Ask a North Texas homeowner what their deductible is, and most will say “a thousand dollars, I think.” For a kitchen fire, that might be close. For the claim you’re most likely to actually file in Denton County, a hail-damaged roof, it’s almost certainly wrong.

Your wind/hail deductible is probably a percentage

Most Texas home policies today carry a separate deductible for wind and hail, written as a percentage of your dwelling coverage. It is not a percentage of the damage, and it is not based on what you paid for the house. If your home is insured for $400,000, a 1% wind/hail deductible is $4,000. At 2%, it’s $8,000. And because dwelling coverage usually rises each year along with rebuilding costs, your deductible quietly rises with it.

That isn’t necessarily a bad deal. Higher wind/hail deductibles are one of the main ways carriers have kept premiums from climbing even faster, as we covered in what every Denton County homeowner needs to know about home insurance right now. But it’s a number you should know before the storm, not after.

Replacement cost vs. actual cash value: the bigger surprise

The second thing to check is how your policy pays for the roof itself. With replacement cost coverage, the carrier pays what it costs to put on a new roof, minus your deductible. With actual cash value, the carrier subtracts depreciation first. Many policies now switch roofs to actual cash value once they reach a certain age, or use a payment schedule that pays a shrinking percentage as the roof gets older.

Here’s what that can look like. A 15-year-old roof costs $20,000 to replace. The carrier depreciates it by half, leaving $10,000. Subtract an $8,000 deductible, and the check is $2,000 on a $20,000 job. Nothing about that claim was handled incorrectly. It’s simply what the policy said.

Roof coverage is one of several places where what homeowners assume and what the policy pays can drift apart. We walk through the others in what coverage gaps might exist in a standard policy for my home.

Cosmetic damage exclusions

Some policies, particularly on metal roofs, exclude damage that affects appearance but not function. Dents that don’t cause leaks may not be covered at all. If you have a metal roof or are thinking about one, ask about this specifically.

After the storm: what to do, and what to walk away from

• Photograph the damage, make reasonable temporary repairs to prevent further damage, and keep the receipts. If you’ve already built a home inventory, this step takes minutes.
• Call us before you sign anything with a contractor. We can help you decide whether filing makes sense given your deductible.
• Be cautious with door-knockers the week after a storm. Use established local roofers with references you can verify.
• Walk away from any roofer who offers to “cover” or “eat” your deductible. Texas law makes it a criminal offense for a contractor to waive, absorb, or rebate an insurance deductible, and a homeowner who knowingly goes along with it is also in violation. Your carrier can also hold back the final replacement cost payment until you show reasonable proof that you paid your deductible.

Three questions to ask before spring

1. What is my wind/hail deductible in dollars, this year?
2. Is my roof covered at replacement cost or actual cash value, and does that change as it ages?
3. Does my policy have a cosmetic damage exclusion?

If you can’t answer all three, that’s normal, and it’s a ten-minute conversation. As an independent agency, we can also show you how different carriers handle each of these, because they don’t all do it the same way. Call us at 940-387-8281 or send us a message, and we’ll walk through your policy with you.