Wind and hail usually carry their own deductible, often a percentage, and older roofs may be paid at a depreciated value. Earthquake is a separate coverage, and whether it answers for an induced earthquake depends on the policy wording. Flood is a separate policy too. Oklahoma bars cities from regulating rent and has no FAIR Plan for apartment buildings. Send me the roof facts by building, the storm claim history and the rent roll.
What underwriters ask about an Oklahoma City apartment building
- Roofs, building by buildingAge, material, last replacement and any impact-resistant rating. On a garden-style property with many buildings, this is most of the conversation.
- Wind and hail deductibleWhether it is flat or a percentage, and whether it applies per building or per location.
- Roof valuationReplacement cost or actual cash value, and any exclusion for cosmetic damage.
- Storm claim historyWhat was replaced after each hail or wind claim and what was only patched.
- Earthquake wordingIf you carry earthquake coverage, whether it treats an induced earthquake as covered.
- Freeze and outage planHow heat is kept on in vacant units and what happens when power is out for days.
The rest of the program is built as it is anywhere (how an apartment program is put together).
Tornadoes: May 3, 1999 and May 20, 2013
The National Weather Service office in Norman keeps the record. On May 3, 1999, 58 tornadoes occurred in its forecast area. One, rated F5, tracked from near Amber through Bridge Creek, the southern sections of Oklahoma City and the northern sections of Moore, then on into Del City and Midwest City. The outbreak killed 40 people in Oklahoma and injured 675, and the office calls it the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the state.
On May 20, 2013 a tornado touched down at 2:56 PM on the west side of Newcastle, became violent within minutes, and crossed Moore and parts of south Oklahoma City for about 40 minutes. The survey gave it a rating of EF-5, a path of about 14 miles and a preliminary maximum width of 1.1 miles. It took 24 lives. The same office lists it as the most costly tornado ever to occur in Oklahoma.
- Tornado is wind. A commercial property policy covers tornado damage as windstorm, subject to the wind and hail deductible. There is no separate tornado policy to buy.
- Total losses test the limit. A direct hit is one of the few events that destroys a whole building, so the building limit has to reflect today’s rebuild cost, and rebuilding to current code is an added coverage. Ordinance or law coverage explained.
- Rent stops for a long time. After a storm that damages thousands of structures at once, contractors are scarce. I set the loss of rents period with that in mind. How income coverage works.
State-by-state counts are on my tornadoes by state page.
Hail, roofs and the wind and hail deductible
Tornadoes make the news; hail makes the claims. The Oklahoma Insurance Department says hail damage is the most common claim type for homeowners insurance in the state, and warns that policies may restrict hail coverage, for example with exceptions for cosmetic damage or higher deductibles specifically for hail. It adds that in higher-risk areas a policy may carry a separate deductible for that peril. Those statements are written for homeowners, but apartment policies in this market use the same tools.
For a sense of scale, the Weather Service describes the storm of May 16, 2010 this way: a supercell laid down at least golf-ball-size hail from south of Kingfisher to northwest Oklahoma City, with embedded areas larger than baseballs, damage reports came in by the hundreds as it crossed the heart of the metro, and hail drifts reached several feet deep in places.
- Read how the deductible applies. A percentage wind and hail deductible taken per building is a very different number from the same percentage taken once per location. On a property with a dozen roofs I work it out both ways before you choose.
- Know how the roof is valued. Some quotes pay an older roof at actual cash value, meaning depreciated. Replacement cost and actual cash value compared.
- Cosmetic damage exclusions. Dented metal that still sheds water may not be paid for under such a clause. It should be a decision you make, not a surprise.
More on the coverage itself: wind and hail insurance.
Earthquakes and what the policy calls man-made
The U.S. Geological Survey says Oklahoma’s surge in earthquakes began in 2009 and was large enough that the state’s rate of magnitude 3 and larger earthquakes exceeded California’s from 2014 through 2017. It attributes the majority of them to wastewater disposal, in which fluid waste from oil and gas production is injected deep underground, and says few were induced by hydraulic fracturing. The largest was the magnitude 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee in September 2016.
That cause matters for insurance. In Earthquake Insurance Bulletin PC 2015-02, issued March 3, 2015, the Insurance Commissioner wrote that earthquake insurance generally excluded loss due in whole or part to any man-made cause such as construction, mining, or oil and gas exploration and production, and noted 567 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher in the state in 2014. A revision dated August 5, 2015 reported that the industry had begun offering enhanced earthquake coverage that treats earthquakes caused by water disposal injection wells or hydraulic fracturing as covered events.
The Department’s consumer guidance today is short: whether an earthquake caused by wastewater injection is covered depends on the policy language, so ask. It also says insurers may impose a waiting period of 72 hours to 60 days after an earthquake before selling coverage, that deductibles are a percentage of the insured value, and that masonry veneer is a common exclusion. Earthquake is not part of a standard property policy. For an apartment building it is added by endorsement or bought separately, and I read the definition of earthquake in the form before I recommend it.
Ice storms, freeze and flood
From October 26 to 28, 2020 an early-season ice storm crossed central and western Oklahoma. The Weather Service reported freezing rain accumulations of at least 1.5 inches in parts of west-central and central Oklahoma, totals above half an inch across a wide area from Ponca City to Oklahoma City to Lawton, extensive tree and power line damage, and hundreds of thousands of people without power by October 28.
For an apartment owner an ice storm is three claims at once: limbs through roofs and onto cars, units without heat, and pipes that freeze once the power has been out long enough. Property policies often condition freeze coverage on keeping heat on in the building, and loss of income from a utility failure away from your premises is usually an added coverage with its own waiting period. I check both.
Flood is always a separate policy, bought through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer. The same storm system that produced the El Reno tornado on May 31, 2013 also brought flash flooding to the metro, which the Weather Service counts among the deadliest flash flood events in Oklahoma City’s history. How flood insurance works.
Oklahoma landlord and tenant law, and no FAIR Plan
The Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Title 41) sets the owner’s duties. Under Section 118 a landlord must keep common areas clean, safe and sanitary, make all repairs needed to keep the unit fit and habitable, keep electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems and elevators in good and safe working order, and supply running water, reasonable hot water and reasonable heat unless the unit has its own metered utility connections.
- Fourteen and thirty daysFor a breach that materially affects health or safety, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends in not less than thirty days unless the breach is remedied within fourteen.
- Repair and deductIf the repair costs no more than one month’s rent, the tenant may do it at the landlord’s expense after fourteen days’ written notice, a ceiling the Legislature raised in 2022.
- Essential servicesIf the landlord willfully or negligently fails to supply heat, water, electric, gas or another essential service, the tenant may move to reasonable substitute housing and is excused from rent for that period, among other choices.
Rent itself is not regulated. Title 11, Section 14-101.1 bars any municipal governing body from enacting or enforcing an ordinance that regulates the rent charged for privately owned residential or commercial rental property.
Oklahoma also has no FAIR Plan that writes apartment buildings. What the Insurance Department points to is the Oklahoma Market Assistance Program, which helps people find homeowners insurance and refers applications for owner-occupied dwellings to insurers. An apartment building the standard market declines goes to surplus lines insurers, and the liability side, with an umbrella over it, is placed the same way.
What to send me
- Address, year built, stories and unit count, with construction type, for each building.
- Roof facts by building: age, material, last replacement, any impact-resistant rating, and photos.
- Hail, wind and tornado claim history, with what was replaced and what was repaired.
- Current declarations pages, showing the wind and hail deductible, how the roof is valued, and any earthquake or flood coverage.
- The current rent roll and a recent operating statement.
- Five years of loss runs for property and liability.
- System updates with years: wiring, plumbing, heating and cooling, and whether units are individually metered.
- Your winter plan: how vacant units are heated, tree trimming near buildings, and any generator.
Common questions
Why did my apartment building insurance go up in Oklahoma City?
Wind and hail are the usual reason. The Oklahoma Insurance Department calls hail the most common homeowners claim type in the state, and roof age and prior storm claims weigh heavily on apartment renewals for the same reason.
Is tornado damage covered on an apartment building in Oklahoma City?
Yes, as windstorm under the property policy, subject to the wind and hail deductible. Check whether that deductible is a percentage and whether it applies per building.
Do I need earthquake insurance on an apartment building in Oklahoma City?
It is not required by law. A standard property policy does not cover earthquake, and if you buy the coverage, confirm in writing that earthquakes induced by oil and gas activity are covered, because the Insurance Department says that depends on the policy language.
Does Oklahoma have a FAIR Plan for apartment buildings?
No. The state’s Market Assistance Program helps with homeowners insurance on owner-occupied dwellings; apartment buildings the standard market declines are placed with surplus lines insurers.
Does Oklahoma City have rent control?
No. Oklahoma law bars municipalities from enacting or enforcing ordinances that regulate the rent charged for privately owned residential rental property.
Does apartment building insurance in Oklahoma City cover an ice storm?
Damage from the weight of ice and from falling limbs is generally covered by the property policy. Frozen pipe coverage often depends on heat being maintained, and lost rent from an off-site power outage is usually an added coverage.
Does my Oklahoma City apartment policy cover flash flooding?
No. Flood is excluded from commercial property policies and is bought separately through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer.
General information about insuring apartment buildings in Oklahoma City as of November 2026, not legal advice. Deductibles, roof valuation and earthquake wording differ by policy, and the Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act changes; read your own policy and confirm your duties with the Oklahoma Insurance Department and counsel. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.