Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to take actions to make property and casualty insurance more affordable.
Governor Abbott directed TDI to:
- Require insurers to include a home’s FORTIFIED roof status in their rate setting calculation to reduce the cost of insurance premiums
- 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
- Issue a bulletin for all TDI-regulated products that bans the practice of “price optimization,” whereby insurers use personal data unrelated to insured risk to set prices
- Create an Insurance Fraud Task Force to clamp down on insurance fraud
- Conduct a study on the impact of excessive, unnecessary, and inflated claims costs on the Texas commercial auto, personal auto, and homeowner insurance markets
TDI was also instructed to identify any additional administrative actions that can be taken immediately and any statutory changes needed to protect consumers and make insurance products more affordable. These recommendations must be received by Governor’s Office on September 14.
The Governor’s letter to TDI can be found here. The Governor’s full press release can be found here.
