MAURICEVILLE, Texas — A Mauriceville family is urging others to check their homeowner’s insurance policies after their log-cabin home was destroyed in a fire over the weekend, just two years after their insurance coverage was dropped due to the structure’s wooden exterior.

Catherine Borel said she and her husband were notified in early 2023 that their insurance company would no longer cover their log-style cabin unless they installed siding over the wooden logs, something she says they couldn’t afford and became an aesthetics issue.

“They just wanted us to put siding on outside the logs,” Borel said. “I said, well, that’s defeating the purpose of having a log house. And I said no we can’t, we can’t do it. We couldn’t afford it.”

About six months after receiving the warning, the policy was canceled. Since then, the couple struggled to find a new insurer willing to cover their home.

Now, 43 years after building the cabin with their family, Borel says the home is a total loss after an electrical fire broke out due to a water heater malfunction.

“I could see smoke coming and I started running… for him to get out of the house because he was in here watching TV,” she said. “We’ve had some hard times in here, but we’ve had some good times. We’re all safe and, you know, of course the kids, all them growing up here, they had wonderful memories.”

The family is now staying with relatives and hoping to tear down what’s left of the house to replace it with a trailer.

Branden Powell, co-owner of Goosehead Insurance in Southeast Texas, said situations like the Borels’ are not uncommon. Log cabin homes and other nontraditional structures are often considered too risky for some insurers.

“The material of your household, if it’s something that they think is a little more risky, they can deny you or deem you ineligible,” Powell explained. “Log cabin homes are very tough to insure.”

Powell warned that if an insurance company asks homeowners to make repairs or changes, they should act quickly to stay in compliance.

“There’s not really a lot of leeway,” Powell said. “Some of them will say, hey look, the policy has been in force for 60 days, but we’ll give you until renewal. We’ll give you another 10 months.”

He added that with hurricane season in full swing, securing new policies can become especially difficult.

“If there’s a hurricane in the Gulf and it’s gonna threaten an area, then they will shut down new business, they will shut down any submission of new policies,” Powell said.

As families like the Borels face mounting obstacles, local insurance agents stress the importance of proactive communication with insurers and understanding the terms of coverage, before disaster strikes.