A Report from Austin
(BTW halfway through my visit I received my renewal notice. My home insurance increased from $6000 to $9000)
Last week I was joined by another homeowner from the Bay Area at the Capitol (Thanks Doug). We were able to talk with the staff of most of the members of the House Insurance Committee concerning the rising cost of home insurance in our area. The bottom line? I don’t think they understand the severity of the situation here in the Bay Area..
We were able to meet with our State Representative Dennis Paul and his Chief of Staff. As you may know Representative Paul lives two blocks from me and he had his roof replaced after the hail in May so he must know what we are going through but our conversation was not what I expected. He had a lot of excuses for the rising cost of insurance including inflation, supply chain issues, and lawsuit abuse. All of these combined could not account for excessive rates in our area. These are talking points used by the insurance industry. They also talked very briefly about “climate change” or as they call it “frequency and intensity of storms)
We made sure they were aware of the excessive cost of repairs which directly affect our premiums. Roofs replacements after a storm should not cost $32,000 in our area especially when that roof would cost only $8000 under normal conditions. (My estimate was $24,000 and was submitted as $40,000 to my insurance company)
We discussed the fact that the “Free market” is letting the insurance industry free to leave the market. The top 6 companies in Texas will NOT write policies in our area. We are now being pushed into a socialized market run by the State, the Texas Fair Plan, which is not fair.
We provided some solutions like using better building materials, automatic cutoff valves for water pipes, the use of metal roofs.
I have provided the letter we left with them below. I will have a list of bills affecting our insurance premiums early next week.
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Bay Area Houston 
I appreciate your efforts. I also am experiencing unreasonable increases in the homeowner’s insurance. I have also heard all the excuses from the insurance companies. I agree something needs to be done. The insurance companies are so greedy. They want high profits on every single policy. Sounds as if there also may be some corruption going on.
While I agree that the home insurance is becoming untenable for many homeowners, I think your list of actions/demands is pretty unreasonable. While I am no fan of insurance companies, a $1000 premium ceiling is not realistic. I’m moving my family back to central NC soon and, even in a relatively low risk area, my home insurance premium is going to be about $1600.
Also, why should insurance companies have to pay for building improvements designed to harden homes against weather? It’s not their home. I do wholeheartedly agree that the state should offer homeowners some degree of subsidy to harden homes and should require insurers to discount premiums for hardened homes.
The insurance industry has not been ignoring climate change, the increased premiums are in response to increased adverse weather events resulting from climate change. These events are accelerating, this rate increases are too. Insurance companies didn’t cause climate change and can’t remedy it. If you want climate change addressed then think long and hard about how you vote.
I think the quickest/easiest solution to get bay area homeowners relief would be to move the Texas Windstorm coverage “border” back to I-45 from its current TX-146 line in Harris County.
We sold our home in El Lago at a loss in 2023. Part of the urgency was that we saw this coming. This problem took a while to develop and it’ll take time to address, but responsibility shouldn’t all fall on insurance companies. Action by the state government (good luck!) and investment from homeowners will also be required.
I wish everyone in the Bay Area good luck, but I’m glad to be getting tf outta here!
[…] Sour Note: Since my visit to Austin I have been overly busy and have neglected to keep you informed of the progress of any bills that […]