As part of TX3DNews’ ongoing effort to provide readers with direct access to the views of local candidates, we invited candidates seeking to represent House District 89 to submit opinion pieces on issues important to voters. The following submission comes from Angie Carraway, a teacher and Democratic candidate for Texas House District 89, who shares her perspective on rising insurance costs in Texas.
By Angie Carraway | Candidate for Texas House District 89
Most families I talk to at the door aren’t leading with insurance. They’re talking about groceries, gas, school. But when I ask what else is eating into the budget, it doesn’t take long. The insurance bill comes up.
That’s not a coincidence. It’s a crisis that has been building for years while the Texas Legislature has done very little about it.
The Numbers
Here are the numbers.
The average Texas homeowner now pays somewhere between $3,291 and $4,078 per year for homeowners insurance, depending on which data source you use.
Either figure ranks us among the six most expensive states in the country. The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw homeowners premiums increase 32 percent between 2021 and 2024 alone. The Dallas Fed reports that the median Texas homeowner paid 60 percent more for home insurance in 2024 than they did in 2019.
Sixty percent. In five years.
Auto insurance is not much better. Full coverage in Texas now averages between $2,350 and $2,750 per year, consistently above the national average. For a family carrying two vehicles, that is a significant line item that has grown substantially since 2021.
These are not small numbers for working families. And they are not abstract. They show up in the budget every month, right alongside the mortgage and the groceries.
What’s Driving the Increase?
What is driving all of this?
Experts point to several real factors: higher construction and repair costs, more frequent and severe weather events, and rising reinsurance costs that get passed down the chain to policyholders.
Texas sits in the middle of Tornado Alley, faces hurricane risk along the Gulf, and has seen hail and freeze events that produce enormous losses. Some of those costs are genuinely difficult to control.
But some of what is happening is a policy failure.
The Legislature’s Response
The Texas Legislature meets every two years. It has had multiple sessions to address insurance market transparency, rate oversight, and consumer protections. The results, for most Texans, have not been enough.
A 2025 poll from Texas 2036 found that 79 percent of Texas voters would support a candidate who worked to lower homeowners insurance costs.
Seventy-nine percent.
That is not a partisan number. That is everyone, because this problem hits everyone.
What Action Looks Like
What does real action look like?
It starts with taking the issue seriously rather than treating it as a background concern that resolves itself.
It means asking hard questions about how rates are set, what insurers are required to disclose, and whether the oversight structures we have in place are actually protecting policyholders.
It means looking at what other states have done when markets tighten and premiums spike, and asking whether Texas families deserve the same level of protection.
Government’s Responsibility
I have taught Texas history and civics for fourteen years. I know what government is supposed to do.
It is supposed to show up for the people who elect it, not just the industries that fund it.
When 79 percent of voters are worried about their insurance bill and the response from Austin is effectively silence, that is a representation problem as much as it is an affordability problem.
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Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of TX3DNews. Publication does not constitute endorsement. An invitation to submit an opinion piece has also been extended to Rep. Candy Noble, Angie Carraway’s opponent in the House District 89 race.