Date of Loss vs. Date of Discovery: The Insurance Reporting Window

Last verified: 9 September 2026. Related: §542.060.

Answer: Date of loss is when the physical damage occurred. Date of discovery is when you first found it. Date of discovery does matter for notice. Your duty to give prompt notice generally runs from discovery, not from a guess that “it must have leaked for years.” State what you saw and when you saw it. Duration is for the plumber and the policy.

Texas clocks (not the same thing)

• Policy “prompt notice” — usually as soon as practicable after you know
• Chapter 542 carrier deadlines — §542.056 / §542.060
• Suit limitation in the policy or Texas law — a different, longer clock

Reasonable diligence is “would a careful owner have seen this sooner?” A stain ignored for months is not the same file as a leak behind tile.

Houston water damage