People keep saying “I have insurance” like it is one bucket. It’s not. After a Houston tropical storm you may be talking to two companies that each think the other one should pay.
A standard homeowners policy is built for fire, theft, and wind-driven rain that comes through a failed roof or window. It’s not built for the bayou coming over the slab. That’s why flood is a separate policy, often through NFIP or a private flood carrier.
If you only have one of those policies, do not pretend the other exists. File what you have. Be honest about how the water got in. Guessing “maybe it was the roof” to squeeze a flood loss onto homeowners is how you get a denial and a recorded statement you cannot walk back.
Do this now
- Pull both declarations pages if you have them and circle the policy types: homeowners, NFIP, or private flood.
- Open a claim on every policy that might apply. Get a claim number for each.
- Write one sentence on how water entered: over the slab, through the roof, or both.
- Photograph roof damage and the interior water line as two different stories, even if they happened the same night.
- Do not tell either adjuster you are “sure” it was only one cause unless you watched it happen.
The simple split, then the messy middle
Rising water from a street, ditch, or bayou is flood. Water that entered because wind tore a shingle and rain poured into the attic is usually homeowners. Sewer backup may be a rider, not the base policy. Read the page, do not trust a neighbor’s memory of Harvey.
The messy middle is real. A tropical storm can lift shingles and push Brays or White Oak into the same house. Insurers then argue about which inches belong to whom. Your job is not to referee. It is to document both the roof and the silt line so neither side can say the other cause is imaginary.
What flood policies usually touch
NFIP building coverage is about the structure: walls, floors, built-in appliances, the furnace, the water heater. Contents is often a separate limit you had to buy. If you never added contents, the sofa is not “probably included.”
Flood policies generally do not pay additional living expenses the way homeowners might. That shocks people who are in a hotel on I-10 waiting for an NFIP check that was never going to cover the room. Plan housing with that gap in mind and look at FEMA or family, not a coverage you do not have.
What homeowners usually still does
Wind to the fence, the screened porch, and the roof is the homeowners conversation. So is a tree through the ridge. So is food spoilage if your policy includes it and CenterPoint was out long enough. Ask. Do not assume.
If the only water in the house came in over the threshold from the street, do not spend the week hunting for a roof story. File the flood claim. Use homeowners for the wind items you can actually point to.
Renters and condos
Renters insurance is still not flood insurance. A renter’s contents flood policy is a separate purchase. The landlord’s building policy does not replace your TV. Condo master policies vary. Ask the association in writing what the master covers and open your own claims anyway.
Photograph the unit and the hallway. Houstonians often report first-floor breezeways that carried bayou water into several doors at once. Your four walls are not the whole story, but they are the part you can prove.
Verify live. Status changes hourly. Read your own declarations pages. Coverage rules live on the policy, not in a group chat. NFIP basics are on FloodSmart.gov. Private flood forms differ; ask your agent for the actual form name.
Do this next
- Call, claim number, and photos before you forget
- NFIP claims: the rough timeline Houstonians hit
- Commercial providers hub
More in Start your insurance claim today.