Key takeaways
- Texas sets the notice period for nonrenewal, and since January 1, 2026 a company that declines, cancels, or nonrenews must give you a written statement of the reason.
- The flags are predictable: obsolete panel brands, aluminum branch wiring, knob and tube, missing grounding, and no GFCI protection where it is expected.
- A carrier can require the work without paying for it, because replacing aging equipment is treated as maintenance rather than a covered loss.
- What closes the file is documentation: a licensed electrician's written assessment, the permit, and the passed inspection.
The letter arrives and it is short. The carrier has identified an electrical condition at the property. The policy will not renew, or will not be written, unless it is addressed. There is a date on it. Then it stops explaining.
We get these calls constantly across San Antonio, and the homeowner is usually working with less information than they need. Here is what is behind the letter, what Texas requires the carrier to tell you, and what actually closes the file.
What do carriers actually flag?
The list is shorter than people expect, and it is the same list nationwide because it tracks fire loss data rather than local code.
- Obsolete panel brands, most commonly Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco, because of documented failure-to-trip histories.
- Aluminum branch wiring, typical in homes wired from the mid-1960s into the 1970s, where the risk lives at the connections.
- Knob and tube wiring in the oldest homes, which has no equipment ground and insulation that gets brittle with age.
- Fuse panels rather than breakers, which usually signals an original service that was never updated.
- Ungrounded two-prong outlets throughout the house, and missing GFCI protection in kitchens, baths, garages, and outdoors.
- Visible evidence from a prior inspection: scorching, double-tapped breakers, or open splices outside a box.
Notice what is not on that list. Nothing here is about whether your lights work. A carrier is not evaluating whether the house functions. It is evaluating how a fire starts and how much it costs when it does.
What Texas requires the carrier to tell you
Two things are worth knowing, both from the Texas Department of Insurance.
First, notice. TDI states that a company must give 60 days notice of a nonrenewal if you bought or renewed your policy in 2024, and 30 days notice if you bought or renewed in 2023 or earlier. Look at the date on your declarations page, because that is what sets which window applies to you.
Second, the reason. TDI states that if you were declined a policy, or your policy was canceled or not renewed, after January 1, 2026, the company must give you a written statement telling you why. Before that date, the company must give you the reason if you ask. Either way, get it in writing. A vague verbal answer from a call center is not something a contractor can quote against, and a written reason converts a scary letter into a scope of work.
Why the carrier will not pay for it
This is the part that stings, and it is worth understanding rather than fighting. Homeowners insurance covers sudden and accidental loss. A panel that has not caught fire has not caused a loss. Replacing it is preventive maintenance, and maintenance sits on the property owner in every standard policy.
So the carrier holds two positions at once that both follow from the same logic: this condition is risky enough that we will not insure it, and this condition is maintenance so we will not fund it. Both are consistent with how the policy is written. Knowing that up front saves you a week of phone calls trying to get it covered.
What actually clears the flag
Documentation, in a specific order.
It starts with an assessment. Before anyone quotes a rewire, someone qualified needs to establish what is actually in the house, because the letter is frequently broader than the reality. An inspection report that says the aluminum is confined to two circuits, or that the two-prong outlets can be brought to a compliant condition without opening walls, changes the size of the problem substantially.
That is the purpose of a documented electrical inspection: a written record of what is there, what it is, and what it will take, with photos, so you are negotiating with your carrier from facts.
Then the work, permitted. This matters more here than on an ordinary repair. An unpermitted correction leaves you with a contractor's word and no third-party record. A permitted correction leaves you with a municipal inspection that passed, which is exactly the kind of independent confirmation an underwriter can file.
Then the package: the assessment, the scope of what was corrected, the permit, and the inspection result. Send what your carrier asks for. Keep the rest, because the next buyer's lender will want it too.
What if you cannot do all of it at once?
Say so, early, with a plan. A carrier looking at a homeowner who has a written scope, a contractor, and a scheduled date is looking at a different risk than one who has done nothing. We give you a prioritized plan for this reason: the items that are genuinely dangerous, the items the carrier named, and the items that are simply old. Those three lists overlap but they are not the same list, and knowing which is which lets you sequence the spend honestly.
If the flag is a panel brand, the replacement path is covered in Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels in San Antonio homes. If it is the branch wiring, start with aluminum wiring in San Antonio homes or the signs a home needs a rewire.
We handle the correction side, from a panel upgrade to targeted or full rewiring, permitted and documented, across the metro from Terrell Hills to Converse. Send us the letter and we will tell you what it actually requires.