Texas Insurance Claim Resource Center

A property claim is easier to win when it is documented from day one. Use this checklist after any storm, fire, or water loss.

• Report the claim promptly and write down the claim number, the date, and who you spoke with.
• Protect the property from further damage (tarps, water extraction) and keep every receipt.
• Photograph and video everything before and during repairs, including dates and weather reports.
• Request a complete copy of your policy, with all endorsements; exclusions and limits are often in the endorsements.
• Put important communications in writing and keep copies of every letter, estimate, and report.
• Get your own estimate from a qualified contractor, and consider a licensed public adjuster or an attorney if the claim is disputed.
• Calendar your deadlines: the policy’s suit-limitation clause and any proof-of-loss requirement.

Most property policies let either side demand appraisal when the parties disagree on the amount of loss. Each side picks an appraiser, and an umpire resolves disagreements. Key Texas Supreme Court decisions:

• State Farm Lloyds v. Johnson, 290 S.W.3d 886 (Tex. 2009): appraisal decides the amount of loss, not liability, and appraisers may decide some causation questions in valuing the damage.
• Ortiz v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 127 (Tex. 2019): payment of an appraisal award generally bars a breach-of-contract claim and bad-faith claims that seek only policy benefits.
• Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. 2019): paying an appraisal award does not by itself bar prompt-payment damages under Chapter 542 when the insurer was liable and paid late.
• Rodriguez v. Safeco Insurance Co. of Indiana, 684 S.W.3d 789 (Tex. 2024): in a Chapter 542A case, an insurer’s full payment of the appraisal award plus any possible statutory interest forecloses recovery of attorney’s fees.

Texas Insurance Code § 541.060 lists claim-handling conduct that can create liability, including:

• Misrepresenting a material fact or policy provision relating to coverage.
• Failing to attempt in good faith to settle promptly and fairly once liability has become reasonably clear.
• Failing to promptly explain the basis for denying a claim or offering a compromise.
• Failing within a reasonable time to affirm or deny coverage or to send a reservation of rights.
• Refusing to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation.
• Requiring a full release in exchange for a partial payment.

Whether an insurer’s conduct crosses the line depends on the facts. An attorney can evaluate your specific situation.

A quick reference to recurring issues in Texas first-party property litigation. Confirm current law before relying on any summary.

• Tex. Ins. Code § 554.002: the insurer bears the burden on avoidances and affirmative defenses, and exclusion language is an avoidance or affirmative defense.
• Tex. R. Civ. P. 94: an insurer may not rely on an exclusion unless it specifically pleads it.
• Gilbert Texas Construction, L.P. v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 327 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. 2010): insured proves coverage; insurer proves an exclusion; insured proves an exception.
• National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Hudson Energy Co., 811 S.W.2d 552 (Tex. 1991): exclusions are strictly construed against the insurer; the insured’s reasonable construction controls.

• Texas applies a segregation rule: when covered and excluded perils combine, the insured may recover only the damage attributable to the covered peril and generally bears the burden to allocate (Wallis, 2 S.W.3d 300).
• Anti-concurrent-causation language can bar coverage outright (JAW The Pointe, L.L.C. v. Lexington Insurance Co., 460 S.W.3d 597 (Tex. 2015)).
• The doctrine does not bar recovery where the evidence would allow a jury to find the covered peril caused all of the loss (Advanced Indicator & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Acadia Insurance Co., 50 F.4th 469 (5th Cir. 2022)).
• Questions certified by the Fifth Circuit on concurrent causation, including in Overstreet v. Allstate Vehicle & Property Insurance Co., 34 F.4th 496 (5th Cir. 2022), were dismissed without answer by the Supreme Court of Texas.

• Scope: actions on claims for damage to or loss of covered property caused wholly or partly by forces of nature, subject to statutory exceptions (Tex. Ins. Code §§ 542A.001(2), 542A.002).
• Pre-suit notice at least 61 days before filing, stating the specific amount owed and fees computed from contemporaneous time records (§ 542A.003).
• An insurer may elect to accept its agent’s liability; a pre-suit election requires dismissal of the agent with prejudice (§ 542A.006).
• Fee awards are capped by the ratio of the judgment to the amount demanded: full fees at 0.8 or above, none below 0.2 (§ 542A.007).
• Prompt-payment damages: 18% per year plus fees generally (§ 542.060(a)); for Chapter 542A actions, simple interest at the post-judgment rate plus 5% (§ 542.060(c)).

Actual cash value (ACV). The value of damaged property at the time of loss, often calculated as replacement cost minus depreciation. Policies define it differently, so read the definition in your policy.

Replacement cost value (RCV). The cost to repair or replace damaged property with materials of like kind and quality, without deduction for depreciation.

Recoverable depreciation. The amount withheld from an initial replacement-cost payment that the insurer pays after repairs are completed, if the policy provides for it.

Deductible. The portion of a covered loss the policyholder pays. Texas law requires the insured to pay it.

Appraisal. A policy procedure for resolving disputes about the amount of loss, using two appraisers and an umpire.

Umpire. A neutral selected by the appraisers, or by a court, to resolve disagreements between the appraisers.

Proof of loss. A sworn statement of the amount claimed that some policies require within a set time after the insurer requests it.

Reservation of rights. A letter in which an insurer continues handling a claim while reserving the right to deny coverage later.

Examination under oath (EUO). A policy condition allowing the insurer to question the insured under oath about the claim.

Anti-concurrent-causation clause. Policy language excluding a loss caused by an excluded peril regardless of any other cause that contributes to the loss.

Ordinance or law coverage. Coverage, often with a separate limit, for added costs of complying with building codes when repairing covered damage.

Public adjuster. A licensed professional who represents the policyholder, not the insurer, in presenting and negotiating a claim.

Pre-suit notice. Written notice required by Tex. Ins. Code § 542A.003 before suing on most weather-related property claims.