Coastal cover

Windstorm cover, TWIA, and the certificate a coastal reroof needs

On designated coastal territory, wind and hail are often not in your homeowners policy at all, and new roofing work has to be inspected and certified for the windstorm cover to attach to it. Both of those facts are invisible until they matter, and both of them are decided by your address rather than by your carrier.

The designated catastrophe area, precisely

The Commissioner of Insurance designates a catastrophe area along the coast. It currently covers all 14 first-tier coastal counties, and parts of Harris County east of Highway 146. In that territory a standard homeowners policy frequently excludes wind and hail, and the cover comes from a separate windstorm policy instead.

Of the eight counties this site covers, three are first-tier coastal counties and are inside the designated area: Galveston, Chambers and Brazoria. Harris County is in it only east of Highway 146 — TDI names La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Pasadena, Seabrook and Shore Acres as the Harris County cities affected. Fort Bend, Montgomery, Waller and Austin counties are not in the designated area, and neither is the great majority of Harris County, including most of the city of Houston.

How TWIA fits in

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association is the windstorm insurer of last resort for the designated area: cover for wind and hail for property owners who cannot get it from the ordinary market. It is not a first choice and it is not meant to be. TWIA publishes its coverage and eligibility rules, and the requirements are set by statute rather than by the association.

To be eligible for a TWIA policy, in summary:

• The property must be in the designated area — the 14 first-tier coastal counties, or Harris County east of Highway 146.
• You must have been turned down for wind and hail cover by at least one authorized insurer actively writing it in the designated area.
• The property must be certified as built to the applicable building codes, by TDI or by TWIA, with limited exceptions. That is the certificate of compliance discussed below.
• Properties in certain coastal flood zones built or substantially altered after a date set in the rules must also carry flood insurance.
• The property must be in insurable condition — in good repair, with no unrepaired damage. TWIA inspects, physically or from aerial imagery, and can reassess a policy at any time.

The WPI-8 certificate of compliance

This is the part that touches a roofing job directly, and it is the part most often discovered late. In the designated area, most new construction, roof replacements, major repairs and other alterations require an inspection and a certificate of compliance confirming the work meets the applicable windstorm building code. TDI issues the certificates.

The practical sequence is therefore: establish whether the address is in the designated area, establish whether the scope needs an inspection, arrange the inspection as part of the job, and confirm the certificate was issued before the job is closed out. TDI’s own advice on making repairs after a storm is blunt about the last step: do not make your final payment until the certificate of compliance has been issued for the work performed.

What does and does not need an inspection

TDI publishes the list, and the general shape of it is that structural work needs a certificate and cosmetic or small work does not. Roof replacement is on the structural side. Among the examples of work that does not require an inspection:

• Roof repairs of less than 100 square feet that do not involve the decking.
• Painting, carpeting, cabinets and other non-structural items.
• Repair or replacement of fences, gutters, decorative shutters, steps and screen doors.
• Plumbing and electrical repairs.
• Replacement of glass in windows or doors.

Note the first one carefully, because it is the line a coastal repair sits on: under 100 square feet and not touching the deck. A repair that grows once the roof is open can cross that line, and it is better to know in advance than to find out afterwards.

What this means for a roofing conversation

1. Ask, early, whether your address is in the designated area. Your agent knows. TDI’s county maps confirm it.
2. Ask the contractor how they will meet the inspection requirement and get a certificate. TDI’s guidance tells homeowners to ask this specifically, and a contractor unfamiliar with the windstorm inspection program is a warning sign on the coast.
3. Get the product side right too. Windstorm compliance depends on the materials as well as the workmanship, and TDI maintains published product evaluations for the designated area. A product that cannot be certified cannot be part of a certified roof.
4. Hold the final payment until the certificate has been issued.
5. Keep the certificate. It is part of the house now, and the next owner’s insurer will want to know it exists.

And if you are inland — which most of this service area is — none of the above applies to you, and your wind and hail cover is in your homeowners policy with a deductible that is probably a percentage of your dwelling limit.