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Home Insurance Renewal Review

Got your renewal? Audit it before you pay.

Seven quiet changes Texas carriers make at renewal time. The deductible reset most clients miss. The roof schedule buried on page eleven. How to read your dec page line by line and catch what your agent never called to explain.

What changed on my home insurance renewal that I should know about?

More than the premium. At renewal, Texas carriers are permitted to amend the contract with notice. Most homeowners read the new premium, sign or shop, and never read the rest. Seven changes happen most often: roof shifted to ACV or to a Roof Payment Schedule, wind deductible converted from flat dollar to percentage, water damage limits dropped, dwelling limit not adjusted for construction inflation, mandatory endorsements added, discount stack expired, and your carrier signaling through the contract that they no longer want your risk. The premium hike is the headline. The contract changes underneath are the story.

The Renewal Reality

Texas premiums are up. Texas contracts are thinner.

"The Texas market is hardening. The contract you signed in 2021 is not the contract being offered to you in 2026. Carriers are repricing risk and rewriting coverage at the same time."

19% Texas Premium Increase, 2024
27% Statewide Increase, 2021–2024
25–40% Rebuild Cost Inflation Since 2019
878 Major Texas Hail Events, 2024

Three forces are reshaping every Texas home insurance renewal in 2026. Severe weather frequency: Texas led the nation in major hail events and tornadoes in 2024 alone. Carrier exits: Foremost ceased writing new policies. Progressive restricted Texas homeowners new business after reporting that storms in Texas accounted for nearly 40 percent of company losses in Q2 fiscal 2024. Liberty Mutual restricted coastal underwriting. Lemonade stopped selling in several Texas counties. Construction inflation: Rebuild costs are 25 to 40 percent higher than 2019.

Less competition. Higher claims. Higher rebuild costs. The math on every Texas renewal got harder. The carrier responses split into two playbooks. Raise the premium. Or shrink the contract. Most renewals do both.

Sources: Texas Department of Insurance, 2024 Market Conditions Annual Report · Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas Homeowners Insurance Affordability (2026) · Schell Insurance, 2026 Texas Homeowners Coverage Gaps

The Seven Quiet Changes

What carriers do at renewal and rarely call to explain.

"Every one of these changes is legal. Every one is buried in language most clients never read. Every one is worth more than the premium increase that distracted you from finding it."

Pitfall 01

Your roof shifted from Replacement Cost to ACV or a Roof Payment Schedule.

The most common renewal-time change in Texas right now. Carriers are converting Replacement Cost roof coverage to either Actual Cash Value or to a Roof Payment Schedule that reduces payouts on a sliding scale based on roof age.

Technical Detail The typical Texas Roof Payment Schedule pays 100 percent of replacement cost for roofs 0 to 5 years old, 80 percent at 6 to 10 years, 60 percent at 11 to 15 years, 40 percent at 16 to 20 years, and 20 percent at 21+ years. On a 15-year-old composition shingle roof costing $20,000 to replace, the carrier under a Roof Payment Schedule may pay $12,000 minus your wind/hail deductible. Under straight ACV with a $4,000 deductible on a $200,000 dwelling, the math gets worse: the Texas Department of Insurance documents an example where ACV paid $5,000 minus deductible on a 10-year-old roof valued at $7,000, while the same loss under Replacement Cost would have paid $8,000.
Charles in Plain English

The renewal looks the same. The roof you protected is not.

Audit your renewal for Endorsement codes that include "Actual Cash Value Loss Settlement," "Roof Payment Schedule," "Roof Surfacing," "Cosmetic Damage Exclusion," or "Roof Schedule Endorsement." If any of these appeared at this renewal that were not on last year's dec page, your roof coverage was rewritten.

Sources: TDI Replacement Cost vs ACV Guide · 2026 Texas Roof Insurance Guide

Pitfall 02

Your wind/hail deductible converted from flat dollar to percentage.

This change costs more than any other single renewal-time edit. A flat $2,500 wind/hail deductible becomes a 2 percent wind/hail deductible. Same word on the dec page. Different math.

Technical Detail Texas wind/hail and named storm deductibles are increasingly written as a percentage of Coverage A (dwelling), not a percentage of the loss. On a $300,000 dwelling, a 1 percent deductible is $3,000. A 2 percent deductible is $6,000. A 5 percent deductible is $15,000. On a $750,000 dwelling, a 2 percent deductible is $15,000. On a $1.2 million dwelling, the same 2 percent deductible is $24,000 out of pocket before any coverage applies. Some Texas carriers also stack a separate named storm deductible that activates when the National Hurricane Center names a storm — typically triggered 24 to 72 hours before landfall and remaining in effect for the duration of the warning.
Charles in Plain English

The premium dropped a hundred dollars. The exposure tripled.

Audit your renewal for The wind/hail deductible line on the dec page. If it shows "1%", "2%", "5%" or any percentage instead of a flat dollar amount, do the math. Multiply your dwelling limit by the percentage. That is your real deductible. Compare it to last year's deductible.

Sources: AOP, Wind/Hail, Named Storm Deductibles Guide (2025) · Insurance.com, Texas Hurricane Deductible Guide

Pitfall 03

Your water damage limits dropped or new water exclusions appeared.

The number one coverage Texas carriers are quietly cutting at renewal in 2026. Water damage means burst pipes, slab leaks, sewer backup, hot water heater failures, dishwasher overflows, and roof leaks during storms. About 1 in 60 insured homes files a water damage claim each year. The average claim payout is $13,954 nationally. Houston slab leak costs on a high-end home routinely run $40,000 to $80,000 or more.

Technical Detail Look for renewal-time additions of Limited Water Damage endorsements, Constant or Repeated Seepage exclusions, Slab Leak exclusions, Foundation Movement exclusions, and reduced sublimits. Many Texas carriers in 2026 are capping water damage payouts at $5,000 or $10,000 when prior policies offered $50,000 or unlimited within Coverage A. Standard Texas policies often exclude sewer or drain backup unless a specific water backup endorsement is added (typically $5,000 or $10,000 set limits). Service line and foundation coverage are typically optional endorsements that need to be requested specifically. If your renewal removed any of these, the carrier is shifting the cost of common Texas claims onto you.
Charles in Plain English

One slab leak. Six figures out of pocket. That is the new contract.

Audit your renewal for Any line item that reads "Limited Water Damage," "Scheduled Water Damage," "Water Backup Sublimit," or any new exclusion language with the word "water," "seepage," "leak," or "moisture." Compare those limits to last year's dec page.

Sources: 24/7 Restoration Specialists, Houston Water Damage Cost (2026) · Texas Water Backup, Service Line, Foundation Coverage

Pitfall 04

Your dwelling limit did not keep pace with construction inflation.

The renewal silently leaves your dwelling limit roughly where it was, adjusted by a small inflation guard percentage. Meanwhile, Texas construction costs have outpaced that adjustment for five straight years.

Technical Detail Most Texas home insurance contracts include an inflation guard endorsement that automatically increases dwelling coverage by 2 to 4 percent annually at renewal. Industry research confirms actual Texas reconstruction costs are 25 to 40 percent higher now than 2019, driven by labor shortages, material inflation, and tighter building codes. The math compounds. A home insured at $400,000 dwelling in 2020 with a 3 percent inflation guard would now sit near $477,000. The actual rebuild cost on the same home today could be $500,000 to $560,000. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas confirmed in 2026 research that homeowners limiting coverage to save money are becoming underinsured. The Hurricane Harvey Martinez case in Corpus Christi documented exactly this gap: $180,000 dwelling coverage versus $240,000 rebuild cost, leaving the family personally responsible for the $60,000 shortfall.
Charles in Plain English

Your home grew up. Your coverage did not.

Audit your renewal for Coverage A dwelling limit. Compare it to a current replacement cost estimator (most carriers run one annually but rarely show clients the result). If your dwelling limit is more than 5 years old without a major recalculation, you are likely underinsured by a meaningful percentage.

Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (2026) · Schell Insurance, 2026 Coverage Gap Analysis · Merlin Law Group, Hurricane Harvey Underinsurance Cases

Pitfall 05

New mandatory endorsements appeared that were not on last year's policy.

Carriers add endorsements to renewal contracts that limit their exposure on losses they no longer want to pay. Most clients see "endorsement" on the dec page and assume it is something added for their benefit. Often the opposite.

Technical Detail Common renewal-time endorsements being added in Texas in 2026 include: Cosmetic Damage Exclusion (excludes hail damage to metal roofs that does not penetrate or cause leaks, even when resale value drops). Matching of Materials Limitation (caps the carrier's obligation to match siding, roofing, or flooring after partial loss). Animal Liability Exclusion (removes coverage for dog bites and certain animal-related injury claims). Mold Sublimit (reduces or eliminates mold remediation, often capped at $5,000). Scheduled Personal Property Sublimits (caps jewelry, art, firearms, electronics at $1,500 to $5,000 unless separately scheduled). Each of these endorsements transfers cost from the carrier to you on specific common losses.
Charles in Plain English

Endorsements are not always added for you. Sometimes they are added against you.

Audit your renewal for The endorsement schedule on your dec page (usually pages 2 to 5). Cross-reference with last year's endorsement schedule. Any endorsement that appeared this year and was not present last year deserves a one-sentence explanation from your agent. If you cannot get one, that is a reason to call McDade.
Pitfall 06

Your discount stack quietly expired.

A piece of every renewal premium increase is the loss of discounts most homeowners forgot they had. Multi-policy discount conditions changed. Loyalty discount phased out at year five. New construction discount aged out at the 10-year mark. Claim-free discount reset after a non-claim policy review. The renewal premium reflects the loss of stacked discounts that were quietly dropped.

Technical Detail Common Texas home insurance discounts that phase out or expire include: New Construction Discount (typically maxes out at 10 years, reduced annually). Newer Roof Discount (reduced annually as roof ages, fully phased out by year 15). Loyalty/Tenure Discount (sometimes capped at year 3 or year 5, then no further accrual). Multi-Policy Discount (lost if auto carrier changes or if home and auto end up at different carriers post-renewal). Claim-Free Discount (some carriers reset this after a window without disclosure). Smart Home / Monitored Alarm Discount (requires annual recertification at some carriers). The Texas Department of Insurance notes that discount variations between carriers can produce premium differences of more than 60 percent for the same coverage.
Charles in Plain English

You did not lose a discount. The renewal stopped giving it to you.

Audit your renewal for The discount section of your dec page (usually near the premium calculation). Compare line by line with last year. Any discount that disappeared, dropped in value, or now reads as zero deserves a question. Some are legitimately expired. Others can be reinstated with a phone call.

Source: Covered, Texas Home Insurance Market 2025

Pitfall 07

Your carrier is signaling through the contract that they want you somewhere else.

Some Texas carriers are not exiting the state outright. They are reshaping renewal contracts in ways that signal they no longer want your specific risk. The renewal IS the message. If two or more of these patterns apply, your carrier may be telling you to leave by making the contract worse every year.

Technical Detail The signal pattern at renewal includes: dwelling limit not increased despite documented construction inflation. Wind/hail deductible converted from flat to percentage. Water damage cap reduced or new water exclusions added. Roof shifted from RCV to ACV or to a Payment Schedule. Mandatory endorsements added that read like fine print but transfer cost to you. Premium increase of 20 percent or more year over year while coverage shrinks. Carrier consolidation in Texas reinforces this pattern. Foremost (a Farmers division) ceased writing and renewing new policies just before Hurricane Beryl. Progressive stopped writing new homeowners policies in Texas in 2024 after storms in Texas accounted for nearly 40 percent of company losses in Q2 fiscal 2024. Liberty Mutual implemented restrictive underwriting in coastal counties. Lemonade stopped selling in several Texas counties. Nationwide Private Client began winding down in 2024. AIG's Private Client Group spun off into Private Client Select. Even when the carrier name on your renewal is unchanged, the underwriting appetite behind it may be shifting away from your home class.
Charles in Plain English

Read the renewal as a letter. Sometimes it is a goodbye.

Audit your renewal for Patterns across multiple line items. One change is a renewal adjustment. Two changes is a coincidence. Three or more is a strategy. If your renewal shows three or more of the patterns above, your carrier is communicating through the contract. McDade reads those signals and finds the right home in PGI's 220+ carrier network before the next renewal makes it worse.

Sources: Texas Carrier Exits 2024–2025 Industry Brief · High Net Worth Insurance Carrier Consolidation 2024

The Twelve-Line Audit

Read your renewal line by line.

"Pull out last year's declarations page. Pull out the renewal. Compare twelve specific lines. Anything that changed without a phone call from your agent is a renewal worth pressure testing."

#
Dec Page Line Item
What to Look For
Red Flag
01
Dwelling (Coverage A)
Compare to current rebuild cost estimate, not last year's number alone.
Limit unchanged 5+ years, or only adjusted by 2–4% inflation guard.
02
Other Structures (Cov B)
Typically 10% of Coverage A. Verify it scaled with any dwelling change.
Detached garage, fence, shed, pool deck rebuild costs often exceed 10%.
03
Personal Property (Cov C)
Typically 50–75% of Coverage A. Check for new sublimits on jewelry, art, electronics, firearms.
$1,500 jewelry sublimit on a $250K personal property limit. Schedule it.
04
Loss of Use (Cov D)
Often 10–20% of Coverage A. Texas hotels and rentals after a major loss can run 12–18 months.
Cap that limits ALE to less than 12 months of comparable housing.
05
Personal Liability
$300K is common. $500K to $1M for Established Homeowners with assets to protect.
$100K starting limit on a high-asset household.
06
Medical Payments
$5K to $10K is typical. Covers minor injuries on your property without a lawsuit.
Limit reduced from prior year without explanation.
07
All Other Perils Deductible
Flat dollar amount applied to non-wind, non-hail, non-named-storm losses.
Increased without offsetting premium reduction or family input.
08
Wind/Hail Deductible
Flat dollar OR percentage of Coverage A. Calculate the dollar exposure if percentage.
Converted from flat to percentage at this renewal. Most expensive single change.
09
Hurricane / Named Storm Deductible
Often 1–5% of Coverage A. Triggered when NHC names a storm.
Stacked separately from wind/hail. Two deductibles can apply to one storm.
10
Roof Coverage Method
Look for "RCV," "ACV," "Roof Payment Schedule," "Roof Schedule Endorsement," or "Cosmetic Damage Exclusion."
Anything other than full RCV on a roof under 15 years old without your written agreement.
11
Water Damage Limits
Sublimits, exclusions, water backup endorsement, service line, foundation coverage.
Water damage capped at $5K or $10K. New seepage or slab leak exclusions.
12
Endorsements & Discounts
Compare full schedule line by line with prior year. Note anything added, removed, or changed in value.
Any new endorsement your agent did not call to explain.

"Twelve lines. Two dec pages. One conversation worth having."

If three or more of these lines changed and your agent did not call to explain why, your renewal is worth a pressure test before you sign for another year.

The McDade Renewal Standard

Send us last year's dec page and this year's renewal.

"We will line them up side by side and tell you exactly what changed. No sales pitch. No urgency theater. About 40% of the time we tell clients to keep what they have. The other 60% is where we find a contract change that would have cost them thousands. The renewal is the only time the carrier opens the contract back up. Audit it before you sign it shut for another year."

Charles McDade, LUTCF Founder & CEO, McDade Insurance Brokerage Group

Why McDade Is Built For Renewal Reviews

The structural reasons we can read the contract honestly.

"A broker can only be honest with you if their structure lets them be honest. Here is ours."

Reason One

Zero production minimums.

Through our PGI partnership, McDade has no minimum monthly production requirements with any individual carrier. We can recommend you keep your current carrier when that is the right call. Why this matters →

Reason Two

220+ carrier relationships.

Premier Group Insurance is an Insurance Journal Top 100 network ranked #38 nationally with $1B in written premium. When your renewal signals a carrier is pushing you out, we have somewhere to go. The PGI partnership →

Reason Three

Three generations of protection discipline.

Charles's grandfather Douglas Finley supported NASA Apollo-Soyuz 1975 and DHS Cybersecurity 2011. Reading a contract for what it actually says is a family practice. The McDade story →

Audit your renewal before you pay

Send your renewal. We will tell you the truth.

Connect your current policy in two minutes. A licensed McDade broker compares last year's dec page to this year's renewal line by line using our four-part framework. Clarity. Probability. Severity. Value. You get a written audit and two real options inside one business day. About 40% of the time, we tell you to keep what you have.

Audit My Renewal → Why McDade →
281.378.5002
Frequently Asked Questions

The questions worth asking at renewal time.

Why did my Texas home insurance renewal go up so much in 2026?

Texas home insurance rates rose by an average of 19 percent in 2024 alone according to Texas Department of Insurance data, with statewide premiums up 27 percent from 2021 to 2024. The reasons are structural: severe weather frequency (Texas led the nation with 878 major hail events in 2024 and 169 tornadoes), carrier exits (Foremost, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, and Lemonade have all reduced or restricted Texas business), and rebuild cost inflation (25 to 40 percent higher than 2019 levels). Less competition combined with rising claims and rising rebuild costs creates upward pressure on every renewal. The premium increase is the headline. The contract changes underneath are what most clients miss.

What is the difference between a flat dollar wind deductible and a percentage hurricane deductible?

A flat dollar wind deductible is a fixed amount, like $1,000 or $2,500. A percentage hurricane deductible is calculated as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, typically 1 to 5 percent. On a $300,000 dwelling with a 2 percent hurricane deductible, you pay $6,000 out of pocket before coverage applies. On a $750,000 dwelling, that 2 percent is $15,000. On a $1.2 million dwelling, it is $24,000. Texas carriers in 2026 are aggressively converting flat-dollar wind deductibles into percentage deductibles at renewal. The premium may stay the same or even drop. The out-of-pocket exposure can triple or quadruple. This is one of the most expensive single changes a Texas homeowner can sign without realizing it.

What is a Roof Payment Schedule on a Texas home insurance renewal?

A Roof Payment Schedule is a sliding-scale endorsement many Texas carriers added at renewal in 2026 that reduces roof claim payouts based on the age of the roof. The typical schedule is: 0 to 5 years old, 100% of replacement cost paid. 6 to 10 years, 80%. 11 to 15 years, 60%. 16 to 20 years, 40%. 21+ years, 20%. A 15-year-old roof on a home with a $20,000 roof replacement cost would receive only $5,000 minus deductible under a 25 percent-of-useful-life schedule. The schedule is often added to renewal policies that previously had Replacement Cost coverage on the roof. The change is buried inside the renewal packet and rarely flagged on the front page. McDade looks for this exact endorsement on every renewal review.

My home insurance premium went DOWN at renewal. Is that a good thing?

Maybe. A premium decrease at renewal in a hardening Texas market deserves more scrutiny, not less. Carriers in 2026 are not lowering premiums out of generosity. A lower renewal premium typically means one of four things: roof shifted from RCV to ACV, a Roof Payment Schedule was added, the wind/hail or hurricane deductible increased (often by switching from flat to percentage), or water damage limits dropped or new water exclusions appeared. The premium savings are real. The coverage cuts that paid for them are real too. Anything can be made cheaper by making it worse. Every cheaper renewal is a quieter promise.

Should I let my home insurance auto-renew without reviewing it?

No. Auto-renewal is the single biggest source of unnoticed coverage erosion in Texas home insurance today. Auto-renewal means the contract changes the carrier made take effect with your tacit consent. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas research from 2026 confirms that homeowners limiting coverage at renewal often become underinsured without realizing it. The renewal arrives, the premium debits the bank account, the dec page goes in a drawer, and the next claim discovers what was actually signed. The renewal is the only time the carrier opens the contract back up. Audit it before you sign it shut for another year.

Should I shop my home insurance every year at renewal?

Not always. About 40 percent of the time at McDade, we tell clients to keep what they have. Loyalty discounts and tenure-based discounts can be valuable, and switching carriers every year can hurt your insurance score with new carriers. The right question is not whether to shop every year. It is whether the renewal contract still matches your home, your needs, and your standards. If the renewal contract changed in ways your agent did not explain, shop. If construction costs have outpaced your dwelling limit, shop. If your wind deductible converted from flat to percentage, shop. If water damage limits dropped, shop. Otherwise, audit the contract every year and let the math tell you whether to move.

Is my carrier slowly pushing me out of my Texas home insurance policy?

Sometimes yes. Some Texas carriers are not exiting the state outright. They are reshaping renewal contracts in ways that signal they no longer want your specific risk. Watch for these patterns at renewal: dwelling limit not adjusted upward despite construction cost inflation, deductibles increased without explanation, water damage coverage reduced, roof shifted to ACV or to a Roof Payment Schedule, mandatory endorsements added, and premiums increasing 20 percent or more year over year while coverage shrinks. If two or more apply to your renewal, your carrier may be communicating through the contract that they want you somewhere else. McDade reads those signals and finds the right home in PGI's 220+ carrier network before the next renewal makes it worse.

How do I read my home insurance renewal declarations page?

Read your renewal dec page side by side with last year's dec page. Compare twelve specific line items: dwelling coverage (Coverage A), other structures (Coverage B), personal property (Coverage C), loss of use (Coverage D), personal liability, medical payments, All Other Perils deductible, wind/hail deductible (and whether flat dollar or percentage), hurricane or named storm deductible, roof coverage method, water damage limits, and the full endorsement and discount schedule. If any line item changed and your agent did not call to explain why, you have a renewal worth pressure testing.

Why should I have McDade audit my home insurance renewal?

McDade audits renewals using a four-part framework: Clarity, Probability, Severity, Value. We compare last year's dec page to this year's renewal line by line. We flag every changed limit, every adjusted deductible, every added or removed endorsement, every reclassified peril. Through our partnership with Premier Group Insurance, an Insurance Journal Top 100 network ranked #38 nationally with 220+ carrier relationships, we have access to alternative carriers most local brokers cannot place coverage with. We have zero minimum production requirements, so our recommendation is built around what fits your home — not what hits a quota. About 40 percent of the time we tell clients to keep what they have. The other 60 percent is where we find a contract change that would have cost them thousands.