Two true statements about Texas homeowners insurance are sitting side by side this month, and they point in opposite directions.
On October 8, 2026, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) announced that most homeowners insurers that filed rate changes since July 1 proposed decreases, affecting about 700,000 policyholders, with filed changes averaging a 4.3% decrease over the prior 90 days. On November 1, a 4% statewide increase filed by State Farm Lloyds, the state’s largest homeowners writer according to trade reporting, began applying to renewals.
If you opened a renewal notice this week and the number went up, you are not imagining things, and you are not necessarily contradicting the headline. This post walks through what each number actually measures, why the average can fall while your bill rises, and what a Texas homeowner should check before renewing, shopping, or deciding that a house has become too expensive to keep.
We are a cash home buyer, not an insurance agency, and nothing here is insurance, legal, or tax advice. Every figure below is attributed to a named source and dated. Rate filings change, so confirm anything that affects your policy with your insurer or a Texas-licensed insurance agent.
What TDI announced on October 8, 2026
According to TDI’s October 8, 2026 news release:
- Most companies that filed homeowners rate changes since July 1 proposed decreases, affecting about 700,000 policyholders.
- Over the past 90 days, filed homeowners rate changes averaged a 4.3% decrease.
- ASI Lloyds, a Progressive company, filed a 6% decrease affecting 71,000 policyholders, and Texas Farm Bureau Mutual filed a 5.2% decrease affecting 133,000 policyholders.
- Commissioner Amanda Crawford said some relief is starting to reach the market and urged Texans to shop around and compare coverage value as rates moderate.
- TDI reviews every filing to confirm the proposed rates meet state law, and companies file rates before using them. The public can search those filings online.
That is real news after years of steep increases. Commissioner Crawford said in an August 2026 statement that the average Texas homeowner’s premium rose from under $2,000 in 2020 to over $3,500 in 2026. Any sign of the trend bending is worth reporting.
What the headline average does not tell you
An average of filings treats every filing as one data point. A small company’s decrease counts the same as the largest company’s increase, no matter how many households each affects. LiveInsuranceNews, which analyzed the filings, describes the 4.3% figure as an unweighted average and reports the since-July-1 tally as 26 decreases and 5 increases. It also reports a different 90-day average across all companies of a 0.6% increase, attributed to a TDI spokesperson. Those are different calculations of the same market, which is the point: how you count changes what you see.
The count that matters most to your household is the one for your insurer. That is where State Farm comes in.
State Farm Lloyds: the increase that began November 1
Per the same LiveInsuranceNews report, State Farm Lloyds filed a 4.0% statewide homeowners increase on July 29, 2026, effective for renewals starting November 1. Details from that report:
- The company’s filing reportedly calculated a rate need of 10.9%, so the 4% request was a partial step.
- By the company’s own estimates, about 751,000 of its 987,000 Texas policies would increase and about 234,000 would decrease.
- More than 135,000 policyholders would see increases of 10% or more, and nearly 1,800 would see increases above 25%.
- County-level examples include Harris at 3.6%, Fort Bend at 5.3%, and Montgomery at 5.8%.
- TDI’s review of the filing was ongoing and had questioned it, and no reduction had been ordered at the time of the report.
We could not confirm whether TDI has ruled since. If you are a State Farm customer, your renewal declarations page is the only authoritative number.
The takeaway is not that anyone is being misled. A decrease at one carrier and an increase at another are both accurate, and a household sees only its own. A 4% statewide figure, with most policies up and a minority down, can still feel like 10% or more at the wrong address.
What a “small” percentage means in dollars
Percentages feel abstract, so run your own number. Using the roughly $2,460 average premium LiveInsuranceNews cites for 2025 as a round example:
- A 4.3% decrease saves about $106 a year.
- A 5.8% increase adds about $143 a year.
- A 10% increase on that same premium adds about $246 a year, and a 25% increase adds about $615.
Now use Commissioner Crawford’s over-$3,500 average for 2026. A 10% increase is about $350 a year, or roughly $29 a month. These are our own illustrations of the math, not predictions for your policy.
For most households a single year’s change is a nuisance rather than a crisis. The cumulative effect is what hurts: insurance rises alongside property taxes (see our guide to the 2026 Texas property tax bill and homestead exemption), repairs, and utilities, and all of them are paid whether or not the house is occupied.
What to check on your renewal notice
Before you pay or shop, spend fifteen minutes on these items.
1. The wind and hail deductible
In much of Texas the wind/hail deductible is a percentage of the dwelling limit, commonly 1% to 2% or more depending on carrier and location, rather than a flat amount. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, a 2% deductible is $6,000 before the policy pays a dollar of hail damage. A premium that drops while the deductible quietly rises is not a saving.
2. The roof terms
Roof age and condition are a major pricing and eligibility factor. Some policies pay roof claims on an actual-cash-value or payment-schedule basis that depreciates with age, so a 15-year-old roof may be reimbursed for far less than replacement cost. Our explainer on roof age, insurance rules, and FORTIFIED in 2026 covers what has been announced and what is not settled.
3. The dwelling limit versus rebuild cost
Construction costs rose sharply in recent years. If your dwelling limit has not kept pace, you can be underinsured while paying more each year. Ask your insurer how the limit was set.
4. Discounts and credits you may be missing
Ask directly about claim-free, protective-device, and roof-related credits. Do not assume they were applied.
5. Whether you got a non-renewal notice instead
A non-renewal is a different situation from a price increase and has its own rules and risks, especially around force-placed coverage if a mortgage lender steps in. If that is your letter, read our guide to what a Texas homeowners insurance non-renewal costs.
How to shop without getting burned
TDI urged consumers to shop, and that advice is sound. A few ground rules:
- Compare identical coverage. Same dwelling limit, same personal property and liability limits, same deductibles. Write the wind/hail deductible next to each quote.
- Get several quotes. Nearly 160 companies sell auto and homeowners insurance in Texas, per TDI, though not every one will write your house.
- Use a Texas-licensed insurance agent or broker to quote multiple carriers if you want help. That is a third party who holds that license, not us.
- Check the carrier. TDI publishes rate filings and complaint information at tdi.texas.gov, and the TDI Help Line is 800-252-3439.
- Do not let coverage lapse. A gap can trigger a lender’s force-placed policy, which is usually far more expensive and covers the lender’s interest, not yours.
When insurance cost becomes part of a bigger decision
For most readers, this is a shopping exercise, and the right move is to compare quotes, adjust a deductible, and move on. But for a smaller group, a rising premium is one more weight on a house that is already a burden:
- The inherited house that nobody lives in, where vacancy can complicate coverage and every month of carrying cost comes out of an estate.
- The tired landlord property with an aging roof, where insurance, taxes, and repairs now eat the rent.
- The house with deferred repairs that an insurer will not write on standard terms, pushing the owner toward more expensive coverage.
If you are in one of those, the useful question is not “how do I save $140 a year?” It is “what does this house really cost me to hold, and what do I net if I stop?” Add up insurance, property taxes, utilities, repairs, and lawn care, and multiply by the number of months you expect to carry it. Our cash offer versus listing math shows how to compare that against selling.
Why financed buyers care about insurance
A buyer using a mortgage generally needs proof of homeowners coverage before closing. A house with an old roof or a claims history can be hard to insure, or can be insured only at a high price, and that can make a financed buyer renegotiate or walk. A cash buyer is not waiting on a lender’s insurance requirement, so the as-is sale can move on a date you choose.
How our offers are built
We are a principal cash buyer, not a broker. Our offers follow a consistent formula: after-repair value times 75% to 80%, minus the repairs the house needs. For a clean, light-rehab house the percentage runs higher, roughly 85% to 92%. A house with an old roof, deferred maintenance, or insurance trouble sits at the repair-heavy end because the buyer prices those costs in up front. You can read the detail in how your cash offer is calculated. It will not beat a full-price retail sale of a house in good condition, and we will say so if that is your situation.
What to do this week
- Pull your renewal notice and declarations page. Write down the premium change in dollars and percent, the deductibles, and the roof terms.
- Call your insurer and ask why. Ask whether the change comes from a statewide rate filing or from your property’s own characteristics. Ask what discounts apply.
- Get at least three quotes on identical coverage, and compare deductibles first.
- Search the filing. If you are a State Farm Lloyds customer, you can look up the filing at tdi.texas.gov and see whether TDI has acted.
- If the house itself is the problem, run the carrying-cost math and decide whether holding it still makes sense. If it does not, request a no-obligation cash offer through our sell page or read about what we buy in any condition.
What to watch next
Two things are worth tracking. First, TDI’s review of the State Farm Lloyds filing, which could change what policyholders pay. Second, the Texas Legislature: Governor Abbott said in the October 8 release that he will work with lawmakers next session to further curb premium increases. We will cover specifics only when there is something concrete to report, and we will not guess at outcomes.
The bottom line
Texas insurance headlines can all be true at once. Many carriers are filing decreases, one very large carrier is raising rates on most of its policies, and the average premium is still far above where it was in 2020. Your bill depends on your insurer, county, roof, and deductible, not on the statewide average. Read the renewal notice, compare identical coverage, and keep an eye on the cost of holding the house. If the numbers say the house has become more burden than asset, you have options, and a cash sale is one of them.
Sources: Texas Department of Insurance news release, October 8, 2026; LiveInsuranceNews, “The Texas homeowners rate drop”; Texas Insurance Commissioner statement released through the Office of the Governor, August 2026. Figures are as of the dates stated and may have changed.