After Freeze, Insurance Comes Up Short for Many Texans
Months after February’s freeze, many Texans are still living in damaged homes after learning too late that they had inadequate insurance. The extreme weather that caused days of blackouts in the Lone Star State has triggered one of the costliest and most unusual insurance events in Texas history, when indoor plumbing froze and exploded in homes bereft of heat.
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Some homeowners have been left to deal with losses that their insurance doesn’t cover. Many have discovered that their policies limit payouts on plumbing-related water damage, often at $5,000 to $10,000—well below what they need... The capped policies are the result of a deregulatory change Texas made nearly two decades ago, when a rash of mold claims and lawsuits increased costs, which threatened to drive out insurers and make insurance unaffordable for many in a state that prides itself on a lower cost of living. Before the change, insurers in Texas largely used a state-crafted homeowners insurance form that generously covered many types of damage. In the 2003 move, Texas allowed insurers more flexibility in their policies as a way to manage their risk exposure, subject to state approval of their forms—and left consumers to figure out what coverage was best for them.
State officials say they don’t have data on how many homeowners with burst pipes from the February freeze had policies capping plumbing-related water damage. Lawyers and others involved in the emerging-claims disputes estimate they number in the thousands. Hundreds have sought lawyers to sue insurers or their agents. .. Kelli Vorish faced $69,000 in estimated freeze-related repairs on her home in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. She believed she was insured for all risks, up to her overall policy limit of $219,000. She said she learned after the disaster that her policy, from Aegis Security Insurance Co., capped water damage at $5,000... Aegis and its chief executive didn’t respond to requests for comment. The agency that helped Ms. Vorish select her policy, TS Insurance, also didn’t respond.
The Texas situation is one of the worst outcomes for consumers after more than 25 years of tinkering by U.S. property insurers with what were once fairly standardized policy forms. Insurers have sought to address coverage features that they say cost more in payouts than the policies are priced to cover. The result has been an array of changes in policies nationwide in the state-regulated industry, many of them shifting costs to homeowners. In hurricane-prone states, for example, policies now typically include special “hurricane deductibles.” Many consumers have “little idea of what they are buying other than a general sense that it is homeowners insurance,” said Daniel Schwarcz, a University of Minnesota Law School professor who has studied the move away from standard forms.
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The majority of policies sold in Texas provide water-damage coverage, a trade group said. State Farm, Allstate Corp. and USAA are among big insurers that say they don’t cap damage from frozen and burst water pipes, though coverage for any resulting mold may be restricted... Legal options for policyholders with capped policies aren’t great, said attorneys. With little recourse, some hard-hit by the freeze are seeking aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and are finding it difficult to prove eligibility.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-freeze-insurance-comes-up-short-for-many-texans-11625477402 (subscription)
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This was the best thing I saw all week. 
tried to read an insurance policy for anything? Homeowners, healthcare, life, automobile, boats or anything you might need insurance for?
By the time you get to page 8 and the addendums, codicils, we herebys, wherefores, in that, pertaining to page 4 , etc, ya start to drink.....heavily.
Hell, you can't even separate fire or water damage or liability out of a homeowners policy. It gets lumped together to really give you a break.
