Minnesota law gives a homeowner at least 60 days' written notice of a non-renewal, with the specific reason, and a right to object to the Commissioner of Commerce within 30 days. A switch to a percentage wind and hail deductible needs the same 60 days and a flat-dollar alternative. Flood is a separate policy. If no standard insurer will offer coverage, the Minnesota FAIR Plan is the last resort, and I check other markets before it.
What Minnesota law gives you when the letter arrives
Under Minnesota Statutes section 65A.29, an insurer may not refuse to renew a homeowners policy, reduce its limits or remove a coverage unless it mails at least 60 days' notice with the specific underwriting reason. The notice has to tell you about the Minnesota FAIR Plan and about your right to object. You have 30 days from receiving it to file a written objection with the Commissioner of Commerce, who must approve or disapprove the insurer's action within 30 days. The same section lets you appeal a non-renewal to the commissioner; the policy stays in force while the appeal is pending, and the commissioner must order it reinstated if the non-renewal was unjustified, arbitrary or capricious.
- Claims historyAn insurer cannot non-renew for loss experience unless it first sent you a written warning that future losses could lead to non-renewal. A question to your agent about a possible claim may not be counted as a claim.
- Weather claimsThe rules on loss experience exclude natural causes, with one statutory exception: three or more covered lightning, wind, rain or hail losses, each over ten thousand dollars, in the five years before the non-renewal.
- Mid-term cancellationOnce a policy has been in force 60 days or has renewed, section 65A.01 limits cancellation to a short list of reasons such as nonpayment, with 30 days' notice (20 days for nonpayment). In the first 59 days an insurer may cancel for any reason the statutes do not prohibit.
- InquiriesSection 65A.285 bars a surcharge based solely on a call to the insurer that does not result in a paid claim.
The Commerce Department's Consumer Services Center takes insurance complaints at 651-539-1600. More on the notice itself is on my page about Minnesota non-renewal rules.
Hail, the roof and the deductible
The Minnesota State Climatology Office counts hail two inches across or larger somewhere in the state on seven to eight days in an average year. On August 11, 2023, storms dropped hail from ping pong ball to baseball size on the most heavily populated parts of the metro, with damage streaks across Plymouth, Robbinsdale, Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, Edina, Minneapolis, Richfield and St. Paul; the office reports it made NOAA's list of billion-dollar disasters. On June 19, 2026, a compact cell put half-dollar to golf ball hail on northeastern Minneapolis, Columbia Heights, Fridley, Roseville, the north and east sides of St. Paul, Maplewood and Woodbury. An underwriter looking at a roof in those areas will ask what was done after those dates.
The Commerce Department reported that homeowners insurance complaints more than doubled between 2020 and 2023, from 569 to 1,185, many from owners whose wind and hail claims were denied, often under policy changes they learned of only at claim time. In a presentation to the House commerce committee the department listed the changes insurers were making: roofs moved from replacement cost to actual cash value, particularly at 15 years or older and for certain materials; cosmetic damage and matching limits; a separate wind and hail deductible; and a deductible set as a percentage of the dwelling limit.
Minnesota law puts conditions on the percentage deductible. Under section 65A.29, subdivision 8a, an insurer may move a renewing policy to a percentage deductible for lightning, wind, rain or hail only with 60 days' plain-language notice that includes a worked example, and it must offer at least one reasonable flat-dollar deductible instead. If you renew without choosing, the flat-dollar deductible applies. Where a policy does pay replacement cost, section 65A.10 requires it to pay for repairs that meet the minimum state or local building code. The rules on roofers and deductibles are on my page about Minnesota hail claims and contractors.
A stronger roof is in the statute
Section 65A.298 requires insurers to give a premium discount or rate reduction to an owner who builds a home, or retrofits an existing one, to the FORTIFIED standard with the hail supplement, as administered by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. You prove it with the institute's certificate, and the discount applies to policies that include wind coverage; each insurer files its own amount. Section 65A.299 creates the Strengthen Minnesota Homes program in the Commerce Department to make retrofit grants. In February 2026 the Legislature's Task Force on Homeowners and Commercial Property Insurance recommended that the Legislature fund that program, so ask the department whether grants are open before you plan a roof around one.
The Minnesota FAIR Plan, in plain words
The Minnesota FAIR Plan was set up in 1968 for owners who cannot get property insurance in the standard market, and every property insurer in the state takes part in it. Its own site states the rules:
- Who qualifiesYou must have been canceled, non-renewed or otherwise unable to get coverage, and you give the reason on the application. An offer from a standard insurer disqualifies you.
- What it writesA homeowners policy for an owner-occupied primary residence, a modified-coverage homeowners form, unit-owner and renter forms, and dwelling fire policies for other homes.
- How muchThe limit will not exceed the market value of the structures, taken from the county assessor or a recent sale price, plus a reasonable amount for debris removal and demolition. On an older house that can be less than the cost to rebuild.
- PaperworkA county record showing assessed value and color photographs of the front and back of every structure, taken within 30 days. No premium goes in with the application; once an offer is made you have 30 days to pay, and coverage starts only when payment is received.
By statute the plan may not turn a property down for its condition without a physical inspection. The plan describes its own goal as helping policyholders move back to the standard market, which is how I treat it: a bridge while the roof, wiring or claims record that caused the non-renewal is dealt with. Before it, I check the standard insurers and then surplus lines insurers.
Ice dams, sewer backup and flood
The Commerce Department's home energy guide says the primary cause of ice dams is warm air leaking into the attic, not the roofing or the vents: heat melts the underside of the snow, the water refreezes at the cold eaves, and ice backs up under the shingles and leaks into ceilings and walls. The guide advises against heating cables and chipping, and says sealing the attic air leaks prevents nearly all ice dams. Underwriters ask about prior ice dam water claims, and a record that the attic was air-sealed afterward is the answer they want to see.
The department's disaster guide is direct on the other two: a standard homeowners policy does not provide flood coverage, and sewer backup is an endorsement you have to ask for. Flood insurance is a separate policy, from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer. See flood insurance and the Minnesota flood guide.
What I need to quote
The address, year built and square footage; the roof material and the year it was last replaced, with the invoice or permit if hail prompted it; updates to wiring, plumbing and heating; any claims in the last five years; the current declarations page; and the non-renewal or renewal notice with its date. If you have a FORTIFIED certificate or records of attic air-sealing, send those too.
Common questions
Who insures a home in Minneapolis after a non-renewal?
Standard insurers first, since the reason one company drops a home is often not a reason for another. Then surplus lines insurers, and last the Minnesota FAIR Plan, which only takes applicants with no standard offer.
How much notice does a Minnesota insurer have to give before non-renewing my homeowners policy?
At least 60 days, in writing, with the specific reason, under Minnesota Statutes section 65A.29. The notice must also tell you about the FAIR Plan and your right to object to the Commissioner of Commerce within 30 days.
Can my insurer drop me for hail claims in Minnesota?
Loss experience from natural causes is generally excluded, but the statute allows non-renewal after three or more covered wind, hail, rain or lightning losses, each over ten thousand dollars, within five years.
Why did my wind and hail deductible change to a percentage?
Insurers have been moving Minnesota policies to percentage deductibles. The law requires 60 days' notice with an example and a flat-dollar option, and the flat-dollar deductible applies if you renew without choosing.
Does the Minnesota FAIR Plan pay to rebuild my house?
Its limit is capped at the market value of the structures plus a reasonable amount for debris removal, so on some older homes it will be less than the rebuild cost. It is meant as temporary coverage.
Does homeowners insurance in Minnesota cover flooding or sewer backup?
No to flood, which needs a separate NFIP or private flood policy. Sewer backup is an endorsement you add to the homeowners policy, according to the Commerce Department.
Is there a discount for a hail-resistant roof in Minnesota?
Yes. Section 65A.298 requires a discount or rate reduction for a home certified to the FORTIFIED standard with the hail supplement; the amount is set in each insurer's filing.
General information about home insurance in Minneapolis and St. Paul as of November 2026, not legal advice. Statute summaries are from the Minnesota Revisor's site; insurer appetite, FAIR Plan rules and grant funding change. Read your own notice and policy, and confirm deadlines with the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.