CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Despite much public protest, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association voted to increase rates for homeowners on the coast by 10 percent.
TWIA officials say the rate hike is needed to keep the association from running out of funding.
There were a good amount of folks who spoke against the increase during Tuesday's board meeting including a handful of community members and local leaders from right here in the Coastal Bend.
Still it wasn't enough to sway the board.
In a 6-3 vote, TWIA gave their approval to raise rates for windstorm policies by 10 percent for residents and commercial policies.
So, for those who pay an average of $2,300 a year on their premium, that means an increase of $230 dollars. But, it's a cost not shared by all Texans.
"Why are we coming here all the time? Maybe if somebody cared about the tax payer, the rate payer, and for those of you who are on this board who don't live on the coast, why we are angry, frustrated, cause you are taxing us," Texas State Rep. Todd Hunter told TWIA board members during Tuesday's meeting.
Hunter, one of the biggest opponents to the rate increase was among those from the Coastal Bend who attended the meeting.
"These rising costs are not just merely numbers on a balance sheet, they represent significant obstacles to our economic growth and stability, harming business and employees alike," councilman Roland Barrera told board members.
This will be the second increase in two years. In 2022 TWIA approved a hike of five percent.
TWIA blames growth with an additional 25,000 new policies in the last year, saying current rates might not be enough to pay claims.
Last week, TWIA Chief Actuary & Vice President of Enterprise Analytics Jim Murphy reiterated what he told 3NEWS they expect Hurricane Beryl will use up all of the premiums that have been collected this year.
"We've got a little over $450 million set aside that we've been building up since Harvey, and so I would expect that we will need more than half of that, and potentially we might need all of it to pay for Beryl," Murphy said.
The 10 percent increase is expected to rake in an additional $75 million a year.
The next step, TWIA must get approval from the Texas Department of Insurance. They'll have the final say in a decision that is expected by Oct. 15.
Meantime, Hunter said he plans to file an appeal.
"Absolutely, this to me is just another rerun, they've ruled one way, we go appeal, we go fight," he said.
If approved by the Texas Insurance Commissioner, the rate hike will go into effect next year. This also puts increased pressure on the Texas Legislature to do something to curb costs when it convenes in January.
We'll keep you posted.