➢ Tornado Claim Denied or Underpaid? Our Lawyers Can Help.
Texas homeowners and business owners whose tornado damage insurance claim was denied, delayed, or underpaid may be eligible to take legal action against their insurance company and recover the full amount owed under their policy.
Our law firm, Hissey Mulderig & Friend, is currently accepting first-party tornado damage insurance claims from policyholders throughout Texas.
If you or a loved one filed a tornado 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.
➢ What an EF Rating Actually Measures
After a tornado, the National Weather Service assigns a rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Those ratings get quoted in claim disputes, usually incorrectly.
The scale was developed by a Texas Tech University team and adopted nationally in 2007. Survey crews walk the damage path and match what they find against 28 standardized damage indicators, from a one-family residence to a transmission tower to a hardwood tree, each with several degrees of damage corresponding to an estimated wind speed.
The wind speeds are estimates derived from damage, not measurements. The NWS says so directly. No instrument recorded the number in the report.
The rating reflects the worst damage found anywhere along the path. A tornado rated EF3 produced EF3 damage somewhere, while most of its track produced less, and a house near the edge sits in a weaker zone of a strong tornado.
A tornado that damages nothing surveyable is rated EF-Unknown. The absence of a rating is not the absence of a tornado.
An insurer citing an EF rating to argue the winds at one address were too weak is using a path-wide maximum as if it were a site measurement. Texas policies also treat tornado losses as windstorm claims, which determines the deductible that applies, as covered on our page about Texas wind damage insurance claims.
➢ When Everything Is Gone, Proving What You Owned
A total loss creates a problem no other claim has. The policy pays for personal property, but the policyholder must establish what that property was, and the evidence was inside the house.
Insurers ask for a room-by-room inventory listing each item, its age, its original cost, and its replacement cost. Building that list from memory is difficult, and the tendency is to undercount. People list furniture and appliances and forget closets, the garage, the pantry, tools, linens, and children’s belongings.
Several sources can reconstruct what a house held. Credit card and bank records show purchases going back years, retailer accounts keep order histories, and old photographs and videos taken inside the home, including casual ones where possessions appear in the background, show rooms as they were. Neighbors and relatives who spent time in the house can confirm what was there.
Limits also apply within categories. As Texas legal aid guidance on disaster claims notes, contents coverage may be written as replacement cost or as actual cash value, and jewelry, firearms, cash, and collectibles are typically capped well below the overall contents limit unless separately scheduled.
➢ Why the First Check Is Smaller Than the Estimate
Most Texas policies pay a replacement cost claim in two stages, and the first payment surprises people. As the Texas Department of Insurance explains, the first check is the estimated repair cost minus depreciation and the deductible. The depreciated portion, called recoverable depreciation, is released only after the work is done and documented with invoices.
On a fifteen-year-old house, that holdback can be a large share of the claim. The practical effect is that a policyholder is asked to fund the rebuild in order to be paid for it.
Time limits apply to claiming the withheld depreciation and they vary by policy, some running from the date of loss and others from the date of first payment. A policyholder who repairs slowly, or cannot afford to start, can lose the holdback entirely.
➢ The Mortgage Company Holds the Money
Insurance checks on a mortgaged property are typically payable to both the homeowner and the mortgage servicer, because the lender has a financial interest in the building. The servicer deposits the funds and releases them in stages as the rebuild progresses.
There is a limit on how long that takes. The Texas Department of Insurance advises that once a mortgage company receives the information it asked for, such as scope of work, contractor details, and timelines, it must release all or part of the money within ten days.
A servicer that misses that deadline can be reported to the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Policyholders often wait months without knowing the deadline exists.
➢ Rebuilding Costs More Than the Policy Assumed
Tornadoes destroy many structures in one place at one time, which drives up labor and material costs in the area for months afterward. The dwelling limit on a policy written years earlier was not set with that in mind.
Two provisions determine whether the gap is covered. Extended replacement cost adds a percentage above the stated dwelling limit, and inflation guard adjusts the limit over time. Neither is universal, and many policyholders do not know whether they carry either.
Debris removal is separate. It is generally covered but often carries its own sublimit, and clearing a destroyed structure from a lot is a substantial cost on its own.
➢ Damage That Is Not Obvious
Not every tornado claim involves a leveled building. Near the edges of a path, the damage is structural but hidden.
Tornado-force wind can push a wood frame out of square, a condition called racking. The exterior may look intact while the frame has permanently shifted. The signs appear inside: doors and windows that no longer close, drywall cracked at corners and openings, separated trim, floors out of level.
Foundations can shift, roof structures can be lifted and reseated, and framing connections can loosen without breaking. An adjuster inspecting for missing shingles and broken windows will not find any of it. Establishing this damage takes a structural engineer, not a roofer. The roof-level evidence that accompanies it is covered on our page about Texas hail damage insurance claims.
➢ Vehicles Damaged by a Tornado
Tornado damage to a vehicle is covered under comprehensive coverage regardless of fault, including vehicles crushed by debris, rolled, or carried from where they were parked.
These are usually total losses, which puts the dispute on valuation. The figure offered should reflect what that specific vehicle was worth locally before the storm, accounting for its mileage, condition, and options rather than a generic model average. How Texas insurers build that valuation is covered on our page about Texas vehicle damage insurance claims.
➢ Who Is Eligible to File a Texas Tornado Damage Insurance Claim?
Texas property owners may be eligible to file a claim if they meet the following case criteria:
- Owned a home, business property, or vehicle in Texas damaged or destroyed by a tornado;
- Carried an insurance policy covering the property on the date of the storm;
- Received a denial, a partial payment, a withheld depreciation balance, or no response after reporting the loss.
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.
➢ Contact Our Law Firm to Start Your Claim Today
Our law firm, Hissey Mulderig & Friend, is accepting tornado damage insurance claims involving homes, businesses, and vehicles, including total losses and claims where the insurance company is withholding depreciation.
The lawyers at Hissey Mulderig & Friend have more than 100 years of combined legal experience representing clients across the state of Texas.
If you or a loved one had a Texas tornado or other storm damage insurance claim denied, underpaid, or delayed by your insurance company, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.
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.
