Texas Says Home Insurance Rates Are Falling. State Farm's Montgomery County Customers Face 5.8% More
The state touted a 4.3% average decrease. State records show Texas' largest home insurer raising rates on 751,000 policies, with Montgomery County's average up 5.8% Nov. 1.
Last Thursday, the State of Texas told homeowners that insurance rates are "trending down for many Texans." If you live in Montgomery County and your policy is with State Farm, that headline does not describe your Nov. 1 renewal.
State Farm Lloyds, the largest homeowners insurer in Texas, filed a 4% statewide average homeowners rate increase with the Texas Department of Insurance on July 29, according to a 13 Investigates review of state records by ABC13. The filing shows a steeper average increase here: 5.8% in Montgomery County, compared with 5.3% in Fort Bend County and 3.6% in Harris County. The increase is scheduled to take effect for renewing policies on Nov. 1. The Woodlands Record and Live Insurance News reported the same figures, also drawn from the state filing records.
What the state said
On Oct. 8, TDI issued a news release saying most homeowners insurers that filed rate changes since July 1 proposed decreases, "affecting about 700,000 Texas policyholders," and that filed homeowners rate changes over the past 90 days "averaged a 4.3% decrease."
"Lower rate filings are an encouraging sign for Texas consumers, and we're pleased to see some relief beginning to reach the market," said Insurance Commissioner Amanda Crawford.
Gov. Greg Abbott said in the same release that "Texas will hold insurers to state law, and I will work with the Legislature next session to further curb premium increases."
The release named decreases from ASI Lloyds, a Progressive company, at 6% for 71,000 policyholders, and Texas Farm Bureau Mutual at 5.2% for 133,000 policyholders. It did not mention State Farm.
What the records show
The 4.3% figure is a simple average. TDI spokesperson Mistie Hinote confirmed to ABC13 that it counts every company's filing equally, so a small insurer weighs the same as the largest one in the state.
"The average isn't weighted by premium volume or number of policyholders," Hinote said. "Individual company trends will vary."
State Farm's own filing estimates how the change hits its roughly 987,000 Texas homeowners policies: 751,000 would go up and 234,000 would go down, ABC13 reported. More than 135,000 would rise 10% or more, and nearly 1,800 would rise more than 25%. By that count, State Farm alone would raise rates on more policies than the 700,000 policyholders TDI said are getting cuts across all companies combined.
ABC13 also found that since July 1, insurers filed 26 homeowners rate decreases and five increases. Besides State Farm, Amica Mutual filed a 4% increase and AIG Property Casualty filed 15.2%.
Profit, storms and the regulator's question
State Farm's filing memo says its data supported a 10.9% increase, more than double what it filed. The company cited poor liability loss experience, severe storms and rising insured home values, according to ABC13.
TDI has not finished reviewing the filing. In a written objection on the public record, regulators asked State Farm to explain its rate need "given assumed favorable industry and company results in 2025... and lowering reinsurance costs." State Farm answered that "many things go into an indication outside of reinsurance costs."
The regulator had reason to ask. State Farm's Texas homeowners business recorded a net underwriting profit of about $541 million in 2025, according to TDI's annual market report as cited by ABC13.
That is the accountability question here, and it cuts two ways. A company is entitled to price for real risk, and Texas has had brutal storm years. But when an insurer posts a half-billion-dollar underwriting profit and still raises rates on three out of four of its policyholders, the regulator owes the public a clear answer on whether that increase is justified. And when a state agency puts out a cheerful average that hides the biggest filing in the market, it owes the public the whole picture.
How we got here
TDI's weighted average homeowners rate change was 10.8% in 2022, 21.1% in 2023 and 18.7% in 2024, before easing to 4.3% in 2025, Hinote told ABC13. The average premium per homeowners policy written in Texas rose from about $1,500 in 2020 to about $2,460 in 2025, roughly 63%, according to ABC13's analysis of TDI annual reports.
What you can do
Read your renewal notice line by line, including your wind and hail deductible. TDI itself urges Texans to shop around, noting that nearly 160 companies sell home and auto insurance in the state. Anyone can search filed rates on TDI's website or call the TDI Help Line at 800-252-3439.
Being a good steward of your household means checking the bill, not just paying it. If your premium is going up while the state says rates are going down, ask your agent to show you why.
Related from Dock Line
Disclosure: Dock Line Magazine has run sponsored columns from a local State Farm agent. That agent had no role in this story.
Hero photo: Anders Lagerås via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped and resized, adaptation shared under the same license.
