types of damage it will and will not pay for.
Generally, homeowners’ insurance covers damage to your home caused by:
- Fire
- Hail
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Certain weather events
Some policies also cover sudden and accidental water damage. However, if your policy has a wind exclusion, it likely will not cover any damage associated with windstorms, such as:
- Tornado damage
- Certain types of hurricane damage
- Water that enters your home due to broken windows caused by a windstorm
- Debris is thrown against your home because of strong winds
In some cases, it can be challenging to distinguish between wind and water damage. Reviewing the exact language within the policy will help you understand your coverage.
How To Navigate a Denied Wind Claim
Finding out that an insurer has issued a homeowners’ insurance denial after a storm can be extremely disheartening. Whether this denial was due to wind damage exclusions or not, you have the right to investigate it with a windstorm exclusions lawyer and possibly appeal it.
Follow these steps after a wind damage denial:
- Review the denial letter. The insurance adjuster will have stated the reason for the denial in the letter. Review their reasoning and determine whether you think it is sound. They will likely state a lack of coverage under your policy or a similar reason.
- Comb through your insurance policy. Next, look closely at your insurance policy with the help of your windstorm coverage lawyer to determine whether the denial was sound. Perhaps the policy clearly excludes the type of damage you claimed. But if the language is more ambiguous, you may have room to appeal the decision.
- Provide additional evidence of the damage. If you want to begin a storm claim dispute, you will need to provide further evidence showing why the insurance adjuster was wrong. This might include photos and videos of the damage or references to certain lines in the policy.
- Appeal the denial. Finally, your attorney will help you appeal the denied claim.
Let Us Help You Navigate Windstorm Exclusions
At McLaurin Law PLLC, our windstorm exclusions lawyers understand the frustration that comes with claim denials and excluded coverage. Contact us today at (713) 322-5523 to request a consultation and discuss the possibility of appealing your claim denial.
