Local insurance rates rising From the cover
By the numbers
Zooming out
Home insurance experts say a rise in natural disasters has contributed to higher home insurance rates. Billion-dollar weather disasters in Texas
don’t want to write new business policies and are looking for ways to reduce their home insurance portfolios. He added homeowners should expect for rates to keep going up as fast as the insurance departments allow. Colleyville-based insurance agent Trip Buchwald, who has more than three decades of experience, also cited severe weather in North Texas and the rising population as factors “driving up costs for insurance providers.” Buchwald said roof damage and water loss claims are the most common he sees. “The hot summers we get here, combined with the wind and hail events, all do a number on our roofs here in North Texas,” he said. “A homeowner is lucky to get 20-25 years out of a 50-year roof.” In addition to weather, the cost of materials and labor have gone up due to in ation. According to a 2023 blog post from Houston- based HHH Roo ng & Construction, in ation has caused the average cost of a roof to rise 20%–40% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 2015 through 2021, average homeowner insurance rate increases in Texas remained steady in the single digits, ranging from 2.6%- 5.9%, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. However, rates rose by 10.8% in 2022 and by 21.1% in 2023. Texas is projected as one of the top- ve most expensive states for insurance coverage, according to Insurify. However, higher insurance rates are not just a Dallas-Fort Worth or Texas problem. Agent John McMillen—who’s been in the industry for more than 36 years and runs Georgia’s Choice Risk Management, an insurance consulting group—said rates nationwide have jumped due to multiple issues. “Whether some people want to admit it or not, the weather is more volatile,” McMillen said. “I saw two major hailstorms in my rst seven years [in business]. Then I didn’t see a hailstorm for 10 years. But in the past 17 years, I have seen them every year.” McMillen said that most of his main carriers
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SOURCE: NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Most expensive states for home insurance Texas is projected to have the fourth-highest average insurance rates among all states nationwide in 2024.
$11,759
Florida
$7,809
Louisiana
$5,711
Oklahoma
$4,482
Texas
Annual percent increase in home insurance costs for average Texas homeowner
$4,437
Mississippi
SOURCE: INSURIFY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
20% 25% 15% 10% 5%
Nationally, average home insurance costs have risen over 27% since 2021, based on end-of-year projections. Nationwide annual home insurance costs
$2.5K $2K $3K $0
$2,522
$2,377
$2,123
0%
2012 2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022 2023
$1,984
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: INSURIFY/COMMUNITY IMPACT *NOTE: ESTIMATED COST BY END OF 2024 2021 2022 2023 2024*
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