Property Damage Insurance Attorney
Free Consultation
15
Sep

Texas Property Insurance Affordability Review: What Policyholders Should Know

,

Texas Property Insurance Affordability Review Reaches a Key Deadline

Texas Property Insurance Affordability Review

By Chad T. Wilson Law Firm Staff — based on reporting by the Office of the Texas Governor, August 24, 2026. Read the original reporting here.

The Texas property insurance affordability review reached a notable checkpoint today. On August 24, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to identify immediate administrative actions and possible statutory changes aimed at rising property-and-casualty insurance costs, and the governor’s office set a deadline: those recommendations were due back by Monday, September 14, 2026. For Texas homeowners and commercial property owners who have watched their premiums climb, it is a development worth understanding clearly — including what it is, and what it is not.

Key Takeaways

  • Governor Abbott directed the Texas Department of Insurance on August 24, 2026 to pursue measures addressing property insurance affordability, with recommendations due to his office by September 14, 2026.
  • The directive itself is public; the recommendations returned to the governor’s office are a separate document that had not been publicly released as of this writing.
  • The directive is not a new law and does not, by itself, create any new right for policyholders today.
  • Texas homeowners’ premiums have risen sharply in recent years — the governor’s office cites a 79% increase over six years — which is the backdrop for the review.
  • Any statutory proposals coming out of this process would be aimed at the 2027 Texas legislative session, not immediate rule changes.

What the Texas property insurance affordability review actually is

The affordability review began with a directive, not a statute. According to the governor’s August 24 release, TDI was asked to “put consumers first” and to identify steps that could make property insurance more affordable, along with further administrative measures and proposed statutory changes ahead of the 2027 legislative session. The governor’s office framed the urgency in plain numbers, stating that “the average annual homeowners’ insurance premium in Texas has risen 79 percent in six years.”

Public reporting on the directive describes several specific items TDI was asked to pursue: factoring “FORTIFIED” roof status into rate calculations, addressing the practice of denying or non-renewing policies based on the age of a home or its components, issuing a bulletin on so-called “price optimization,” standing up an insurance fraud task force, and studying the drivers of claims costs across auto and homeowner markets. Those are the contents of the directive that launched the review. They are the starting instructions — not conclusions, and not enacted rules.

Why the September 14 deadline matters — and why it doesn’t change your claim today

The deadline that arrived today is a submission deadline. It marks when TDI’s recommendations were due back to the governor’s office, not a moment when any new protection took effect. Delivering a document to the governor’s office also does not automatically make that document public, and as of this writing the actual recommendations had not been located in public sources. We think the honest position is a patient one: the recommendations, once released, deserve to be read in full before anyone translates them into guidance for policyholders.

For a policyholder navigating a claim right now, the practical takeaway is steady rather than dramatic. Your policy, your deadlines, and your rights under existing Texas law are what govern your claim today. A regulatory review underway in Austin does not change the terms of the contract you are living under, and it is not a reason to wait on filing, documenting, or disputing a claim that needs attention now.

What the review signals for Texas policyholders

Even without the final recommendations in hand, the direction of the conversation is telling. Several of the items in the directive touch issues policyholders raise with us regularly: how roofs are rated and inspected, whether the age of a component should be grounds for a denial or non-renewal, and how personal data unrelated to actual risk factors into pricing. If the recommendations propose statutory changes on any of these fronts, they could preview some of the larger property-insurance questions the Texas Legislature takes up in 2027.

None of that is settled, and we will not pretend to know what the recommendations say before they are public. What we can say is that affordability and fair claims handling are two sides of the same coin. Lower premiums mean little if a covered loss is later denied, delayed, or underpaid — and that is the terrain where policyholders most often need an advocate.

If your claim was denied, delayed, or underpaid

Regardless of what any review recommends, a few steps tend to serve policyholders well when a claim goes sideways:

  • Get the reason in writing. If an insurer denies or reduces a claim, ask for the specific policy language and the basis for the decision in writing.
  • Document everything. Photographs, dated notes, repair estimates, and a log of every call and email create a record you can rely on later.
  • Watch the calendar. Texas claims carry deadlines for the insurer and for you; missing one can cost you options.
  • Read before you sign. A quick settlement offer is not always a full one, and a signed release can close the door on additional recovery.
  • Ask questions early. Understanding your rights before you accept an outcome is easier than unwinding one afterward.

How Chad T. Wilson Law Firm Can Help

Chad T. Wilson Law Firm represents policyholders — never insurance companies — and has resolved more than 6,000 insurance claims. If your claim has been denied or you believe an insurer is not honoring the coverage you paid for, our team can review your policy, explain your options, and, where appropriate, press your claim through our work as an insurance claim lawyer. Headquartered in Webster, Texas, we represent policyholders nationwide, and we work on contingency: no recovery, no fee. Denied, delayed, or underpaid? Call us at (833) 942-0678 for a straightforward look at where you stand.

Practice Areas

  • Denied insurance claims
  • Delayed insurance claims
  • Underpaid insurance claims
  • Storm and hail damage claims
  • Hurricane and windstorm damage claims
  • Bad faith insurance claims

This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It describes a regulatory directive and does not report the contents of any recommendations that have not been publicly released. No specific outcome is promised or guaranteed. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney.

Sources: Office of the Texas Governor — Governor Abbott Directs TDI to Take Action to Make Property Insurance More Affordable (Aug. 24, 2026); Foley & Lardner — What Insurers Need to Know Now (Aug. 2026); National Law Review — Governor Abbott Directs the Texas Department of Insurance to Address Rising Property and Casualty Insurance Costs

15
Sep

Can a Power Outage Become a Business-Interruption Claim? Lessons From the Entergy Outages After Edouard

Can a Power Outage Become a Business Interruption Claim?

power outage business interruption claim

By Chad T. Wilson Law Firm Staff — based on reporting by 12NewsNow, September 3, 2026. Read the original reporting here.

For many Southeast Texas businesses, the hardest part of Edouard was not a hole in the roof — it was the dark. Reporting indicated that, at the peak, roughly 80,000 Entergy Texas customers lost power, with restoration slowed by flooding, downed trees, and blocked roads across counties including Chambers, Liberty, and Montgomery. When the lights stay off for days, a power outage business interruption claim may become one of the most important parts of a commercial policyholder’s recovery — but only if the loss is documented correctly from the start.

Key Takeaways

  • A power outage business interruption claim often turns on your specific policy language, including any off-premises power or utility-service provisions.
  • Separate your losses clearly: physical damage, spoiled inventory, equipment failure, loss of access, and loss of utilities are treated differently.
  • Business-interruption and extra-expense coverage can apply even where the building itself was barely touched.
  • Preserve sales records, spoilage logs, generator and relocation costs, and payroll continuation.
  • Read the policy before assuming an outage is excluded — many require a specific trigger, waiting period, or physical-damage link.

How a Power Outage Business Interruption Claim Actually Works

Business-interruption coverage is designed to replace income a business loses when a covered event forces it to slow down or close. Extra-expense coverage helps pay the added costs of keeping the doors open — a rented generator, temporary relocation, or expedited restocking. The wrinkle with outages is the trigger. Some policies pay for lost income only when the loss follows direct physical damage to your own property. Others include off-premises power or utility-service interruption endorsements that reach damage at a substation or line miles away. A few impose a waiting period, meaning the first day or two of an outage is not covered. None of this is visible without reading your particular policy carefully.

Separate the Losses, Don’t Blend Them

After an outage, it is tempting to lump everything into one number. Carriers rarely see it that way. Keep distinct records for spoiled or unusable inventory, refrigeration and equipment that failed, the revenue you lost while closed, and any customers or contracts you could not serve because roads or access were cut off. A restaurant’s spoiled walk-in cooler, a clinic’s ruined vaccines, and a shop’s lost weekend sales are three different pieces of the same claim, and documenting them separately makes each one easier to prove.

What to Preserve Now

Pull the records that show your normal operations and what changed. That means point-of-sale and sales history for comparable periods, spoilage and disposal logs with photos, invoices for generators, fuel, dry ice, and temporary space, and payroll records if you kept staff on during the closure. Save utility notices, outage timelines, and any communication about when power was expected to return. A clear, dated timeline of when you closed, why, and when you reopened is the backbone of the claim.

If Your Claim Was Denied, Delayed, or Underpaid

Outage-driven claims are among the most likely to be denied, delayed, or underpaid, often because the carrier points to a waiting period or a physical-damage requirement. If that happens, ask the insurer to identify the exact provision it is relying on, request the adjuster’s worksheet, and keep documenting your ongoing losses — business interruption can continue to accrue while a dispute is open. An estimate that ignores extra expense or cuts your lost-income period short is worth a second look before you accept it.

How Chad T. Wilson Law Firm Can Help

Chad T. Wilson Law Firm has resolved more than 6,000 property insurance claims for policyholders, and our commercial work often lives in exactly these details. As an experienced insurance claim lawyer team, we can read your business-interruption and utility-service provisions, help you assemble the income and expense proof that carriers respect, and connect the outage to the underlying storm damage claims where the policy requires it. Headquartered in Webster, Texas, we represent policyholders nationwide on contingency: no recovery, no fee. Denied, delayed, or underpaid? Call (833) 942-0678.

Practice Areas

  • Commercial and business-interruption claims
  • Storm damage claims
  • Denied, delayed, and underpaid claims
  • Extra-expense and spoilage losses

This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Coverage depends on your specific policy and facts, and no outcome is guaranteed.

Sources: 12NewsNow, Entergy Storm Center, CW39 Houston