Frisco Home Insurance: Insured for what it costs to rebuild.

A lot of homes are insured to the wrong number. Or carrying a hail deductible nobody explained.

Ask a homeowner what their house is worth and you'll hear the market value. Ask what their dwelling limit should be and most give the same number. They're different figures. Your dwelling limit should equal what a builder would charge to rebuild your house today. A limit set years ago and nudged up a little each renewal can quietly fall short, and you find out at the worst possible moment.

In North Texas there's a second number that matters just as much: your wind and hail deductible. Many policies here calculate it as a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat dollar amount, and in hail country that number isn't theoretical. It's the check you write after the spring storm that takes your roof. Add roof settlement terms, a hard freeze like February 2021 and the clay soil under the slab, and you can see why the details matter. The job is getting those pieces right, then building sensible liability and deductible choices around them.

The other half of the job is understanding what you already have. Renewals can change deductibles, roof settlement terms and endorsements while looking almost identical to last year's. Most people never notice until the adjuster is on the roof. That's what an independent agent is for. We represent multiple insurance companies, shop your coverage across several of them and stay with you as your needs and the insurance market change.

From Frisco, we'll help you work out what your home realistically costs to rebuild, how hail, wind/hail deductibles and roof settlement are handled on your policy, what flood coverage looks like alongside it and what bundling with auto may do to the price. If you own a condo rather than a house, that's a different policy with different traps. Ballpark it first with the home rate estimator, then call us for the real number.

The four decisions that actually shape your policy.

Past the six coverages, a handful of choices decide whether your policy holds up. These are the ones worth understanding.

1. Rebuild cost, and the cushion above it

Rebuild cost is what a contractor would charge today to put your house back: labor, materials, permits, debris removal and the extra cost of building one house instead of a subdivision. It has nothing to do with your purchase price or your mortgage balance.

Even a well-set limit can fall short after a widespread storm, when lots of homes need roofers and contractors at once and prices climb. That's what extended replacement cost is for, where available. It adds a cushion above your dwelling limit for exactly this situation. Pair it with building code upgrade coverage, which helps pay the difference when current code requires more than your house was built to. On an older home, code upgrades alone can add up.

2. Replacement cost versus actual cash value

Replacement cost pays to replace what you lost with new equivalents. Actual cash value pays the depreciated value. For belongings, the upgrade to replacement cost is inexpensive and worth it for nearly everyone.

Watch your roof in particular. Many Texas policies settle roof claims at actual cash value, or reduce roof payments based on age, because hail claims are so common here. Under actual cash value, an older roof pays out like an older roof, minus depreciation and your deductible, while the new one is billed at today's prices. Replacement cost roof coverage, where your roof qualifies, pays to put on a new roof, minus your deductible. The gap can be thousands of dollars, and it's one of the first lines we read on a policy you already have.

3. Your deductibles, including the one you may not know about

The all-perils deductible is your main pricing lever. The right one is the largest number you could write a check for tomorrow without wincing. Moving to a higher deductible can pay for itself over a few claim-free years.

Many North Texas policies also carry a separate wind and hail deductible, calculated as a percentage of your dwelling limit, commonly 1 to 2 percent here. Round numbers make it concrete: for example, 1 percent of a $350,000 dwelling limit is $3,500, and 2 percent is $7,000. It applies exactly when you can least absorb it, the morning after a hailstorm, and terms vary by carrier, so know your number before storm season.

4. Liability, and why the umbrella is usually the best value on the page

Your homeowners liability limit protects your assets when someone is hurt on your property or you're found responsible for damage elsewhere. Many policies start at $300,000, which may not match what you'd stand to lose. A pool, a trampoline or a teenage driver in the house all raise the stakes.

An umbrella policy adds $1 million or more on top of both your home and auto liability, and for most households it costs less than people expect. Measured in protection per dollar of premium, few things on the page come close. If you own a home, you have assets worth defending.

Hail, wind deductibles and the roof over your head.

You've seen the spring storms and heard the roofers knocking. Here's how each piece usually shows up on a North Texas homeowners policy, without the scare tactics.

Hail country, and the deductible that comes with it

North Texas is among the most hail-prone areas in the country. Severe spring thunderstorms move across Collin and Denton counties with large hail, straight-line winds and the occasional tornado, and a single storm can put tarps on roofs from Frisco to McKinney in an afternoon. On a homeowners policy, wind and hail are typically covered, subject to your deductible.

The catch is usually that deductible. Many North Texas policies carry a separate percentage deductible for wind and hail, commonly 1 to 2 percent of the dwelling limit. For example, on a $350,000 dwelling limit, 1 percent is $3,500 and 2 percent is $7,000 out of pocket on a hail or wind claim. A lower percentage costs more in premium; a higher one costs less and asks more of your savings. There's no wrong answer, only an unexamined one, and comparing carriers often shows real differences here. (Coastal windstorm rules apply on the Gulf Coast, not in Frisco.)

Your roof: age, settlement and impact-resistant shingles

Texas policies price the roof harder than almost any other feature of the house. Roof age affects both what you pay and what coverage is available, and the settlement terms matter as much as the premium. With replacement cost roof coverage, a covered hail claim pays to put on a new roof, minus your deductible. With actual cash value settlement, the payout is reduced for the roof's age and wear, so an older roof can leave a real gap between the check and the contractor's invoice.

Replacing the roof anyway? Ask about impact-resistant (Class 4) shingles. They're built to stand up better to hail, and some carriers may offer a discount for them. Bring us the product and installation paperwork and we'll check which carriers recognize it.

Freeze and burst pipes: the February 2021 lesson

The February 2021 winter storm taught North Texas that a freeze can do as much damage indoors as hail does outdoors. Sudden water damage from a pipe that freezes and bursts is generally covered, subject to your deductible and the policy's conditions. Those conditions usually expect reasonable care, like keeping the heat on or shutting off and draining the water if the house sits empty. Insulate exposed pipes, know where your main shutoff is and drip faucets when a hard freeze is forecast.

The ground under the house: slabs and clay soil

Most homes here sit on a slab foundation over expansive clay that swells when wet and shrinks in drought. The foundation movement, slab cracks and sticking doors that follow are generally excluded as earth movement, settling or wear. Where a sudden plumbing leak is involved, some policies may cover certain resulting damage, but that depends heavily on the policy wording. We'll read yours with you before you need it.

Flash flooding near creeks and low spots

Flooding is excluded from homeowners policies entirely. Heavy spring and fall storms can send creeks, drainage channels and low-water crossings out of their banks quickly across North Texas. A flood policy is a separate purchase, and NFIP policies generally have a 30-day waiting period, so don't wait for the forecast.

If you've been non-renewed or declined

Non-renewal isn't cancellation, and it's often about an insurer's appetite, not you. After heavy hail years, insurers re-underwrite whole areas, and roof age is frequently part of the story. Texas requires written notice at least 60 days before your policy expires, which is enough time if you start right away. Because we represent multiple insurance companies, we can shop your home across several carriers instead of starting over with one. Call us the day the letter arrives.

If no standard insurer will write the home, the Texas FAIR Plan is the state's residual market of last resort. Applicants generally need to have been turned down by at least two companies first, and it's usually narrower than a standard policy. We can walk you through it. For consumer questions, the Texas Department of Insurance help line is 800-252-3439.