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Texas home insurance costs skyrocket as lawmakers debate solutions

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FOX 4
Texas
Published October 5, 2026 3:47 PM CDT
Published October 5, 2026 3:47 PM CDT

The Brief

    • Texas home insurance premiums soared 79% from 2020 to 2026, driven by rising home values, repair costs, and severe weather losses like wind and hail.
    • Texas lawmakers and industry experts met Monday to investigate root causes and evaluate strategies to bring insurance rates down ahead of the next legislative session.
    • Although rate increases are beginning to moderate, it remains unclear how soon consumers will see any relief on their renewal bills.

DALLAS - When the Texas Legislature convenes next January, Gov. Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to address the growing cost of home insurance.

Over the past six years, the cost of homeowner’s insurance in Texas has increased by a staggering 79%.

Home Insurance Costs

Big picture view:

On Monday, members of the Texas House Insurance Committee held a marathon meeting at the Texas State Capitol to look at the cause and try to come up with ways to help bring rates back down.

According to Texas Department of Insurance Commissioner Amanda Crawford, the average homeowner’s premium in Texas has increased from under $2,000 in 2020 to over $3,500 in 2026.

The growth in price was driven by two main factors – increases in home values and increases in claim costs.

Crawford said in 2025, $5.8 billion in losses were paid out for wind and hail damage alone in Texas. A large concentration of those homes was in North Texas.

What they're saying:

"First, of course, we need to acknowledge that the past few years have been very difficult for Texans," Crawford said. "Of course, severe weather has always been relentless in Texas but what has driven homeowner's cost even more is the rising cost of repairing and the concentration of risk."

The lawmakers also heard testimony from a variety of insurance and home building experts.

"The Dallas-Fort Worth area is going to struggle with hail. You’re going to have a steep hill to climb in keeping insurance inexpensive," said Dr. Lars Powell, the executive director at the Center for Risk and Insurance Research at the University of Alabama. "Putting a bunch of people in small areas makes insurance expensive because one event can affect every single home in the area.

A Texas home developer offered this perspective.

"What I see most of the time is that the cost of insurance is becoming a significant barrier to homeownership. Insurance doesn’t just make it more expensive after you buy it, but it determines if you can afford to buy the house today," said Trey Summers the COO of Hogan Homes and a member of the Texas Association of Builders.

What's next:

Commissioner Crawford said rates are starting to moderate closer to pre-pandemic levels. While that’s encouraging news, it’s still not clear what it will mean for consumers at renewal time.

The Source: The information in this story comes from comments made during Monday's Texas House Insurance Committee meeting in Austin.

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