Texas rejects insurance rate increase for coastal homeowners, businesses

Damage to homes caused by a tornado that moved through Round Rock on March 21, 2022. The state's insurance commissioner on Monday denied a request by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the state's insurer of last resort for coastal residents and businesses, for a 10% rate increase. (Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune)

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Texas’ chief insurance regulator has shot down a proposed 10% insurance rate hike for many Gulf Coast homeowners and business owners.

Texas Insurance Commissioner Cassie Brown on Monday rejected the increase for residential and business policyholders sought by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the state’s insurer of last resort for homes and businesses on the Gulf Coast.

Such an increase “would be unjust and unfair because of the hardships (it) would impose on the coast,” Brown wrote in a Monday filing rejecting the proposed increase. Brown cited school district officials, business groups and property owners who testified in public meetings that the increase would be unaffordable.

State Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican who rallied opposition to the proposed increase, celebrated its denial.

“The coast won,” Hunter said in a video posted Monday on the social media site X.

Brown’s rejection comes as Texas property owners face some of the highest insurance premiums in the nation and lawmakers eye ways to rein in those costs. Homeowners’ insurance rates in Texas grew by more than 23% last year, outpacing every other state, according to an S&P Global analysis — the result of numerous extreme weather events as well as rising property values.

As coastal property owners have struggled to find coverage through private insurers in recent years, they’ve increasingly sought wind and hail insurance through TWIA — which basically pools private property and casualty insurers who provide policies to properties in the state’s 14 coastal counties as well as a portion of Harris County, the state’s most populous urban county.

TWIA officials argued the association needed more revenue to provide coverage to a growing base of policyholders and cover higher construction and labor costs to repair damage from storms. But they acknowledged a 10% increase wouldn’t be enough to completely cover those costs.

TWIA’s board of directors approved the proposed increase in August in the wake of Hurricane Beryl — estimated to have caused at least $2.5 billion worth of damage in Texas, according to CoreLogic. As of this month, the association had paid out nearly $259 million in claims resulting from that storm. TWIA officials expect the association will eventually empty a $450 million reserve fund to pay Beryl-related claims.

A rate increase would only “exacerbate the burdens” faced by coastal property owners still recovering from Hurricane Beryl, Brown said.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan have signaled they want lawmakers to tackle the state’s rising insurance costs when they convene in Austin next year. Brown noted TWIA’s funding will likely get a fresh look then.

“We look forward to working with lawmakers to address these important issues to ensure that TWIA has the financial capacity to pay claims for our policyholders when they need us,” said Aaron Taylor, TWIA’s senior legislative and external affairs specialist.