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

Published July 1, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026

How the wind and hail deductible works on Texas home insurance

If you've read your Texas home insurance policy closely, you may have noticed what looks like two deductibles: one for other kinds of claims, and a separate wind and hail deductible that may be written as a percentage. After a hailstorm, the question is which one applies and how much you'll pay.

Here's what we'll cover: what the wind and hail deductible is, how a percentage turns into dollars, where to find yours, and how roof coverage can change what you're paid.

The short version: a wind and hail deductible on a Texas home insurance policy is the amount you pay yourself on a covered wind or hail claim, and the Office of Public Insurance Counsel's guide to deductibles says a deductible can be a flat dollar amount or a percentage of your home's insured value. TDI's Home insurance guide says the policy's declarations page summarizes your deductibles.

What the wind and hail deductible is

A Texas home insurance policy may carry a separate wind and hail deductible alongside the deductible for other kinds of claims. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) defines a deductible in its Home insurance guide: "A deductible is the amount of a claim that you must pay yourself." The same guide says you might have different deductibles for each type of coverage.

The Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) says in Understanding Your Homeowners Deductible that a policy may have different deductibles based on the reason for the claim. It describes one deductible that applies to claims involving covered windstorm damage and another that applies to all other types of covered damage. "Windstorm" is OPIC's word on that page. OPIC's Decoding Residential Property Deductibles lists a wind/hail deductible among the special deductibles that may apply for certain causes of loss, and says it typically applies to any kind of damage from a wind or hail event.

Some Texas home policies may leave wind and hail out. TDI's Home insurance guide says that 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 that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) sells wind and hail coverage for coastal residents.

How the amount is set also varies. OPIC's Decoding Residential Property Deductibles describes two types: a flat amount deductible, which is a fixed dollar amount (OPIC's example is $1,000), and a percentage deductible, which is based on a percentage of your home's insured value. Your wind and hail deductible may be the percentage kind.

Why the percentage matters so much

A percentage deductible on a Texas home insurance policy is calculated on the amount your home is insured for, and the size of your claim does not change it. OPIC puts it this way: "Percentage deductibles are calculated as a percentage of your home’s insured value and not a percentage of the claim amount."

TDI's page What to know about deductibles advises: "If a policy has a deductible that’s a percentage, make sure you know how that translates to a dollar amount." Here's an illustration of that conversion.

Example (illustrative arithmetic, not a typical or quoted figure): Say your home is insured for $300,000 and your wind/hail deductible is 2%. That's 2% of $300,000 = $6,000. If hail causes covered damage to your roof and the repair comes to $14,000, you'd pay the first $6,000 and, for that covered claim, your insurer would cover the remaining $8,000, subject to your policy's terms.

In that illustration the deductible is six times a flat deductible of, say, $1,000. OPIC notes that the amount of a percentage deductible increases every time the insured value of your home increases. TDI's deductibles page adds that for home policies the deductible is applied to each claim, while for health policies the deductible usually covers a year. That is TDI's general rule. OPIC's Decoding Residential Property Deductibles notes it is possible that a named storm deductible may only apply once a season rather than each storm.

Where to find yours

Your wind and hail deductible, if your policy has one, is listed on your Texas home insurance policy's declarations page. TDI's Home insurance guide describes the declarations page as the first page of your policy, with a summary of your coverages, dollar limits and deductibles. OPIC's Decoding Residential Property Deductibles says: "You can find your deductible amounts on your policy’s declarations page (often called a dec page)."

Look for a deductible line that mentions wind, hail or windstorm. Some policies may also include a named storm deductible, and OPIC suggests asking your agent or another company representative if you are unsure whether yours does. If the wind and hail deductible is shown as a percentage, multiply it by the amount your home is insured for to see the dollar figure.

If you can't find it or the wording is unclear, that is worth a phone call before hail season.

The roof-coverage detail: replacement cost or actual cash value

Two Texas home insurance policies with the same deductible can still pay different amounts after a storm, depending on whether the roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value. TDI explains the difference in Home policies: Replacement cost or actual cash value?:

• Replacement cost coverage. The policy pays to repair or rebuild your home based on current costs.
• Actual cash value coverage. The policy pays less, based on the age and condition of your home (depreciation). In TDI's words: "Policies with actual cash value coverage cost less, but they also pay less when you have a claim."

TDI's own example shows how the two interact with a percentage deductible. It uses a house insured for $200,000 with a 2% ($4,000) deductible, and a roof that costs $10,000 to replace after it was damaged by a storm that insurance covers. TDI's example does not say what kind of storm, and it notes that the value of your house and the amount of your deductible may be different.

In TDI's example, the actual cash value policy on the 20-year-old roof would pay $0 after the 2% deductible. Reading that example across to a wind or hail claim is our own inference, since TDI's page refers only to a covered storm. It helps to know which coverage your policy uses before a storm.

What to do with all this

Three checks on your Texas home insurance policy will tell you where you stand on wind and hail before the next storm:

• Pull your declarations page and find your wind and hail deductible, if your policy has one. Turn any percentage into a dollar figure.
• Check whether your roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value. In TDI's example, an actual cash value policy pays less as the roof gets older.
• Make sure the number still fits your budget. TDI's advice when deciding on a deductible is to "think about how much you can afford to pay if your property is damaged." If a hailstorm hit tomorrow, could you comfortably cover that deductible?

If any of those answers make you uneasy, have someone re-check your coverage against what else is available before the next storm.

Key facts

• A Texas home policy may have more than one deductible. OPIC's Understanding Your Homeowners Deductible describes one deductible for claims involving covered windstorm damage and another for all other types of covered damage.
• Coastal home policies might not cover wind and hail. TDI's Home insurance guide says this about homes on the Texas coast or in Harris County on Galveston Bay, and says TWIA sells wind and hail coverage for coastal residents. The guide adds that, depending on where you live, you might need flood insurance and a home inspection before TWIA will sell you a policy.
• A percentage deductible is based on your home's insured value. According to OPIC's Decoding Residential Property Deductibles, the percentage is calculated on the amount of insurance you have on your home and not on the amount of your claim.
• Turn the percentage into dollars. TDI's What to know about deductibles tells shoppers to know how a percentage deductible translates to a dollar amount.
• Your deductibles are on the declarations page. TDI's Home insurance guide says the declarations page is the first page of the policy and summarizes coverages, dollar limits and deductibles.
• In TDI's example, roof coverage type changes the payout. TDI's example assumes the entire roof was damaged by a storm that insurance covers. With a $200,000 house, a 2% ($4,000) deductible and a $10,000 roof, a replacement cost policy would pay $6,000 and an actual cash value policy would pay $0 on a 20-year-old roof.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance: What to know about deductibles, Home policies: Replacement cost or actual cash value? and Home insurance guide. Office of Public Insurance Counsel: Understanding Your Homeowners Deductible and Decoding Residential Property Deductibles.

Take the next step

A useful step today is to find any wind and hail deductible on your declarations page, turn it into dollars, and check how your roof is covered.

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