Here’s a real shocker (NOT!): Our only Insurance Commissioner, Eleanor Kitzman, has once again agreed to accept a rate increase from a homeowner’s insurance provider. Texas is locked in a relentless battle to retain our position as the state with the highest homeowner rates in the country. We were uncontested for many years, but then Florida began to creep up on us. We’re absolutely determined to not allow any other state to charge consumers more for insurance protection than we do.
This time it’s Farmers, which is increasing its premiums by an average of 15%. This is in addition to an increase of 10% by Farmers earlier this year.
Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer group active in insurance issues, said approval of the higher rates demonstrates the commissioner’s “complete lack of interest” in protecting consumers.
“Her track record is clear. She hasn’t met a rate increase she didn’t like, and Texas policyholders are the ones paying the price,” he said, citing a string of premium hikes by major insurers that drew no objections from Kitzman.
Referring to the Farmers increase, Winslow said, “There is absolutely no justification for an increase of that size in such a short period of time.”
