Moon Insurance Managers, Inc. · TDI license #5595
Home insurance in Dallas, where three lines of policy language decide a hail claim
Nobody in Dallas needs to be told it hails. What almost nobody has been told is that three separate provisions inside an ordinary Texas homeowners policy decide what a hail claim pays — and all three of them are usually agreed to without a conversation.
Dallas, Texas
- County
- Dallas County
- Wind & hail
- Inside the homeowners policy
- Flood (CRS)
- Confirmed with the city at application
- Appraisal district
- Dallas Central Appraisal District
- License petitions
- Dallas County courts
- 41years in Houston
- 20+markets compared
- Same dayDPS filing
- #5595TDI license
Read these three
What actually decides a Dallas roof claim
Texas leads the country in significant hail events and the metroplex is one of the most hail-damaged metro areas in it. Carriers have responded the way carriers do: not by refusing to write, but by adjusting the terms. These are the three that matter, and every one of them is on your declarations page right now.
- The percentage deductible 1–3% of the dwelling limit
- Texas homeowners policies commonly carry a separate wind-and-hail deductible set as a percentage of Coverage A rather than a flat amount. At 2 percent on a $450,000 dwelling limit that is $9,000 out of pocket before the policy responds — and it sits on the same page as an all-other-perils deductible that might read $2,500. People read the smaller number and assume it is the one.
- The roof payment schedule Actual cash value by roof age
- An endorsement that settles roof losses on a depreciation schedule tied to the roof's age instead of replacement cost. On an older composition roof the difference between the two is most of the cost of the roof. It buys a lower premium, which is a real benefit — the problem is that it is frequently attached without the homeowner registering the trade.
- Endorsement HO-145 Cosmetic damage to roof coverings
- TDI adopted HO-145, excluding cosmetic damage to roof coverings caused by hail, for attachment to the Texas homeowners forms — with TDP-022 doing the same job on the dwelling forms. Cosmetic means the roof looks damaged but still performs. On a metal roof, where hail leaves dents rather than fractures, that distinction is the entire claim.
None of the three is improper and none of them is hidden. They are optional endorsements that a carrier files with the Texas Department of Insurance and a buyer agrees to, usually in exchange for a lower premium. What we do is make sure the agreement is deliberate.
The credit and the catch
Impact-resistant roofs cut both ways
Texas carriers offer premium credits for impact-resistant roof coverings, and in Dallas County they are worth taking seriously — a Class 4 rated shingle is a genuinely better product under hail and the credit is real money every year.
Read what travels with it. HO-145 is written for attachment to risks eligible for those very credits, which means the discount and the cosmetic damage exclusion can show up on the same policy at the same time. A homeowner who upgrades the roof, takes the credit, and then finds dents excluded has been surprised by a package they technically agreed to.
Our position on it is boring: take the credit, understand the endorsement, and price the version without it before deciding. That comparison takes one call and almost nobody is offered it.
Dallas County
The rest of the file
Wind and hail dominate the conversation here, but two other things are worth checking on a Dallas account:
- Flood is still a separate policy. Dallas is nowhere near the coast and the Trinity River corridor and its tributaries still flood. No homeowners policy in Texas covers rising water — that is a policy you buy separately, with a 30-day waiting period.
- Your dwelling limit is not the appraisal. The Dallas Central Appraisal District values the property for tax. Your dwelling limit should be replacement cost. In a metro that has absorbed this much construction cost inflation, the two have been drifting apart for years.
- Hail damages cars too. Comprehensive coverage, not collision, is what pays for it — and a car with no comprehensive is uncovered in exactly the storm that took the roof. That is on the auto page.
No obligation
Get a quote for Dallas
Tell us the address and what you are insuring. The phone is fastest: (281) 484-8320. There is a longer quote request form if you would rather write it down.
We are an independent agency and every line on this site is written statewide, so the address decides the carrier rather than the other way round — which is the whole reason the county facts above are on this page instead of in a brochure.
Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 5:00; Friday, 9:00 to 4:00. 360 FM 1959, Houston, TX 77034.
Dallas hail questions we get every week
Why is home insurance in Dallas so driven by hail?
Because the losses are. Texas records more significant hail events than any other state and the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is one of the most hail-damaged metropolitan areas in the country. Carriers respond to that with policy language rather than with headlines, which is why what your Dallas policy actually pays for a roof is decided by three provisions most people have never read.
What is a percentage wind and hail deductible?
A deductible expressed as a percentage of the dwelling limit instead of a flat dollar amount, applying only to wind and hail losses. On a $450,000 dwelling limit a 2 percent wind-and-hail deductible is $9,000 — separate from, and usually much larger than, the all-other-perils deductible printed above it on the same page.
What is a roof payment schedule?
An endorsement that pays a roof claim on actual cash value stepped down by the age of the roof, rather than replacement cost. A twelve-year-old composition roof under a schedule can settle for a fraction of what replacing it costs. It is usually attached to reduce premium, which is a legitimate trade — but only if the homeowner knows it was made.
What is the cosmetic damage exclusion?
TDI adopted Endorsement HO-145, "Exclusion of Cosmetic Damage to Roof Coverings Caused by Hail", for attachment to the Texas homeowners forms, with TDP-022 for the dwelling forms. It excludes hail damage that changes how a roof looks without changing how it performs. Metal roofs are where it gets argued about, because a dent is exactly the kind of damage the endorsement was written to describe.
Can a Houston agency write my Dallas policy?
Yes. We are an independent Texas agency licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance under #5595, and every line on this site is written statewide. The office is in Houston; the carriers are not geographic.
Should I take an impact-resistant roof discount?
Often yes — Texas carriers give premium credits for impact-resistant roof coverings. Read what comes attached to the credit, though: HO-145 applies to risks eligible for those credits, so the discount and the cosmetic damage exclusion can arrive together. That is a fine trade to make deliberately and a bad one to discover at a claim.
Where to go next
- Homeowners insurance The deductibles and roof terms in full
- Auto insurance Any record — and hail damages cars too
- Rental property The house you own and somebody else lives in
- Commercial property The building, the contents, the wind line
- Personal umbrella Liability above the home and auto limits
- Every city we serve Thirteen Texas markets, by county
Dallas is one of thirteen — every city we write in, by county →