Bay Area Houston

Better late than never.

After decades of the failure of insurance reform the Texas Business and Commerce Committee in the Senate will address the rising cost of home insurance. Sort of. Lt Gov Dan Patrick has issued what is called “Interim Charges” to the Senate. Specific committees are asked to research an issue prior to the upcoming legislation session. Here is what he issued concerning home insurance:

Addressing the Rising Cost of Insurance: Assess the impact of rising property and casualty insurance costs on Texas property owners, real estate lenders, and commercial and industrial development. Identify ways to increase consumer transparency to better inform coverage decisions and make recommendations to ensure a competitive and affordable insurance market for consumers.

The entire list of charges can be viewed here. In the past the staff will solicit input from the community. They will have hearings then issue a report later in the year. I intend to provide input as well as attend the hearings. I would be very cautious about this study. The issue is clear. Our premiums are through the roof as well as our deductibles. This isnt about “transparency” or about learning how to choose an insurance company. This is about the failure of insurance reform back in 2003 that was suppose to “ensure a competitive and affordable insurance market for consumers”.

This study will be heavily influenced by the insurance industry and supporting organizations like Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and Texans Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions. TCAIS was the main organization formed to influence the 2003 reforms. They were funded by the insurance industry and claims to be advocating for consumers.

We need to keep an eye on this study.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024 at 7:24 am and is filed under Political. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.