Three losses shape how underwriters read a Houston complex: hurricane wind, flood that reaches well past the mapped floodplain, and freeze. Most of the city sits outside the state windstorm pool’s territory, the Texas FAIR Plan does not write apartment buildings, and flood has to be bought on its own. Send me the roof ages, flood history and loss runs and I can show you where the building fits.
What underwriters ask about a Houston apartment building
- Wind and named stormsHurricane Ike came through the Houston area in 2008 and Harvey made landfall in 2017. Wind is usually subject to its own percentage deductible. How those deductibles work.
- FloodExcluded from the property policy and bought separately. In Harvey, about two-thirds of the structural damage reported in Harris County was outside the mapped 100-year floodplain.
- FreezeThe February 2021 winter storm produced more reported claims in Harris County than in any other Texas county.
- Roofs and building ageRoof age, covering and last replacement, building by building, drive both eligibility and the wind terms offered.
- City inspectionsHouston registers and inspects apartment properties with three or more units under its Multi-Family Habitability Program.
The policy structure is the same as anywhere (how apartment programs are put together); what changes in Houston is which peril gets which deductible, and which perils need their own policy.
Wind, hail and named-storm deductibles
On a Gulf Coast apartment schedule, the wind deductible is usually the most expensive line on the quote that nobody reads. The Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel describes three kinds: a hurricane deductible, which applies to storms categorized as hurricanes; a named-storm deductible, triggered once the National Weather Service names a storm, which usually takes in tropical storms as well; and a wind/hail deductible, the broadest, which applies to any wind or hail event. The same office reminds buyers that a percentage deductible is figured on the amount of insurance, not on the size of the claim, and the Texas Department of Insurance tells them to work out what the percentage means in real money before buying.
For an apartment owner that raises practical questions:
- Percent of what? Of each building’s limit, of the whole location, or of the total insured value on the schedule. On a multi-building complex the difference is large.
- Which trigger? A named-storm deductible leaves an ordinary spring hailstorm under the regular deductible; a wind/hail deductible does not.
- Is wind covered at all? Some property policies near the coast exclude wind entirely, and the wind is then placed on a separate policy.
- How are roofs settled? Replacement cost or actual cash value, and whether cosmetic damage to metal is excluded. More on wind and hail coverage.
TWIA and the Texas FAIR Plan: what they do not do for Houston apartments
Owners moving in from other states often assume there is a state plan behind them. In Houston there mostly is not.
- TWIA territoryThe Texas Windstorm Insurance Association writes in the 14 first-tier coastal counties and in parts of Harris County east of Highway 146: property inside the city limits of La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Pasadena, Seabrook and Shoreacres. A building anywhere else in Harris County is outside it.
- What TWIA coversWind and hail only, on residential and commercial property, after at least one insurer writing wind in the area has declined, and with a windstorm certificate of compliance (WPI-8) on the building, with limited exceptions. How TWIA works.
- Texas FAIR PlanA residential plan: one- and two-family dwellings, townhouse and condominium units, and tenants’ contents. It does not write apartment buildings. In October 2025 it began offering property owners’ association coverage in a part of Harris County near Clear Lake, which is not apartment coverage either. How the Texas FAIR Plan works.
So a Houston apartment building that standard insurers decline goes to the surplus lines market, not to a state pool. That is where most older, coastal-side or loss-heavy complexes are placed, and it is why the submission has to be complete the first time.
Flood is a separate policy, and the map is not the test
The National Hurricane Center’s report on Harvey (August 2017) records that 9 of the 19 official river gauges in Harris County reached all-time high flood stages and that more than 300,000 structures flooded across southeastern Texas. The Harris County Flood Control District says approximately 68 percent of the structural damage reported in the county was outside the mapped 100-year floodplain, and that flooding from sources other than channels and bayous is a major threat in the region.
What that means for the insurance:
- Flood is excluded from the property policy. It is bought through the National Flood Insurance Program, the private market, or both. How flood insurance works.
- NFIP limits are small next to a complex. For “other residential” buildings, the class apartment buildings fall in, the program’s maximum is five hundred thousand dollars on the building and one hundred thousand dollars on contents, per building. Excess flood sits above that.
- Rebuilding may mean elevating. Houston requires new construction in high flood risk areas to be at least two feet above the 500-year flood elevation. A badly damaged older building can face that standard, which is what ordinance or law coverage and the flood policy’s increased cost of compliance coverage are for.
- Tenants must be told. Texas Property Code 92.0135 requires a signed notice in or with the lease stating whether the landlord is aware the dwelling is in a 100-year floodplain and whether it has flooded in the last five years. If the notice is skipped and a tenant suffers a substantial flood loss to belongings, the tenant may terminate the lease.
Freeze: the loss Houston buildings were not built for
From February 11 to 19, 2021, most of Texas sat in prolonged cold with sustained or rotating power outages, and the Texas Department of Insurance counted the damage from frozen pipes, ice and related causes. Its final data, as of June 30, 2022, shows 511,473 claims statewide and 112,163 in Harris County, the most of any county. Commercial property made up about 10 percent of the claims but 46 percent of the paid losses, because each claim was so much larger, and 13.4 percent of commercial property claims were still open sixteen months after the storm.
Underwriters now ask Houston apartment owners what they did not ask before: whether supply lines and fire sprinkler piping run through unheated attics or breezeways, whether vacant units are kept heated, who shuts off the water and where, and whether there is a written freeze plan. A long claim is also a long vacancy, so the loss of rents period matters as much as the limit. How income coverage works.
Loss of rents and what Texas law does to the lease
Texas Property Code 92.054 sets the rules after an insured casualty such as fire, smoke or hail. The landlord’s period for repair does not begin until the insurance proceeds are received. If the unit is as a practical matter totally unusable, and the tenant did not cause the loss, either the landlord or the tenant may terminate the lease by written notice any time before repairs are completed, and the tenant is owed a pro rata refund of rent and the security deposit otherwise required by law. If the unit is partly unusable, the tenant is entitled to a proportionate rent reduction, but only on a court’s judgment, unless the written lease says otherwise.
In practice, tenants in badly damaged units leave and stop paying. Loss of rents coverage is what replaces that income while the building is repaired, so I size it to the real rent roll and to a repair time that assumes every contractor in the county is busy after the same storm.
Liability and the city’s habitability inspections
Houston’s Multi-Family Habitability Program dates to a November 2009 ordinance (Code of Ordinances, section 10-151). Every apartment community with three or more units must register, and the city’s stated goal is to inspect all of them on a four-year cycle, with complaint-driven inspections in between. Inspectors mainly evaluate exteriors and common areas: stairways, balconies and railings, exterior lighting, walkways, visible structural problems, plus electrical, plumbing, mechanical and swimming pool hazards and permit compliance. In March 2026 a City Council joint committee was reviewing a proposed inspection program for high-risk apartment properties; check with the Houston Permitting Center for its current status.
Those are the same places injury claims come from. State law adds its own list: Property Code 92.153 requires window latches, door locks, keyless bolting devices and door viewers on each dwelling without the tenant having to ask. An open violation notice is read by a liability underwriter as a claim waiting to happen, so clear them and keep the paperwork. Then put a commercial umbrella over the primary limit.
What to send me
- Address, year built, stories, unit count and construction type for each building, with a statement of values.
- Roofs: age, covering and last replacement by building, with invoices or permits.
- Flood: the flood zone, an elevation certificate if you have one, whether any building took water in Harvey or since, and current flood declarations.
- Wind: the current wind, hail or named-storm deductible wording, and a WPI-8 certificate if the building is east of Highway 146.
- Freeze protection: where the piping runs, what was repaired after February 2021, and your winter plan.
- Current declarations pages for property, flood, liability and umbrella, plus five years of loss runs with what was repaired.
- The rent roll and occupancy, the city habitability registration, the latest inspection result and any open notices.
Common questions
Who insures apartment buildings in Houston?
Standard commercial property and liability insurers write newer, well-maintained complexes; older, coastal-side or loss-heavy buildings usually go to the surplus lines market. I shop both and tell you which one your building fits.
Does apartment building insurance in Houston cover flood?
No. Flood is excluded from commercial property policies and is bought separately through the National Flood Insurance Program, the private flood market, or both.
Can a Houston apartment building get windstorm coverage from TWIA?
Only if it sits in the small part of Harris County east of Highway 146 inside La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Pasadena, Seabrook or Shoreacres and meets TWIA’s other requirements. The rest of Houston is outside TWIA’s territory, and wind stays with the property insurer or a separate wind policy.
Does the Texas FAIR Plan cover apartment buildings?
No. It is a residential plan for one- and two-family dwellings, townhouse and condominium units and tenants’ contents.
Why did my Houston apartment insurance deductible change to a percentage?
After repeated hurricane, hail and freeze losses, many insurers moved wind, hail or named-storm losses to a percentage deductible. It is figured on the amount of insurance, not the claim, so ask whether it applies per building or to the whole schedule.
Do I need flood insurance if my Houston apartment complex is outside the floodplain?
It is worth pricing. The Harris County Flood Control District says about 68 percent of the structural damage reported in Harvey was outside the mapped 100-year floodplain.
Are frozen pipe losses covered on a Houston apartment building?
Sudden pipe bursts are generally covered by commercial property policies, but many carry conditions about maintaining heat or shutting off water in vacant units. Read those conditions before winter, not after.
General information about insuring apartment buildings in Houston and Harris County as of November 2026, not legal advice. TWIA and Texas FAIR Plan eligibility, National Flood Insurance Program limits, city inspection rules and the Texas Property Code change; confirm your building’s status with the Houston Permitting Center, the Texas Department of Insurance and your attorney. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.