Windstorm exclusions and wind-only policies

In most of the country, wind and hail are covered by the standard homeowners policy. In some hurricane-exposed areas, the private insurer attaches a windstorm exclusion instead, and the owner buys wind and hail coverage separately, usually from a state-run wind pool. Each policy covers part of the house, each has its own deductible and claim process, and your mortgage lender will want proof of both.

That two-policy structure is legitimate and common along parts of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. It also produces a set of gaps and coordination problems that a single policy does not, and they surface at the worst time, after the storm.

What a windstorm exclusion does

A windstorm or hail exclusion is an endorsement that removes wind and hail from the perils the homeowners policy insures. The policy still covers fire, theft, liability and the other perils on the form, but a storm that tears the roof off is not its problem. Insurance Services Office, the industry's forms developer, publishes versions for its programs; the one for its dwelling-fire program is numbered DP 04 37. Because the endorsement overrides the base form, you find it by reading the list of forms and endorsements on your declarations page, not the policy booklet.

Related carve-outs go by other names: a named-storm exclusion, or a hurricane exclusion. In Hawaii, the Insurance Division says hurricane coverage "may be provided through a separate policy or endorsement" and "may have its own deductible," and the III reports that most homeowners insurers there exclude hurricane damage, so it must be bought separately (Hawaii Insurance Division). The Division adds that most companies have a "72-hour clause" tying coverage to damage sustained within 72 hours after a hurricane watch or warning is issued by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Hawaii has the details.

Who writes the wind-only coverage

Most wind-only policies come from state-created plans, often called wind pools or beach plans, that act as insurers of last resort. The roster below is from the Property Insurance Plans Service Office member list and each plan's own pages, all read in October 2026.

Louisiana folds its coastal plan and FAIR plan into one entity, Louisiana Citizens. For how these plans work and who runs them, see beach and windstorm pools along the coast: how they work, TWIA and the Texas FAIR Plan: what each covers and when you need them and Citizens Property Insurance in Florida: who qualifies and what to know.

What a wind-only policy leaves out

TWIA states plainly that it covers wind and hail only. The pattern is the same elsewhere: a wind-only policy pays for direct physical damage from wind and hail and is not a homeowners policy. You should expect that fire, theft, liability, water damage from plumbing and the rest still depend on the other policy, and that flood and storm surge need a third one (hurricane coverage: wind, flood and storm surge). Ask these specific questions of each policy:

• Loss of use. Additional living expense under the homeowners policy pays when a loss covered by that policy makes the home unfit to live in. If wind is excluded from it, a storm loss may not trigger it. Ask whether the wind-only policy includes loss of use, and for how much. See loss of use and additional living expenses.
• Contents. Does the wind policy cover personal property or only the building?
• Interior rain. Both policies may limit rain damage inside the house unless wind first opens the roof or a wall. The rain-entry condition is in the ISO windstorm peril for contents, and wind-pool forms have their own wording.
• Limits. Pools cap what they will write. TWIA's published maximum for a dwelling and its contents was $1,773,000 for policies effective on or after January 1, 2016, though its 2026 annual report lists a limit adjustment submitted to the Texas Department of Insurance in August 2025, so confirm the current figure. A house that costs more to rebuild needs a second layer of coverage.
• Deductibles. Each policy has its own, and wind-pool deductibles are typically percentages. TWIA's residential options are $100, $250 or 1%, with optional larger deductibles up to 5% for a credit.

When wind and something else hit together

Say a storm takes the roof off and a fire follows when a damaged electrical panel sparks. The wind claim goes to the pool, and the fire claim goes to the homeowners insurer, each with its own adjuster, estimate and deductible. The insurers may disagree on how much of the ceiling and interior damage came from wind, water entering the open roof, or fire. For a house damaged by both wind and surge, the same sorting happens between the wind policy and the flood policy (wind vs water: the hurricane claim dispute). Keep one set of photographs, one inventory and a log of every conversation, and send each insurer the same documents.

Eligibility, funding and the policy debate

Pools are designed as last resort, not first choice. TWIA requires that an applicant be declined by at least one authorized insurer actively writing wind and hail in the area, and that the property meet building-code certification rules, with a flood-insurance requirement for homes in V zones built or substantially altered on or after September 1, 2009. In Florida, Citizens' eligibility turns on a price test: the risk is ineligible if an authorized insurer offers comparable coverage at no more than 20% above Citizens' premium (Fla. Stat. 627.351).

Who pays when a pool has a big storm is a contested question. Under Texas's HB 3689, effective September 1, 2025, TWIA's catastrophe funding for losses after December 31, 2025 rests on reserves and reinsurance, up to $1 billion of state financing repaid by a surcharge on policies statewide, and member insurer assessments of up to $1 billion (TWIA). Supporters say that pools keep coastal homes mortgageable and the local economy functioning when the private market retreats. Critics argue that pooled, partly subsidized wind coverage encourages building in harm's way, spreads coastal risk to inland policyholders who pay the surcharge and can crowd out private capital. Both points are fair, and what you do about them is a policy question, not a buying one.

Practical steps

1. Read the list of endorsements on your declarations page and look for a windstorm, hail, hurricane or named-storm exclusion.
2. If wind is excluded, confirm that you have a wind policy in force, with the same mortgagee listed and a dwelling limit near your replacement cost.
3. Write down both policies' deductibles in dollars, and both claim phone numbers.
4. Know the deadline. Pools and insurers stop binding new coverage when a named storm is approaching: Alabama's pool, for example, posted on October 7, 2026 that it had stopped taking new applications as of 4:00 a.m. that day because of a named storm (AIUA).
5. Tell your lender. Fannie Mae's guide requires windstorm and hail as covered perils and, where a peril is excluded, a stand-alone policy for it, and it exempts state-mandated windstorm and beach pools from its insurer-rating test when they are the only coverage obtainable (B7-3-02; B7-3-01). See what mortgage lenders require from your homeowners policy.
6. Revisit the market each year. A pool is meant to be temporary, and mitigation work and depopulation programs can open private options. The homeowners coverage gap checker helps compare what you have.

Key takeaways

• A windstorm exclusion removes wind and hail from the homeowners policy, and you must find the separate coverage, most often from a state wind pool.
• Wind-only policies generally cover wind and hail damage only; fire, liability and other perils stay with the homeowners policy and flood needs its own policy.
• Check loss of use, contents, limits and deductibles on each policy, because gaps tend to sit between the two.
• Pools stop writing new business as a storm approaches, so wind coverage cannot be bought on the eve of a hurricane.
• Lenders require wind coverage even when a pool supplies it; send them proof of both policies.