➢ Insurance Claim Denied or Underpaid? Our Lawyers Can Help.
Texas homeowners, business owners, and drivers who have had a storm damage insurance claim denied, delayed, or underpaid may be eligible to take legal action against their own insurance company and recover the full amount owed under their policy.
Our law firm, Hissey Mulderig & Friend, is currently accepting first-party insurance claims involving storm damage, wind damage, hurricane damage, tornado damage, hail damage, and flood damage from policyholders throughout Texas.
If you or a loved one filed a storm damage claim in Texas and your insurance company denied it, undervalued it, or has failed to respond, you may qualify to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.
Contact the attorneys at Hissey Mulderig & Friend toll-free at 1-866-806-8117, or submit a free case evaluation form to speak to an attorney and find out whether you qualify.
➢ Types of Texas Storm Damage Claims
Severe thunderstorms strike Texas throughout the year and can cause structural damage well beyond what is visible from the ground. Storm damage claims commonly involve roof damage, water intrusion through a compromised roof or window, damaged siding and gutters, fallen trees and debris, and damage to detached structures such as garages, fences, and barns.
Insurance companies frequently attribute this damage to age, wear and tear, or poor maintenance rather than to the storm. That determination is an opinion, not a fact, and it can be challenged with independent engineering and weather evidence.
➢ Wind Damage Insurance Claims
Wind is the most common cause of insured property damage in Texas, and it reaches every part of the state. The Panhandle and South Plains see derechos and thunderstorm gusts, North Texas sees squall lines, and the coast sees tropical winds well inland of where a storm makes landfall.
Wind coverage sits in the base homeowners or commercial property policy, so a wind damage claim does not require any separate purchase. What it does require is proof that wind, rather than time, caused the damage. That is where most disputes start, because the evidence is on the roof and the argument is about what an inspection should have found.
➢ Hail Damage Insurance Claims
Texas records more hail damage than any other state, with the Dallas-Fort Worth corridor and Central Texas among the most frequently struck areas in the country. Hail claims are among the most commonly disputed first-party claims in Texas.
A hail claim is worth checking even when the roof is not leaking, because hail damage works on a delay. It shortens the life of a roof years before it lets water through. It also reaches far more than the roof: siding, gutters, screens, outdoor units, fencing, and vehicles are all separately covered, and all are routinely left off the estimate.
➢ Hurricane Damage Insurance Claims
A hurricane is the only type of storm that can trigger three different policies at once. Homeowners or commercial insurance policies cover the wind damage. A separate flood policy covers the water damage. An auto policy covers the vehicle damage. Each one is a separate claim with its own adjuster, its own deadlines, and its own paperwork.
Hurricane damage to homes or other property can occur far inland. Tropical systems that come ashore on the Gulf Coast at Galveston, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, or Brownsville regularly produce claims in Houston, San Antonio, Victoria, and beyond. A property does not have to be near the water to have a hurricane claim.
➢ Tornado Damage Insurance Claims
Tornadoes produce the largest single-property losses in Texas, and they concentrate them. An outbreak can destroy an entire subdivision in minutes, which means every adjuster in the area is carrying an unusually heavy file load at exactly the moment the estimates are being written.
Tornado damage claims also reach coverages most policyholders never use. Additional living expenses while a home is uninhabitable, debris removal, code upgrades, and the full value of destroyed personal property all come into play, and each has its own limit inside the policy.
➢ Flood Damage Insurance Claims
Flood damage is not covered by a standard Texas homeowners policy. Water that enters a property from the ground up, whether from storm surge, an overflowing creek, or a drainage system overwhelmed by heavy rainfall, requires a separate flood insurance policy.
Texas has more flood risk outside mapped high-risk zones than most property owners expect, and a flood policy is available whether or not a lender required one. Coverage is written in two parts, building and contents, and they are purchased separately. A property owner who bought only building coverage has no coverage for what was inside.
➢ Vehicle Damage Claims After a Storm
A single hailstorm can damage every vehicle in a driveway, a workplace parking lot, or a dealership inventory lot. Vehicle damage from a storm is covered by comprehensive coverage, which is optional in Texas and separate from both liability and collision coverage.
Because comprehensive is the coverage that pays, no fault needs to be shown and the claim does not raise the question of who caused anything. It is a claim against your own policy, filed on your own vehicle, and it carries its own deductible independent of the one on the house.
➢ What Is a First-Party Insurance Claim?
A first-party insurance claim is a claim a policyholder files against their own insurance company for damage to their own property. The policyholder is the first party. The insurance company is the second party. No one else’s fault has to be proven.
This is different from a third-party claim, where an injured person seeks payment from someone else’s insurer. In a first-party storm damage claim, the policyholder only has to show that a covered peril, such as wind or hail, caused the loss, and that the policy covers it.
Common first-party policies in Texas include:
- Homeowners insurance, which pays the homeowner directly for damage to the house, roof, windows, siding, and personal belongings.
- Commercial property insurance, which reimburses businesses for damage to buildings, inventory, and equipment, and in some cases for lost income during the shutdown.
- Auto insurance comprehensive coverage, which pays for hail, wind, and falling-object damage to the policyholder’s own vehicle.
- Flood insurance, which is almost always a separate policy issued through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer.
Because the insurance company is the one that owes the money, it also has a financial reason to pay as little as possible. That conflict is the reason Texas law places specific duties on insurers handling first-party claims.
➢ How Texas Law Protects Policyholders
Three chapters of the Texas Insurance Code apply to first-party storm claims.
Chapter 541 prohibits unfair settlement practices. This includes misrepresenting policy terms, failing to attempt a fair settlement once liability is reasonably clear, and refusing to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation.
Chapter 542, known as the Prompt Payment of Claims Act, sets deadlines for acknowledging a claim, requesting information, accepting or rejecting the claim, and issuing payment. An insurer that misses these deadlines can owe penalty interest and attorney’s fees in addition to the claim itself.
Chapter 542A applies specifically to claims for damage to real property caused by forces of nature, including wind, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. It requires a policyholder to send the insurance company written notice at least 61 days before filing suit, stating the specific amount being claimed and the attorney’s fees incurred to that point. A notice that is incomplete or inaccurate can reduce or eliminate the fees a policyholder is able to recover.
➢ Common Reasons Texas Storm Claims Are Denied or Underpaid
Insurance companies rarely state that a claim is being denied for financial reasons. The stated reasons are usually technical:
- The damage is attributed to wear, age, or deferred maintenance rather than to the storm.
- The loss is assigned to an excluded peril, most often flood or surface water.
- The estimate omits matching materials, code upgrades, or interior damage.
- The roof is depreciated under an actual cash value endorsement.
- The claimed amount is said to fall below the percentage deductible.
- The insurer asserts the damage occurred during a prior storm outside the policy period.
Just because an insurance company denied your storm damage claim for one of these reasons does not necessarily mean that it is impossible for you and your family to receive compensation.
If your storm damage insurance claim was denied by your insurer, the lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend can help.
➢ Who Is Eligible to File a Texas Storm Damage Insurance Claim?
Texas property owners and vehicle owners may be eligible to file a claim if they meet the following case criteria:
- Owned a home, business property, or vehicle in Texas that was damaged by a storm, wind, hail, a hurricane, a tornado, or flooding;
- Had an insurance policy in effect covering the property at the time of the loss;
- Filed a claim with the insurance company that was denied, underpaid, delayed, or closed without full payment.
If you or a member of your family answered yes to all of the above criteria, you may qualify to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.
➢ Texas Communities Served
Hissey Mulderig & Friend is located in Austin. However, our law firm handles claims throughout the state of Texas and all over the United States.
Our law firm is currently accepting storm damage claims from policyholders across Texas, including individuals located in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, Lubbock, Laredo, Irving, Waco, Round Rock, College Station, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, and the surrounding communities.
➢ Contact Our Law Firm to Start Your Claim Today
If you or a loved one had a Texas storm damage insurance claim denied, underpaid, or delayed by your insurance company, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.
The lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend have more than 100 years of combined legal experience representing clients across the state of Texas. Our firm is accepting storm damage, wind damage, hurricane damage, tornado damage, hail damage, and flood damage insurance claims involving homes, businesses, and vehicles.
Find out whether you qualify or start your claim today by calling the lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend toll-free at 1-866-806-8117, or by filling out the free case evaluation form located at the top of this page.
