BY RACHEL LELAND CONTRIBUTIONS BY MELISSA ENAJE & DANICA LLOYD
Nonrenewal rates by county
How it works
Looking ahead
Throughout the Greater Houston area, more homeowners have opted to not renew their insurance polices year-over-year since 2021.
Insurance companies have recently reported they’re facing risks, such as natural disasters and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lumber and building costs. Carriers have increased the premiums of their policyholders nationwide; however, the Houston area has experienced dramatic increases as ana- lysts deem the area “high risk,” said Laura Crain, president of Crain Insurance Group. Like its predecessors such as Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Beryl caused billions of dollars in damage, according to property analytics rm CoreLogic. In December, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget published nonrenewal rates, con rming areas most vulnerable to climate-related risks have the highest nonrenewal rates and the most signi cant rate increases. While Harris County had a lower nonrenewal rate than neighboring coastal counties, its nonre- newal rate was higher than those further inland to the north, according to the report.
According to a June 17 report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute of Urban Research, experts recommend data-driven infrastructure planning and accurate ¡ood risk mapping to address climate risks across Harris County, where more than 20% of all housing units are in major ¡ood areas. “The risk is going to continue to grow, and it’s really on us to gure out ... what we do with these spaces where we have so much infrastructure and economic investment and development in a place like Houston,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at the nonprot First Street. Hurricane season tips • Shop for windstorm insurance if it’s not included in your home insurance policy. • Consider comprehensive coverage car insurance, which covers vehicular damage from ¡ood, hail, re and wind. • Have physical and digital copies of important documents, such as your policy’s declaration page and ID cards for auto and health insurance. • Consider ¡ood insurance sooner rather than later as ¡ood policies usually take e§ect 30 days after purchase. • Evaluate your home’s roof and windows; repairs and reinforcement ahead of a storm could save you money later. • Take inventory of your home in case an insurance claim needs to be led later. • Build an emergency go kit stocked with water, food, medicine, clothes, pet food and other vital supplies.
0% 2018 2019 2020 2021
2022 2023
0.5% 1%
1.5%
Brazoria
Fort Bend
Galveston
Harris
SOURCE: U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGETCOMMUNITY IMPACT
At the Capitol
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 2067 into law on June 20, eective Jan. 1. Paul said he hopes the legislation will hold insurance companies account- able while also assisting the state in determining why companies are dropping customers. Some, including Cobarruvias, said they don’t feel this approach will help because it doesn’t directly deal with rate increases. However, Paul said the
state is limited in its ability to address the issue. Paul said he feels the state needs to incentivize competition to attract more insurance companies to spread out the risk and potentially lower rates. He said he believes the state setting direct rates or limiting increases could cause companies to leave. “Having government interference come in and set a rate is a total disaster,” he said.
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCECOMMUNITY IMPACT
Texas Public Education Funding in 2025
Thank you, Texas Lawmakers, for HB 2. Let’s keep going!
New funding provided in House Bill 2
#FundOurSchools
Needed to keep up with in ation since 2019
Needed to match the national average in per-pupil spending
RaiseYourHandTexas.org
Ad paid by Raise Your Hand Texas®
25
CYPRESS EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook