Updated October 31, 2026 | John Bosman | 1,486 words
In Texas, your insurance has to prove itself on one specific form. The Structural Pest Control Service at the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) accepts proof of insurance only on its ALS-1101 form, and the policy behind it needs at least $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage with a $1,000,000 aggregate. When that certificate is wrong or late, your license is what is on the line.
As an independent insurance agency that works with pest control companies, Reasons Insurance can help you review how your coverage lines up with what TDA asks for, how the T-5 wood destroying insect report affects your liability picture and what changes when you open a second branch.
Texas licensing snapshot
- Regulator: Texas Department of Agriculture, Structural Pest Control Service
- Business license: one for each business location, including branch offices; $300 fee for a commercial business license
- Insurance minimum: $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage, $1,000,000 aggregate
- Proof of insurance: TDA form ALS-1101 only (revision 11/01/23 for policies effective on or after January 1, 2024)
- License categories: pest control; termite and wood destroying insect control; lawn and ornamental; weed control; structural fumigation; commodity fumigation; wood preservation
- Real estate inspection form: T-5 wood destroying insect report
Official sources: TDA Structural Pest Control Service · business license requirements · insurance requirements · look up a Texas license · ALS-1101 and T-5 forms
TDA says the care, custody and control exclusion must be deleted, citing Texas Occupations Code 1951.312, because the required coverage has to reach property in your care, custody or control. Ask us to compare your general liability form and endorsements with what your ALS-1101 certifies.
Texas A&M AgriLife reports Formosan subterranean termites in 31 Texas counties, including Harris, Galveston, Dallas, Tarrant and Travis. Colonies can top a million termites and can nest above ground. A missed infestation on a T-5 can become a professional liability question, so it is worth asking how your policy treats inspection errors.
Texas service areas are big and trucks carry concentrate. A spill on the highway, drift onto a neighbor's yard or a cleanup bill can fall between your auto, general liability and pollution forms. We can help you review where each policy starts and stops.
The ALS-1101 is a promise from your insurer to the state, so the details matter. Under TDA rule 4 TAC 7.123, the insurer must be authorized by or registered with the Texas Department of Insurance, must give TDA 30 days' notice before canceling, and must notify TDA and you within 10 business days if paid claims drop the aggregate below $1,000,000. TDA also says no other insurance form will be accepted.
TDA began enforcing the current minimums on January 1, 2024, and the 11/01/23 revision of the ALS-1101 applies to policies effective on or after that date. Your insurance and renewal fee must reach TDA by the license expiration date or the license lapses. If your policy renews on a different date than your license, ask us to line up both dates so a fresh ALS-1101 is filed before it is needed.
Formosan termites were first found in Texas in 1956 at the Houston Ship Channel, according to Texas A&M AgriLife, and they have since been detected in 31 counties, with reports in all of the state's major metropolitan areas. In those markets, termite work and real estate inspections are a bigger share of revenue, and so is the exposure that comes with them.
TDA requires real estate wood destroying insect inspections to be reported on the T-5 form, which replaced the T-4 in September 2019. The rules in 4 TAC 7.176 say the form cannot be altered and copies must be kept for at least two years. Questions worth asking at a review: does your general liability policy exclude professional services or inspection reports? Is there an errors and omissions form that names WDI inspections, and how does it treat work done before the policy started? Our post on termite inspection liability and E&O goes deeper.
TDA requires a business license for each location, including branch offices, and the responsible certified applicator for one location cannot serve as the responsible applicator for another. You cannot advertise a location before its license is issued, employees must be registered within 10 days, and out-of-state businesses need a Texas resident agent.
Growth changes your insurance picture too. Before you open, ask us how the new location, its vehicles and its staff will show up on your policies and on the ALS-1101 that TDA receives. That conversation is easier before the lease is signed than after.
The Texas Pest Control Association, founded in 1944 and based in Austin, is a long-standing trade group for operators in the state. Associations are a good place to follow rule changes, such as the move of TDA exams to Metro Institute in May 2025 and electronic notification for pre-construction termite treatments and fumigations.
If you already carry coverage in Texas, the Pest Control Insurance Friction Check walks you through the questions that tend to cause trouble at a certificate request, a renewal or a claim. It takes a few minutes and you can bring the results to a review.
Reasons Insurance is an independent insurance agency in New Brighton, Minnesota. We start with a risk review of how your company actually works, put what we find in writing and only then compare options with the insurers we work with. You can read more about how we work, and you can check any agency's license with the Texas Department of Insurance agent lookup.
Insurance services on this page are offered by Reasons Insurance, LLC, an independent insurance agency based in New Brighton, Minnesota.
TDA requires at least $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage with a $1,000,000 aggregate, filed on form ALS-1101 by an insurer authorized by or registered with the Texas Department of Insurance. That is a licensing minimum, not a recommendation for your company.
TDA says that exclusion must be deleted because the required coverage has to reach property in your care, custody or control, citing Texas Occupations Code 1951.312. We can help you check whether your policy wording matches what the certificate says.
It depends on the policy. Many general liability forms limit or exclude professional services, so ask whether your program includes errors and omissions coverage that addresses WDI inspections. We can help you review the wording, but only the policy decides.
Yes. TDA requires a business license for each business location, including branch offices, and each location needs its own responsible certified applicator.
In Texas, the insurance licenses the Texas Department of Insurance issues for this work are agent licenses. Reasons Insurance is an independent insurance agency that works with several insurers. We start with a risk review and can help you compare options with the insurers we work with.
TDA publishes current license reports for commercial businesses, applicators and technicians on its current licenses page.
See our national pest control insurance overview, or compare rules in nearby states: Kansas pest control insurance and K.S.A. 2-2448 financial responsibility; Colorado pest control insurance and the $400,000 CDA minimum.
Related reading: termite inspection liability and E&O; when a van crash becomes a chemical cleanup claim; common pest control insurance coverage gaps. For the core policy, see our page on general liability insurance.
Other states we serve for pest control: Illinois · Kansas · Minnesota · Colorado · Ohio · Indiana · Michigan · Missouri · Arizona · North Carolina · Virginia · Kentucky · Wisconsin · Iowa
Have your current ALS-1101, your declarations pages and a list of your Texas locations handy. Call (651) 636-6911 or start a coverage review, and we will walk through your Texas pest control insurance with you. Questions about your TDA license itself go to the Structural Pest Control Service.
Request a Texas pest control coverage review
Se habla español: (651) 424-1124