Texas homeowners warned to check storm-claim deadlines before hail season

A McKinney roofing contractor is urging Texas homeowners to review their insurance policies before the next hailstorm, warning that some wind and hail claims must be reported within a year. The warning comes as a 2024 analysis found nearly half of Texas homeowner claims closed with no payment, often because of deductibles, exclusions and reporting deadlines.

Why it matters: - Texas homeowners can lose coverage for storm damage if they miss policy-specific reporting deadlines, even when the loss is valid. - Nearly half of Texas home claims now close with no payment, raising the risk that storm damage turns into an out-of-pocket repair bill. - Higher deductibles, narrower exclusions and more complex claims handling are shifting more of the cost to policyholders.

What happened: - Fireman's Roofing and General Contractor LLC, a licensed and insured roofing contractor in McKinney, is urging homeowners across Collin County and North Texas to check their policy deadline for reporting hail or wind damage before the next storm. - The warning follows a 2024 Weiss Ratings analysis that found the largest U.S. home insurers closed nearly half of homeowner claims with no payment. - In Texas, the average no-payment rate was about 47%, up from about 35% in 2016.

The details: - Texas law does not set a universal deadline for reporting property damage; the deadline is set by the policy. - More carriers are using endorsements that require wind or hail claims to be reported within a fixed window, often one year from the date of loss. - Fixed-date language leaves less room for argument than traditional