Maryland requires at least 45 days' written notice of a non-renewal; the District's regulator lists 30 days for homeowners. In Maryland an insurer cannot drop you over weather claims unless there were three or more in three years. Each jurisdiction has its own last-resort plan, and neither one covers flood. I try the regular market first and use the plan only when the regular market says no.
What the notice has to say, on each side of the line
Maryland. Under Insurance Article section 27-602, an insurer must send written notice at least 45 days before it cancels or declines to renew a homeowners policy for any reason other than unpaid premium, by a first-class mail tracking method, and at least 10 days before a cancellation for non-payment. The same notice has to tell you about your possible right to replace the coverage through the Maryland Property Insurance Availability Act, with the plan's current address and telephone number. Mid-term cancellation is limited to a short list: material misrepresentation or fraud, a threat to public safety, a change in the risk that increases the hazard, non-payment, or a conviction for arson. More detail is on my page about Maryland non-renewal rules.
The District. The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) lists 30 days' notice for a homeowners non-renewal, and 30 days for cancelling a policy that has been in force 31 days or more. In a 2018 notice DISB reminded insurers that every cancellation or non-renewal notice must give the reasons relied on, your appeal rights and procedures, and your possible eligibility for a residual market plan, and that a notice without them is defective. See the DC non-renewal page for the steps.
Weather claims and the 2012 derecho
On the night of June 29, 2012 a derecho crossed the District and central Maryland. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center's account says the effects were particularly acute in suburban Washington and Baltimore, where measured gusts of 65 to 75 miles per hour cut overhead feeders, more than two million customers lost power, and some waited nearly a week for it to return. Most of the claims were trees on roofs.
Maryland law speaks directly to what an insurer may do with claims like those. Under Insurance Article section 27-501, an insurer may not cancel or refuse to renew homeowners coverage because of weather-related claims unless there were three or more of them in the preceding three years. There is one exception: the insurer may count a weather claim if it had given you written notice of a reasonable repair specific to your home, you did not make it, and the repair would have prevented the loss. The Maryland Insurance Administration's homeowners guide adds that the standards for non-weather claims vary by insurer, and that insurers must tell you in writing, at application and at each renewal, that claim counts can lead to non-renewal.
So when a Maryland notice gives claims as the reason, I ask for the claims list and sort it: which were weather, which were not, and whether a repair letter was ever sent. I did not find an equivalent weather-claims statute for the District, so I do not promise one there.
Maryland's hurricane deductible, and when it applies
- What it isInsurance Article section 19-209 lets an insurer require, or offer, a deductible equal to a percentage of the Coverage A dwelling limit, not of the loss.
- The triggerA mandatory hurricane deductible applies only from the time the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning for any part of Maryland until 24 hours after the last such warning ends.
- Where you live does not matterThe statute applies it regardless of where in the State the home is, so a warning for the Atlantic coast can switch it on for a house in Towson or Columbia.
- The five percent lineAn insurer may not adopt a standard requiring a hurricane deductible above five percent of the dwelling limit unless it has filed that standard with the Commissioner at least 60 days ahead.
- Annual statementAn insurer with a percentage deductible must send you a statement every year explaining how it is applied.
Two practical points follow. A derecho or a summer thunderstorm is not a hurricane warning, so a hurricane deductible written to this trigger does not apply to it; a separate wind or storm deductible, if the policy has one, is a different clause and I read it separately. And these are Maryland rules. For a District home the deductible is whatever the policy says, which is why I compare the deductible pages of each quote side by side.
Rowhouses, vacant neighbours and basements
Baltimore's housing department describes the city's housing stock as composed primarily of attached rowhouses. For underwriting that means shared walls, flat or low-slope roofs with a known age, and, on many blocks, a vacant house next door. An insurer in the regular market may decline for the neighbour. The Maryland Insurance Administration says the Joint Insurance Association will issue a policy if its own underwriting guidelines are met, even if the building is adjacent to vacant properties.
Basements are the other issue. Maryland insurers are required by law to offer, in writing at application and at each renewal, the option of coverage for water that backs up through sewers or drains. It costs extra and may carry its own deductible, and it is the item I most often find missing on a rowhouse policy that has just been re-priced.
If nobody will write it: the JIA and the DC facility
The Maryland Joint Insurance Association (JIA) and the District of Columbia Property Insurance Facility (DCPIF) are the two FAIR plans. Each covers property only inside its own jurisdiction, and each takes applications through an insurance producer or directly.
- Who qualifiesOwners who have been unable to get essential property insurance in the competitive market. The DC facility asks for a copy of the cancellation or non-renewal statement and photographs with the application, and inspects every property.
- What they writeHomeowners forms HO-2, HO-4, HO-6 and HO-8 and the DP-1 dwelling fire form. Homeowners coverage requires that the owner live in the home.
- What they will not takeVacant or unoccupied homes, seasonal dwellings, mobile homes, and homes under construction or major renovation until occupied.
- LimitsAs of November 2026 both plans' websites list a maximum dwelling limit of six hundred fourteen thousand, with contents at half of that. A larger home needs another answer.
- FloodNeither plan covers flood.
The Maryland regulator says plainly that JIA coverage may be more restrictive than other insurers' and may cost more. So the order I work in is admitted insurers, then surplus lines, then the plan.
Tidal surge, flash floods, and the separate policy
Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 pushed a storm surge of six to eight feet above normal into the upper Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis and Baltimore and about eight feet up the Potomac at Washington; the National Hurricane Center's report says water levels in all three cities exceeded the records set in 1933. On July 30, 2016, torrential rain sent a flash flood through Old Town Ellicott City, west of Baltimore; the National Weather Service reported two deaths, many damaged buildings and hundreds of vehicles affected.
The Maryland Insurance Administration's guide says most standard homeowners policies do not cover damage from rising water, and that flood coverage comes from the National Flood Insurance Program, some private insurers and other sources. I quote flood insurance alongside the home policy, since a surge on the Potomac and a cloudburst over a buried stream are both flood to an adjuster.
What I need to quote
The address, the notice, and the current declarations page are enough to begin. Then: whether the home is attached or detached, roof type and the year it was last replaced, the age of the wiring, plumbing and heating, whether the basement is finished and whether you carry sewer back-up coverage, your claims in the last three years with the cause of each, whether the house next door is occupied, and the date coverage must start.
Common questions
Who insures a home in Baltimore after a non-renewal?
Other admitted insurers first, then surplus lines insurers, then the Maryland Joint Insurance Association for owners who cannot get coverage in the competitive market. The JIA writes owner-occupied homes, including row homes and condominiums, on narrower forms than a standard policy.
How much notice does my insurer have to give before non-renewing in Maryland?
At least 45 days' written notice for any reason other than non-payment, under Insurance Article section 27-602, and the notice must tell you how to reach the state's property insurance availability plan.
How much notice is required for a homeowners non-renewal in Washington, DC?
DISB lists 30 days for homeowners. The notice must state the reasons, your appeal rights and your possible eligibility for a residual market plan.
Can my insurer drop me for storm claims in Maryland?
Not for weather-related claims unless you had three or more in the preceding three years, or the insurer had told you in writing to make a specific repair that would have prevented the loss and you did not make it.
When does a hurricane deductible apply in Maryland?
A mandatory percentage hurricane deductible applies only from a National Hurricane Center hurricane warning for any part of Maryland until 24 hours after the last warning ends, wherever in the State the home is.
Does the DC Property Insurance Facility or the Maryland JIA cover flood?
No. Both plans say their policies do not cover flood, and standard homeowners policies do not either; flood needs a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer.
Where do I complain about a non-renewal in Maryland or DC?
In Maryland, to the Maryland Insurance Administration, which says it will investigate any complaint from a resident who believes an insurer or the JIA refused coverage unlawfully. In the District, to DISB, which handles home insurance complaints including policy cancellations.
General information about home insurance in Washington, DC, Baltimore and central Maryland as of November 2026, not legal advice. Maryland Insurance Article sections, DISB notices, the plans' forms and limits and flood maps change; Maryland rules do not apply in the District or the reverse, and your policy wording controls what is covered. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.