Reviewed and approved by Samuel Corso, licensed Texas insurance agent.

Published July 28, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026

Buying or selling a home in Texas — when your insurance starts and stops

Buying or selling a home puts two dates on your calendar, the day you close on the new house and the day you hand over the keys to the old one. This guide covers what to arrange with your home insurance around each date.

The short version. For a home purchase in Texas, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) says in its Home insurance guide that the law doesn't require home insurance, but your lender will require it if you still owe money on your home. TDI's general shopping checklist, which isn't about home sales, says not to cancel your current policy until you get your new policy or a written statement that proves you have coverage.

Here's what we'll cover: what a lender may ask for if you're buying, two timing checks worth making early (flood insurance and coastal wind coverage), what TDI says about canceling the old policy when you sell, and what TDI says about a house that sits vacant before it sells.

If you're buying: what TDI says about lenders and home insurance

If you're buying a home in Texas with a mortgage, the home insurance requirement comes from your lender. TDI's Home insurance guide states it this way: "The law doesn't require you to have home insurance. But if you still owe money on your home, your lender will require you to have it."

The lender may also ask for a particular kind of policy. On that point, the agency's Tips to help you shop for homeowners insurance page reads: "Most mortgage companies will require that you have a replacement cost policy as a condition of your loan." The glossary in How to shop smart for home insurance, a TDI checklist, describes replacement cost coverage as paying to repair or replace your house and personal property at current prices, and actual cash value coverage as paying replacement cost minus depreciation.

Your lender is the one to ask what proof of coverage it wants and by what date. Neither TDI page gives a date, so this guide doesn't either. One practical approach is to ask the lender for its insurance requirements in writing when you discuss the loan, so you can hand the same list to whoever quotes the policy. As our own suggestion, start shopping once you're under contract.

Timing check one: what TDI says about the flood insurance waiting period

Flood insurance for a Texas home may be a separate purchase from the home policy, and it may come with a wait. According to TDI's guide, most home policies don't cover damage caused by floods, and if your home is in a designated flood zone, your lender requires you to have flood insurance. The tips page words the first point more flatly, saying home insurance policies don't cover flood damage.

On timing, the guide gives general flood insurance advice that is not written about home purchases: "Most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period before kicking in so don't wait for an approaching storm before deciding to buy coverage."

TDI's wording covers most flood policies and does not say how a waiting period works for a purchase. As our own suggestion, once you're under contract, ask the agent or company selling the flood policy whether a waiting period applies and when coverage would begin.

The same guide adds that floods can happen anywhere, and that more than half of homes flooded by Hurricane Harvey were outside of designated flood zones.

Timing check two: coastal wind coverage and inspections

On the Texas coast, wind and hail coverage may be a separate policy from the home policy. In TDI's guide, if you live on the Texas coast or in Harris County on Galveston Bay, your home policy might not cover wind and hail damage, and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) sells wind and hail coverage for coastal residents.

The guide names two things TWIA might ask for first. Depending on where you live, you might need flood insurance before TWIA will sell you a policy, and you also might need a home inspection by an engineer or a windstorm inspector. The guide also tells readers not to wait until the last minute to buy wind and hail insurance, and gives this cutoff: "TWIA won't sell you a policy if there's a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico."

An inspection can also come up early in a new policy. TDI's guide, which covers home insurance in general and is not written about home purchases, says a company must give you 10 days' notice before it cancels your policy, and that a company may cancel in the first 60 days for two reasons. One is that it learns about a risk you didn't tell it about and that wasn't part of a previous claim. The other, in TDI's words: "It doesn't accept a copy of a required inspection report before the policy starts."

As Credify's own suggestion, and not something TDI says, a buyer can raise questions about the home's condition with the agent or company before the policy starts. Our guide on how the wind and hail deductible works explains the deductible that may apply to storm damage.

If you're selling: what TDI says about cancellation and refunds

If you're selling a home in Texas, ending the old policy before its end date is what TDI calls a cancellation. The agency's guide defines the term: "Cancellation means either you or the insurance company stops coverage before your policy's end date."

That definition names two parties who can stop coverage early, you and the company. The guide does not describe a home sale ending a policy by itself, so this guide treats canceling the old policy as a step you arrange with your company or agent.

On premium you've already paid, the guide reads: "If either you or the company cancels your policy, the company must refund any unearned premium to you within 15 days after the date of the cancellation." It defines unearned premium as the amount you paid in advance that didn't go toward coverage. In TDI's own example, a $1,200 annual premium is paid in advance, the policy is canceled after one month, and the company would owe $1,100 in unearned premium. Those are TDI's example figures and should be read as an illustration only.

On the order of the steps, the shopping checklist, which is written for people shopping for a policy and not specifically for people selling a home, says: "Don't cancel your current policy until you get your new policy or a written statement that proves you have coverage." The tips page makes a similar point under its heading on avoiding gaps in coverage.

Applied to a move, that points to having the new home's policy confirmed in writing before you cancel the old one. For other questions, the same checklist lists TDI's Help Line at 800-252-3439.

If the house sits empty: what TDI says about vacancy

A Texas home that sits vacant while it's for sale can run into the vacancy terms of its policy. Among the reasons TDI's guide lists for a company to nonrenew a policy is this one: "Your house is vacant for 60 days or more. Most companies stop your coverage if your house is vacant for that long. They usually don't stop your liability coverage, though."

The guide follows that with a suggestion: if you plan to be out of your house for an extended time, talk to your company to make sure your coverage continues. In its table of risks, the same guide says most policies don't cover losses that occur if your house is vacant for the number of days specified by your policy, and it notes that coverages vary by company.

A vacant house can come up in ordinary moves, such as relocating for a job or buying the next house before the old one sells. The number of days and what happens after them depend on your policy, so the useful step is to tell your company before you move out and ask how your coverage continues.

If you're doing both at once

Selling one Texas home and buying another puts the buying steps and the selling steps into the same few weeks. These are steps you can take, in order.

1. Start shopping once you're under contract on the new house. Mention a flood zone or a coastal location at the start. In general advice that is not about home purchases, TDI's guide says most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period, and that depending on where you live TWIA might need flood insurance or an inspection first.
2. Set the new policy to start on your closing date. Ask for written confirmation of the effective date.
3. Confirm the new policy is in force. The general shopping checklist, which isn't about home sales, advises not to cancel your current policy until you get your new policy or a written statement that proves you have coverage.
4. Then arrange the end of the old policy. Ask your company or agent what end date fits the day the house changes hands.
5. Look for the unearned premium refund. According to the guide, if either you or the company cancels your policy, the company must refund any unearned premium within 15 days after the date of the cancellation.

What to do with this

Around a Texas home purchase or sale, these are steps you can take with your home insurance.

• Ask your lender early. Find out what coverage and what proof it wants before closing.
• Check flood and coastal wind first. In general advice that is not about home purchases, TDI's guide says most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period, and that TWIA won't sell a policy if there's a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Get written proof before you cancel. The general shopping checklist, which isn't about home sales, advises not to cancel your current policy until you get your new policy or a written statement that proves you have coverage.
• Tell your company if the old house will sit empty. The guide lists a house vacant for 60 days or more among the reasons a company may nonrenew a policy, and says most companies stop your coverage at that point, though they usually don't stop your liability coverage.
• Check the coverage amount on the new house. Per the guide, most companies require you to insure your house for at least 80% of its replacement cost, and some companies require 100%.

Key facts

• TDI's Home insurance guide says the law doesn't require you to have home insurance, but your lender will require it if you still owe money on your home.
• According to TDI's tips page, most mortgage companies will require a replacement cost policy as a condition of your loan.
• In general flood insurance advice that is not about home purchases, TDI's guide says most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period, and that if your home is in a designated flood zone, your lender requires you to have flood insurance.
• The same TDI guide says that, depending on where you live, you might need flood insurance or a home inspection before TWIA will sell you a policy, and that TWIA won't sell you a policy if there's a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Writing about home insurance in general, TDI's guide says a company may cancel a policy in the first 60 days if it doesn't accept a copy of a required inspection report before the policy starts, or if it learns about a risk you didn't tell it about and that wasn't part of a previous claim.
• The refund timing comes from TDI's guide, which says that if either you or the company cancels your policy, the company must refund any unearned premium within 15 days after the date of the cancellation.
• TDI's general shopping checklist, which isn't about home sales, says not to cancel your current policy until you get your new policy or a written statement that proves you have coverage.
• Among the reasons a company may nonrenew, TDI's guide lists a house being vacant for 60 days or more and says most companies stop your coverage at that point, though they usually don't stop your liability coverage.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide, Tips to help you shop for homeowners insurance and How to shop smart for home insurance.

Take the next step

Before you compare policies for a move, know your closing date, whether the new home is in a designated flood zone or on the coast, and whether the old home will sit empty. If you're deciding what to compare, how to choose home insurance in Texas walks through the coverages, how the wind and hail deductible works explains the deductible that may apply to storm damage, and independent agency vs going direct covers two ways to shop.

Get a second opinion on your policy — free. Credify is a licensed insurance agency in Texas that helps you compare home insurance from roughly 20 licensed Texas carriers, so you can see whether your coverage for the new home fits your needs. It takes a few minutes, and there's no obligation. 📞 Talk to Credify 24/7.

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