By
What Should I Check at Every Insurance Renewal?
Put last year's packet beside this year's and read three things in order. Then the auto, where the contract rarely moves and your life does, and the umbrella, if the household outgrew its limits.
The answer
Put last year's renewal next to this year's and read three things, in order. The endorsements page, for anything new, above all a roof payment schedule, a water limit, or a cosmetic damage exclusion. The coverages, line by line against last year. The deductibles, in dollars, because that is your share on the worst day. On the auto, the contract rarely moves and your life does, so check the limits against the cars and the household you have now. Read it in the 30 to 45 days before the renewal date, and when nothing moved, sign it and stay. Last year's page beside this year's. Endorsements, coverages, deductibles, in that order.
Two packets, side by side
Nothing on this year's declarations page means much on its own. Beside last year's, every change shows. Here is the read in the order it happens on this desk, right out of the gate.
- 1
EndorsementsThe forms attached to the policy. A new line here is where a roof schedule, a water limit, or a cosmetic exclusion arrives, sometimes on a loose sheet in the stack.
- 2
CoveragesThe dwelling, contents, liability, and loss of use limits against last year's numbers. Coverage A should rise with construction cost. Anything that fell needs a reason.
- 3
DeductiblesYour share, in dollars. A flat amount that became a percentage of the dwelling limit is the change people miss most.
- 01
Five minutes
Grab last year's packet
The renewal from last year, or the policy you signed when you bought the house. Set it next to the new one.
- 02
First
Read the endorsements page
Form by form against last year. Anything new or missing gets a question before the signature, and a loose sheet in the stack is usually the change.
- 03
Second
Read the coverages
Each limit against last year's. Up with construction cost is normal. Down, or gone, is a call.
- 04
Third
Read the deductibles
In dollars, every one of them, wind and hail included. Two percent of a 500,000 dollar home is 10,000 dollars, and it is yours on the worst day.
Two packets beside each other show what one packet hides.
The three changes that hurt the most
In order of how much they hurt and how hard they are to undo after the signature. A roof moved to a payment schedule. A limit placed on water, whether the form calls it backup, seepage, or leakage. A cosmetic damage exclusion for hail. Each one arrives on the endorsements page, each one changes what the worst day pays, and each one is open to a conversation only before you sign. The fourth is quieter, and it is why the deductibles get their own read. A roof schedule, a water cap, and a cosmetic exclusion. In that order, the three that hurt.
-
01Roof payment scheduleWhat it doesThe roof is paid by its age on a table instead of at replacement cost, so an older roof is paid at a fraction of what a new one costsWhere it hidesAn endorsement page, or a line under Coverage A, with schedule or surfacing in the titleAskIs my roof still on replacement cost?
-
02Water limitWhat it doesA cap on water damage well below what a slab leak or a backed-up drain costs, sometimes with seepage and leakage excluded outrightWhere it hidesA limited water damage endorsement, or a sublimit line in the coveragesAskWhat is the most this policy pays for water, and which water?
-
03Cosmetic damage exclusionWhat it doesHail that dents a metal roof, gutters, or siding without opening a leak is excluded, so the dents stayWhere it hidesAn endorsement with cosmetic in the title, often beside a separate wind and hail deductibleAskIf hail dents the roof and it does not leak, what pays?
-
04A deductible that changed shapeWhat it doesA flat 2,500 dollar deductible becomes two percent of the dwelling limit, which on a 500,000 dollar home is 10,000 dollarsWhere it hidesThe deductibles block on the declarations page, and it can look the same at a glanceAskWhat is every deductible on this policy, in dollars?
Sign and stay, or call first
Most renewals deserve a signature. The point of the read is knowing which ones do not, and when a switch is the answer the 30 to 45 days before the renewal date is the room to make it. When nothing moved, sign it and stay. When something did, call before you sign.
Sign and stay when
- The endorsements page matches last year's, form for form.
- Every deductible matches last year's, in dollars.
- Coverage A moved up with construction cost and nothing else moved.
- The price moved with the market, and the contract did not.
Call before you sign when
- A new endorsement names the roof, water, or cosmetic damage.
- A deductible became a percentage, or a new wind and hail deductible appeared.
- A coverage fell, or an endorsement you had is gone.
- The packet is a nonrenewal, or a move to a different company.
The auto renewal, where life drifts
Auto contracts move less than home contracts. The state sets the floor, and most carriers write close to the same form. What drifts is the household. A policy bought in college, with cars swapped on and off through two promotions, can end up carrying a 75,000 dollar SUV on the 25,000 dollars of uninsured motorist property damage that was fine for the first car. The contract did nothing. Life did. The auto contract rarely moves. Your life does.
One household at renewal, the car against the limit that would replace it
On the auto renewal, check
- Liability limits against the household you have now. The state floor of 30/60/25 is a floor.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist limits, which Texas carriers must offer and you can only drop in writing.
- Uninsured motorist property damage against the car in the driveway today.
- The OEM parts endorsement, if that car matters to you, and whether the carrier offers it.
- Mechanical breakdown coverage against the odometer and the calendar.
- The driver roster, the month someone turns sixteen or a car changes hands.
A coverage with requirements, the example to connect
Mechanical breakdown coverage is the one people keep paying for past its rules. GEICO, which we are appointed with, lets you keep it for seven years or 100,000 miles in its own words, pre-existing issues are not eligible, and in most states the repair needs authorization before the work starts. The odometer sends no reminder, so verify it at renewal before you pay for it again.
The umbrella, a quick item
If the household has more to lose than it did when the policies were bought, the renewal is the moment to say so. An umbrella sits above the home and auto limits and pays when a claim runs past them, and it is sized to what you have earned, never to a default. The household you had when the policies were written is rarely the household reading the renewal. More earned means more to lose. The umbrella is how the policy keeps up with the life.
Ask at renewal
Do my home and auto liability limits still meet the umbrella's underlying requirement, and what did the household add this year, a pool, a teen driver, a rental, a boat?
What happens when you send it
You want one thing from this page. To know whether this renewal deserves a signature, and to hear it plainly when it does.
- 01
Free
Send both packets
Last year's and this year's, through Home Renewal Review or Auto Renewal Review, or by email to contact@mcdadeins.com.
- 02
On our desk
We read them side by side
Endorsements, coverages, deductibles, in that order. The auto limits against the cars and the household. The umbrella's underlying limits, if you carry one.
- 03
Your call
You get one of three answers
Sign and stay, adjust, or switch, with the reason in writing. About 40 percent of the time we tell homeowners to stay with their current carrier, and sometimes even with their current agent, because that is the right answer for the family.
Two packets in. One answer out, with the reason in writing.
Right out of the gate
When a renewal comes in the mail, grab last year's and sit the two down side by side. Endorsements first, because that page is where a roof schedule or a water limit shows up, sometimes on a loose sheet in the stack. Then the coverages. Then the deductibles, every one of them, in dollars. That is what I check right out of the gate, before anyone signs anything, and it is the same read we give every packet a family sends us. Everything lined out before the signature.
Charles McDade, LUTCF
Questions readers ask
Why do I need last year's packet?
Because a renewal only shows this year's terms, and the changes live in the difference. Set the two declarations pages beside each other and the new endorsement, the lower limit, or the deductible that changed shape stands out in minutes. If last year's is gone, the policy you signed when you bought the house works the same way.
How would I know a roof payment schedule was added?
It arrives as an endorsement, sometimes on its own sheet in the renewal stack, with schedule or surfacing in the title, and from then on your roof's age sets what the policy pays. Read how a schedule pays against replacement cost before you sign. It is the change we see hurt most.
My deductible looks the same. Could it have changed?
Yes. A flat dollar deductible can become a percentage of the dwelling limit, and a separate wind and hail deductible can appear beside it. On a 500,000 dollar home, two percent is 10,000 dollars. Read every deductible in dollars, never as it is printed.
What should I check on the auto renewal?
The limits against the life you have now. Liability above the state floor of 30/60/25, uninsured and underinsured motorist at the same limits, property damage against the car you drive today, the OEM parts endorsement if the car matters, any mechanical breakdown coverage against its mileage and age rules, and the driver roster. Texas carriers must offer uninsured motorist coverage, and you can only drop it in writing.
Do I need an umbrella at renewal?
Ask it every year, because the answer moves with the household. An umbrella sits above the home and auto limits and pays when a claim runs past them. If you added a pool, a teen driver, a rental, or simply more to lose since the policies were written, the renewal is the time to size one.
What if the renewal arrived with ten days left?
Read the three things in order anyway. With last year's packet beside it, that takes minutes. If nothing moved, sign it and stay. If something did, call before you sign. A Texas carrier owes you sixty days' notice before it declines to renew, and a renewal that changed can still be read, adjusted, or moved in the time you have.
Sources worth opening before you decide
- Home insurance guide, Texas Department of Insurance, updated June 1, 2026, read your policy or talk to your agent, and the sixty days' notice before a nonrenewal
- Auto insurance guide, Texas Department of Insurance, updated December 11, 2025, the 30/60/25 floor, uninsured motorist coverage that must be offered and dropped only in writing, and telling your company about a new car
- Mechanical Breakdown Insurance, GEICO, the seven years or 100,000 miles line in the carrier's own words
The purpose is to help the reader ask better questions before claim time.
Read it before you sign for another year
The packet is on the table. Last year's is in the drawer. Ten minutes decides the next twelve months.
Send both packets. A licensed Texas agent reads the endorsements, the coverages, and the deductibles side by side, the auto limits against the cars you drive now, and the umbrella's underlying limits, and tells you plainly when the right answer is to sign and stay. We translate the contract before you sign for another year.
The audit is free. The decision is yours. No broker fees for personal lines clients.
