Texas homeowners insurance costs soar as lawmakers seek relief.

Top of your consumer news, Texas homeowners are paying much more to insure their homes, with average annual premiums up nearly 80% in just six years. Lawmakers are now looking at what's driving those costs and what can be done to bring them down. Here's Vicki Goodwin. In the last six years, the average Texas homeowner's annual premium has soared, jumping 79% from $2,000 to more than $3,500 today. And lawmakers say pay is not keeping up. Has your paycheck gone up 78%? Has your retirement check gone up 78%? On Monday, the Texas House Committee on Insurance held a hearing looking for solutions. If you want premiums to come down, losses have to come down first. Higher home values, more expensive repairs, and billions of dollars in wind and hail losses have driven up costs. While leaders with the Texas Department of Insurance say rate increases have started to slow down, that doesn't necessarily mean relief. But if your insurance went up 20% one year and 20% the next, a small increase or a decrease now doesn't put you back to where you started. State Representative Vicki Goodwin is running for lieutenant governor against incumbent Dan Patrick. On Tuesday, she had a press conference laying out her plan to lower costs. I want us to look at whether TDI has the tools it needs to push back when a rate increase isn't justified. Kim Cortez has owned her Southwest Austin home for more than 30 years. In the last six years, her insurance has increased 160 percent. Her daughter's house in Denton, up 263 percent. My fear is that our children and everyone's children will not be able to afford to own a home. That's not to mention the cost of car insurance and health insurance, which have also soared. Dr. Kevin Lewis says he's been fighting his insurance company for years over a claim after his home flooded. The Texas homestead is itself at risk, and that is something worth protecting. Since 2019, wind and hail have accounted for more than 60% of homeowners' insurance losses. Governor Greg Abbott is proposing a roof fortification program to give grants to homeowners to pay for sturdier roofs. It's a program that's seen success in other states, particularly, Governor Abbott says, in Alabama during a hurricane. The homes that had fortified roofs were able to withstand that wind as opposed to other homes. Fewer losses means less pressure on insurance costs. It's an idea Goodwin says is worth pursuing. Incentives like this can spur changes that will benefit Texans in the long run. As Democrats point fingers at Republicans in power for not doing enough to tame costs, both sides agree Texans feeling the insurance pinch need relief.