Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Insurance to take a series of actions intended to make property and casualty insurance more affordable for Texans who invest in their homes, according to an Aug. 24 news release from the Office of the Texas Governor.
The directive arrives as homeowners across the state absorb steep premium increases. The average annual homeowners’ insurance premium in Texas has risen 79 percent in six years, Abbott said in the release.
“High insurance costs hit Texas families hard,” Abbott said. “Today I direct the Texas Department of Insurance to put consumers first and take action that makes property and casualty insurance more affordable.”
According to the release, the governor instructed the agency to require insurers to include a home’s FORTIFIED roof status in their rate-setting calculation in order to reduce premium costs, and to prohibit insurers from refusing to write or renew residential property insurance policies based on the age of the property, including individual components such as the age of the roof. Abbott also ordered TDI to issue a bulletin covering all agency-regulated products that bans the practice of price optimization, in which insurers use personal data unrelated to insured risk to set prices.
The governor further directed the department to create an Insurance Fraud Task Force to clamp down on insurance fraud, which the release said harms all consumers by making coverage more expensive, and to conduct a study on the impact of excessive, unnecessary and inflated claims costs on the Texas commercial auto, personal auto and homeowner insurance markets.
Beyond those steps, TDI is to identify additional administrative actions that can be taken immediately along with any statutory changes needed to protect consumers and make insurance products more affordable, the release said. Those recommendations are due to the Office of the Governor by Sept. 14.
Abbott delivered the instructions in a letter to TDI Commissioner Amanda Crawford, according to the release. The governor’s office said he will work with the Legislature next session to further enhance consumer protections for insurance policyholders and curb premium increases.