Quick Answer: Your declarations page is the first page of your Texas home policy. It lists your insurer, your address, the policy dates, every coverage limit, and the exact dollar amount of each deductible. Read it at every renewal, and check which policy form you have, because Coverage C means personal liability on older Texas forms and personal property on national ones.

Reviewed by AZ Insurance Agency, licensed in Texas, serving Houston since 2003.

What this article covers

• What is a declarations page?

• The policy details at the top

• The facts about your house

• The coverage letters, and why Texas has two sets

• Deductibles: the line that surprises people most

• Endorsements, the pages that change everything else

• Premium and discounts

• Your 10 minute declarations page checklist

• Frequently asked questions

Most homeowners never read past the total due. That makes sense: the full policy runs dozens of pages, and the renewal usually shows up at the same time as every other bill. But one page in that packet decides most of what a claim will pay, and it fits on a single sheet. If you are shopping, it is also the first thing a new company asks for, which is why it sits at the top of our list of information needed for a homeowners insurance quote.

This guide walks through that page line by line, the way we read it with customers at our offices in Houston and Dallas. If you need an expert set of eyes on yours, a free home insurance policy review takes a few minutes.

Key Takeaways

• The declarations page, or "dec page," is the summary of your whole policy. It shows who insures you, where, for what dates, for how much, and with what deductibles.

• Texas requires the exact dollar amount of each deductible to be listed. If your wind and hail deductible is a percentage, the page still has to tell you what that is in dollars.

• Coverage letters are not universal. On older Texas forms, Coverage B is contents and Coverage C is personal liability. On national forms, B is other structures and C is personal property.

• The facts about your house are rating facts. A wrong roof age, square footage or construction type can misprice the policy, and TDI says to tell your agent if any of them are wrong.

• Endorsements can quietly change the main policy. A roof paid at actual cash value or a new exclusion usually shows up here, not on the front.

• Discounts are listed on the page. TDI recommends asking your agent every year whether you qualify for new ones.

What is a declarations page?

The Texas Department of Insurance puts it simply: the first page of your policy is the declarations page, and it summarizes your coverages, dollar limits and deductibles (TDI home insurance guide).

Texas also sets minimum contents for that page. Item 2 of the Consumer Bill of Rights for homeowners, which every insurer must give you with your policy, says the dec page shows:

• the name and address of your insurance company

• the location of the insured property

• the dates your policy is in effect

• the amounts and types of coverage

The same item adds two rules that matter more than they sound: your company must list the exact dollar amount of each deductible, and the declarations page, or a separate page, must list any part of your policy that changes a deductible amount.

Think of the rest of the policy as the rulebook and the dec page as the scoreboard. The rulebook says what kinds of losses are covered. The dec page says how much, for which house, with how much coming out of your pocket first. Item 1 of the same Bill of Rights also gives you the right to request a complete copy of your policy from your company at any time, so if you only have the dec page, you can ask for the rest.

The policy details at the top

TDI's own guide on how to read your declarations page starts here: your policy number, policy period, effective date, and your mortgage company, if you have one.

Two of those lines are worth a second look.

The policy period. The Bill of Rights explains that "refusal to renew" and "nonrenewal" mean your coverage ends at the end of the policy period, and that the policy period is shown on the declarations page. If you ever get a letter saying your company will not renew you, the end date on this page starts your clock. We cover that situation step by step in what a Texas nonrenewal notice must tell you and what to do next.

The mortgagee. If your loan was sold to a new servicer and the dec page still shows the old one, fix it now. According to the TDI home insurance guide, repair checks are issued to you and your mortgage company, the mortgage company usually deposits the check and releases funds as work progresses, and it must release the money within 10 days after receiving the information it requests. A wrong lender name slows every step of that. If your lender asks for "hazard insurance," that is the same policy, as we explain in hazard insurance vs homeowners insurance.

The facts about your house

Next comes a short description of your home. TDI lists the usual items: home address, age, square footage, construction type, such as siding or brick, and roof age. Its advice is direct: if any of these are not correct, let your agent know.

These are not decoration. Companies use them to price your policy and to decide how much it would cost to rebuild your house.

• Square footage drives the rebuild estimate behind your dwelling limit. Too low, and your limit may be too low.

• Construction type changes the price. Brick and frame homes are rated differently.

• Year built affects which updates the company assumes your wiring, plumbing and HVAC have had.

• Roof age and material affect both the price and, on many policies, how a roof claim is paid.

Roof age is the line we see wrong most often in Texas. A homeowner replaces the roof after a hailstorm, nobody tells the insurance company, and the dec page still shows the old roof for years. That can cost you at renewal and at claim time. Our guide to how roof age affects Texas home insurance explains what companies look at, and does home insurance cover roof damage or roof leaks covers what a claim pays.

The coverage letters, and why Texas has two sets

This is the section that confuses Texas homeowners the most, because the same letter can mean two different things depending on your policy form.

Texas used its own standard home policy forms for decades, the HO-A, HO-B and HO-C. Most companies now write national forms such as the HO-3, or their own company forms built on them. The letters on the dec page follow the form, not the state.

The Texas column comes straight from a TDI rate example for Texas Form HO-B, which lists Coverage A Dwelling, Coverage B Contents, Coverage C Personal Liability and Coverage D Medical Payments. The national column matches the ISO forms TDI approved for use in Texas, which run from Coverage A Dwelling through Coverage F Medical Payments to Others.

Why this matters: if a friend tells you "make sure your Coverage C is high enough," they could mean your belongings or your liability, depending on whose policy they are thinking of. Read the words next to the letter, not just the letter. If you are not sure which form you have, the form number is usually printed on the dec page, and our side by side guide to HO-A vs HO-B vs HO-3 in Texas shows what each one actually covers.

What each coverage is for

• Dwelling. The cost to repair or rebuild the house itself. This is the most important number on the page, and it should track what it costs to rebuild today, not what you paid for the house. We walk through it in how much dwelling coverage your Houston home needs.

• Other structures. Fences, sheds, detached garages and similar structures that are not attached to the house.

• Personal property or contents. Your furniture, clothes, electronics and other belongings. TDI notes that home policies usually set this as a percentage of your dwelling limit.

• Loss of use or additional living expenses. Hotel, food and other extra costs if you cannot live in the house during repairs. TDI says this coverage might be limited to 10 to 20 percent of your dwelling coverage, and its glossary describes a cap of 20 percent.

• Personal liability. Pays if you are legally responsible for someone else's injury or property damage. NAIC notes you choose this limit. If you have a pool, a trampoline or a teenage driver, it is worth asking about an umbrella on top, which we explain in what an umbrella insurance policy covers.

• Medical payments to others. Small medical bills for a guest hurt at your home. The Insurance Information Institute notes it works on a no fault basis, so it can pay without a liability claim being filed against you.

What is not on the page at all

Some of the most expensive gaps are things the dec page never mentions, because the policy simply does not cover them.

• Flood. Rising water is not covered by a Texas homeowners policy, no matter how high your dwelling limit is. You need a separate flood policy, which we explain in does homeowners insurance cover flood in Texas.

• Coastal wind, in some cases. In the designated coastal area, a policy can exclude wind and hail, which means that coverage comes from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. See does my Houston home need TWIA windstorm insurance.

• Most gradual water damage. A slow leak is treated very differently from a sudden pipe burst, as we explain in water damage vs flood and does homeowners insurance cover plumbing.

For the complete list, see what homeowners insurance covers and does not cover.

Get a free home insurance policy review or call (281) 833-5060. Hablamos Español.

Deductibles: the line that surprises people most

TDI's guide says your home policy will show separate deductibles for your house and its contents, and that you might have a separate deductible for damage from wind and hail, the tornado and hurricane deductible, apart from the deductible for "other perils" like fire and theft.

The wind and hail deductible is where most Texas surprises hide, because it is often a percentage of your dwelling limit, not a flat amount. That is why the Consumer Bill of Rights requires your company to list the exact dollar amount of each deductible. Do the math before a storm does it for you.

Simple arithmetic for illustration. Your dec page shows your actual dollar amount.

Two more things to know. First, the Insurance Information Institute notes that deductibles generally apply to the property portion of the policy, not to liability. Second, a higher deductible lowers your premium, but it only saves money if you could actually pay that amount after a storm. We go deeper in why a 2 percent storm deductible does not mean $200 and the companion piece, Texas storm deductibles explained.

If you already filed a storm claim, there is good news in the same Bill of Rights: your company cannot increase your premium or refuse to renew your policy based on claims for damage from natural causes, including weather related damage. We cover that in will a storm claim raise my Texas home insurance rate.

Endorsements, the pages that change everything else

TDI's glossary defines an endorsement as a written agreement attached to a policy that expands or limits the benefits otherwise payable. In plain words, endorsements are where the main policy gets edited. The dec page usually lists them by form number and name, sometimes on a second page.

According to the TDI home insurance guide, common endorsements add or increase coverage for:

• jewelry, fine arts and electronics

• sewer or drain backup

• foundation or slab damage

• code required upgrades when you rebuild

• extra rebuilding costs above your dwelling limit

• mold removal

• earthquake damage

TDI's declarations page tips add three that are easy to miss: water backup, identity theft and home sharing coverage.

Endorsements can also take coverage away. The one we look for first is how your roof is paid. Replacement cost pays to repair or replace at current prices. Actual cash value is replacement cost minus depreciation. TDI's own example in its home insurance guide shows the difference on a 10 year old roof with a $10,000 replacement cost and a $2,000 deductible: replacement cost pays $8,000, actual cash value pays $5,000. Same storm, same roof, $3,000 apart, decided by one endorsement line. Our guide to actual cash value vs replacement cost in Texas explains how to spot it.

A coverage reduction at renewal has to come with a notice, and we explain those notice rules in your Texas home insurance renewal rights in 2026.

Premium and discounts

The bottom of most dec pages shows your premium and any discounts. TDI's advice: ask your agent each year if there are any new discounts you might qualify for.

According to the TDI home insurance guide, each company decides which discounts to offer and how much they are worth. Discounts TDI says you may see include:

• monitored burglar or fire alarms

• sprinkler systems

• impact resistant roofs

• newer or well maintained homes

• buying other policies from the same company

• three straight years without claims

If you replaced the roof, installed a monitored alarm or paid off a claim free stretch since last year, and the discount is not on the page, ask. Nobody adds it for you.

Your 10 minute declarations page checklist

Do this when the renewal arrives, before you pay it. If you want the bigger picture before a storm season, our four things to check on your roof before the storm pairs well with it.

If something on the page is wrong or confusing, you also have help outside your agency. The Consumer Bill of Rights gives you the right to call TDI for free at 1-800-252-3439 for information and help with a complaint against an insurer.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is a declarations page in home insurance?
It is the summary page of your policy, usually the first page. In Texas it must show the name and address of your insurance company, the location of the insured property, the dates your policy is in effect, the amounts and types of coverage, and the exact dollar amount of each deductible.

Q: Where do I find my declarations page?
It comes with your policy and with every renewal, and most companies also post it in their online account or app. If you cannot find it, your agent can send it, and the Texas Consumer Bill of Rights lets you request a complete copy of your policy from your company at any time.

Q: Why does my Coverage C say personal liability when my friend's says personal property?
Because you have different policy forms. On older Texas forms such as the HO-B, Coverage B is contents and Coverage C is personal liability. On national forms such as the HO-3, Coverage C is personal property and personal liability is Coverage E. Always read the words next to the letter.

Q: My wind and hail deductible says 2 percent. How much is that?
It is 2 percent of your dwelling limit, not of the damage. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, that is $6,000 before the policy pays a wind or hail claim. Texas requires your company to list the exact dollar amount of each deductible, so the figure should also appear on your dec page.

Q: What should I do if the information about my house is wrong?
Tell your agent. TDI says that if your home's age, square footage, construction type or roof age is not correct, you should let your agent know, because your premium and coverage are based on those facts.

Q: Does the declarations page show flood coverage?
Only if you bought a separate flood policy, which has its own declarations page. A Texas homeowners policy does not cover flood, so nothing on your homeowners dec page protects you from rising water.

Q: How often should I read my declarations page?
At every renewal, and any time something changes: a new roof, a remodel, a refinance, a new owner on the title, or a new pool. Each of those can change a line on the page.

Related Articles

• Your Texas home insurance renewal rights in 2026

• HO-A vs HO-B vs HO-3 in Texas

• How much dwelling coverage your Houston home needs

• Actual cash value vs replacement cost in Texas

Why AZ Insurance Stands Apart

A declarations page is short, but it takes practice to read it well: which form you have, what the letters mean on that form, whether the deductible is a dollar amount or a percentage, and which endorsement just changed your roof coverage. That is the work we do every day. AZ Insurance has served Texas homeowners since 2003 from 15 offices across Houston and Dallas, we compare multiple insurance companies rather than defending one, and our agents read policies with you in English or Spanish.

Bring us your declarations page before you renew. Request a free home insurance policy review or call our homeowners line at (281) 833-5060, and we will go through it line by line with you.

This article is general information, not legal advice or a promise of coverage. What your policy covers is governed by that policy. We are happy to read it with you.