Corpus Christi public adjuster

If you own property in Corpus Christi, Rockport, Portland or anywhere on the Coastal Bend, your wind claim is probably a TWIA claim. Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties (along with Kleberg and Refugio) are among the 14 first-tier coastal counties where the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association writes wind and hail coverage. We help property owners file and document those claims, write an independent Xactimate estimate, and dispute TWIA's or a private carrier's findings when they fall short.

Our office is in Belton. We travel to the Coastal Bend to inspect homes and commercial buildings in person.

How a TWIA claim moves

Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport in August 2017, and the wind damage across Aransas, San Patricio and Nueces counties sent thousands of owners into the TWIA process at once. The basic sequence hasn't changed:

1. Report the claim within one year. Texas law requires TWIA claims to be filed within one year of the date of damage. The commissioner can extend that by up to 180 days for good cause, but don't plan around an extension.
2. TWIA assigns an adjuster. The adjuster inspects, may bring in an engineer, and asks for documents such as photos, repair invoices and receipts.
3. TWIA accepts or denies. It generally has 60 days after receiving the claim and the information it requested to accept or deny, in whole or in part.
4. Payment or dispute. If you disagree with the amount, your TWIA policy and denial or payment letter set out the dispute process, which can include appraisal for disagreements over the amount of loss. Disputes over coverage follow a different path, so read the letter closely and act promptly.

Private carriers on the Coastal Bend follow different rules: the Chapter 542 prompt-payment deadlines (15 days to acknowledge and start investigating, 15 business days to accept or reject after receiving what they asked for) and the policy's own reporting conditions. If you have both a TWIA wind policy and a homeowners policy, you may have two claims with two timelines from one storm.

Storm damage or salt-air corrosion?

This is the dispute that's most specific to coastal property. Salt air slowly rusts screws and nails, eats galvanized flashing, pits metal roofing and corrodes AC condenser coils. When a storm then tears those components loose, the adjuster may say they failed because of long-term corrosion, which most policies exclude as wear and tear.

A component can be both corroded and storm-damaged. The question is whether the storm caused the loss. We photograph failures close-up and at roof level, note direction and pattern across the building, and tie them to the storm date.

Elevated homes and waterfront property

Many homes in Rockport, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass and the bayfront neighborhoods sit on pilings or raised piers. That changes how damage gets divided. The roof, siding and windows are usually a wind question. The area under the house (enclosures, stairs, utilities, and anything stored there) is often reached by surge or rising water, which is a flood question, and flood policies limit coverage below the lowest elevated floor. Decks, docks and fences may have separate limits or exclusions on either policy.

The way to protect yourself is to have the damage measured and photographed by location before anything is removed, so each item can be assigned to the policy that covers it.

Know your deductible before you settle

Coastal wind deductibles are often 1–2% of dwelling coverage. On a home insured at $300,000, a 2% deductible is $6,000 before the policy pays anything for wind. If the carrier's estimate comes in at $5,500, you get nothing, so every missing line item matters: starter strip, drip edge, ridge cap, hip and ridge vents, permits, code upgrades the policy covers, and interior repairs from water that came through storm openings. The settlement calculator below shows how deductible, depreciation and fees change the check.

After a storm on the Coastal Bend

• Photograph the roof, siding, windows and the area under elevated homes before cleanup
• Report wind to TWIA or your wind carrier and rising water to your flood carrier, separately
• Keep corroded parts that a contractor removes; don't let them go in the dumpster
• Write down the claim number, adjuster name and every date
• Read the TWIA or carrier letter for what they asked for and by when

For more on what happens after a hurricane, see our guide to property damage after a hurricane and our hurricane and windstorm claims service. If TWIA has already paid less than you expected, our denied and underpaid claims page explains how we reopen the numbers.

Communities covered from this page

Don't see your town? We serve every Texas county. Ask us about your property.