Nonrenewal shield on weather claims

Texas: your insurer cannot nonrenew you just because of a weather claim

If you have a Texas homeowners policy and you file a claim for hail, wind, or hurricane damage, Texas Insurance Code §551.107 bars your insurer from refusing to renew your policy solely because of that claim.

Written by Todd Whittington, Editor·Last reviewed September 5, 2026 Verified 2026-09-05

What the statute says

Tex. Ins. Code §551.107 (Prohibition on Nonrenewal Solely on Claims Resulting from Natural Causes) reads, in substance:

An insurer may not refuse to renew a residential property insurance policy solely because of claims made against the policy for losses that are the result of natural causes.

The statute is short and clear. The word doing the work is solely: the insurer can still non-renew you for other reasons (nonpayment, fraud, an underwriting change, a pattern of claims that isn't limited to weather), but it cannot use a weather-related claim, by itself, as the basis for a nonrenewal decision.

statutes.capitol.texas.gov is the official Texas statutes site; the section number is stable.

What §551.107 does not do

It does not bar rate increases. A Texas insurer can still surcharge your renewal premium after a weather claim. The statute addresses the nonrenewal decision, not rating.
It does not bar nonrenewal for a pattern of claims that includes non-weather losses. If your claim frequency crosses the carrier's threshold and one or more losses are not weather-related, §551.107 does not cover you.
It does not force a specific claim to be paid. Coverage disputes, denials for excluded perils, and dispute-resolution paths are governed by other provisions of the Insurance Code and by your policy.
It does not bar counting inquiries. There are separate provisions of the Texas Insurance Code and Texas Department of Insurance bulletins addressing use of claim inquiries and the "asking is not filing" rule. Those specific citations are pending fresh verification for this page and will be added when a live citation is confirmed against the current statute text.

What this means when you're deciding to file

The Texas rule takes the single worst outcome — losing your coverage entirely because you filed a hail claim — off the table when the claim is the only weather claim on your record. It does not take the softer costs off the table: your premium can still go up, your claims-free discount can still reset, and the claim still sits on your CLUE report for 5 to 7 years.

So the decision to file in Texas is still driven by:

Your percentage deductible versus the roofer's estimate. If the deductible is bigger than the estimate, insurance pays zero regardless of what §551.107 says. Calculate your real deductible.
Your roof's age against your carrier's payment schedule. If the roof is old enough that only actual cash value applies, the check may be small even when it clears the deductible.
Your claim frequency. §551.107 protects a single weather claim from being the sole nonrenewal reason. It does not protect against nonrenewal after a pattern of claims.

Run your specific case through the roof claim calculator. It applies §551.107 to Texas verdicts by design.

Already filed, and the claim was denied or paid less than you expected? Read what to do if your claim is denied: how to appeal, how to file a complaint in Texas, and when a public adjuster or a lawyer makes sense.

How Texas compares

Texas is a nonrenewal shield state, not a surcharge shield state. Some states (California, under CIC §675.1 and administrative moratoria after declared wildfires) impose targeted nonrenewal moratoria; others rely on general unfair-claims-practices statutes. The rules hub maps the categories and the states currently populated in our verified dataset.

Sources

Tex. Ins. Code §551.107 (Prohibition on Nonrenewal Solely on Claims Resulting from Natural Causes). Official statute site: statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Verified 2026-09-05.
Texas Department of Insurance consumer resources: tdi.texas.gov. Reference for TDI bulletins on inquiry use and public adjuster rules; specific citations pending re-verification.

Educational information, not legal or insurance advice. Statutes are amended by legislative session and by subsequent case law. Verify the current text at the official source before relying on it in a dispute with your insurer.