Roof inspection for insurance: what the insurer's inspection can decide

The Texas Department of Insurance says plainly that your insurance company will inspect your roof when you apply, and that it may charge you more or refuse to insure you based on what it sees. That inspection is the company's underwriting. It is not a report written for you, and the decisions that follow from it are the company's.

A roof certification is a different document for a different purpose, and on the coast it is a different document again from a windstorm certificate. That distinction is worked through in roof certification versus WPI-8. This post is about the insurer's side.

What the company can do with what it sees

TDI lists the ways a roof's condition can change a policy. Some policies pay less if the roof is older or showing wear. As roofs age, some companies switch roof coverage to actual cash value, and if the roof is in poor condition the company might not cover it at all. TDI also says the company should tell you when it changes your coverage, and advises checking for roof coverage changes at each renewal.

Under an actual cash value policy, what is paid for roof damage depends on how old the roof is. And TDI adds that an insurer will not pay for a new roof just because it is old or worn out.

What the company may not do, and what it owes you

The Consumer Bill of Rights every Texas homeowners insurer must give with the policy draws the line. A company cannot refuse to renew based on the age of the property, but it can refuse based on its condition, and the roof is named. It cannot refuse to renew based on claims for damage from natural causes, including weather related damage.

If it does not renew, the Bill of Rights says the company must tell you at least 60 days before the policy expires, or you can require it to renew. TDI says the company must give the reason if you ask, and that for a policy declined, canceled or not renewed after January 1, 2026, it must give a written statement of why. TDI also notes a company might give six months to make repairs before it will not renew.

In a policy's first 60 days the rules are narrower. Among the few grounds for cancelling then, the Bill of Rights lists rejecting a required inspection report within 10 days after receiving it, where the report was made by a licensed or authorized inspector and is no more than 90 days old.

Where your own documentation fits

Which report a company requires, and from whom, is the company's decision. Ask it in writing what it needs before ordering anything, because a letter that answers a different question does not help. If the company has given time to make repairs, the repair is a contractor's work, and the guide for roofing contractors covers what a contractor may and may not do on an insured job.

Where the request is for an engineer's opinion on the roof as it stands, that is a sealed letter. On this firm's roof line the letter states observed condition only, makes no estimate of remaining service life, and makes no promise that the roof will not leak. A roof that needs work gets a written repair list first, and the letter issues after a return visit has verified each item. What it costs is in roof inspection cost.

One request it does not answer. The roof certification protocol this firm works to declines a roof with an open insurance claim where the letter would become a tool in that claim, and refers the owner to an independent firm. What an adjuster and an engineer each do after a storm is in hail damage roof inspection.

Before the next renewal

TDI suggests asking your agent whether the wind and hail deductible differs from the deductible for other damage, because a different one can mean paying more after a storm. If the company does not renew, TDI's advice is to start shopping and have a new policy in place before the current one expires, and it describes the FAIR Plan as the provider of last resort where at least two companies refuse to insure the home. A complaint about a nonrenewal or cancellation that seems unfair goes to TDI.

If the company has asked in writing for an engineer's opinion on the roof's condition, send that request with the order so the letter answers it. Start the roof certification online, or read what the sealed letter covers first.