In a current resolution, the Texas Supreme Court docket held {that a} twister qualifies as a “windstorm” beneath a householders insurance coverage coverage, permitting the insurer to use the next windstorm deductible to the insureds’ declare. 1 The case arose after a Dallas-area house was broken within the October 2019 twister outbreak. The insurer utilized a 2% windstorm deductible, decreasing the payout by tens of 1000’s of {dollars}. The householders argued that as a result of the coverage didn’t outline “windstorm,” and since “twister” and “windstorm” are typically handled as distinct phrases in statutes and customary utilization, the deductible mustn’t apply.
Below Texas regulation, if a coverage time period is ambiguous, which means it’s topic to 2 or extra cheap interpretations, the court docket should undertake the interpretation most favorable to the insured. The householders’ place was that the undefined time period “windstorm” was no less than moderately debatable. Had the court docket discovered ambiguity, it could have been required to construe the coverage in favor of protection and towards the upper deductible.
The court docket, nevertheless, concluded that windstorm unambiguously contains tornadoes. Counting on dictionary definitions and prior case regulation, the court docket utilized the time period’s plain and strange which means and rejected the argument that technical distinctions created ambiguity. As a result of the court docket discovered no ambiguity, it by no means reached the rule requiring building in favor of the insured.
From a policyholder perspective, the lesson is simple. Insurance coverage insurance policies are drafted completely by carriers. If an insurer intends for a twister to set off the next windstorm deductible, the answer is straightforward: outline windstorm to expressly embrace tornadoes. One sentence within the definitions part might get rid of the dispute altogether. When important share deductibles are at stake, readability mustn’t depend upon post-loss litigation. Clear drafting protects each side and avoids forcing courts to resolve disputes that exact coverage language might have prevented.
Chip Merlin beforehand wrote about this case on the decrease degree in Is a Twister a Windstorm? A Texas Perspective on the Time period ‘Windstorm’. I additionally counsel you learn What Is a Windstorm? A California Perspective.
1 Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Trade v. Mankoff, No. 24-0132, — S.W.3d —, 2026 WL 406028 (Tex. Feb. 13, 2026).