HOUSTON - Despite objections from coastal lawmakers, on July 31 the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Board voted to raise residential and commercial property insurance rates by 10 percent.
The rate hike passed on a 5-4 vote.
Coastal lawmakers representing constituents impacted by Hurricane Harvey had asked the board to reject the increase.
In response to the increase, Ware Wendell, the executive director of Texas Watch, released the following statement:
"Coastal property owners have been hit with a triple whammy. First, Harvey's devastation. Then low, slow, and no pay insurance abuse tactics. And now a rate hike. The coast is an economic engine for our state.
“Our fellow Texans who live and work there are being forced to take it on the chin again and again while the insurance industry is shielded."
TWIA, armed with $4.6 billion this hurricane season, services 14 coastal counties.
The average policy costs around $1,500.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted Mark Hanna, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas, as saying there was a failed vote for a 32 percent increase for residential and a 37 percent increase for commercial.