In today’s business environment, a single misstep by an employee can result in significant liability from workplace injuries and harassment claims to data breaches and regulatory fines. Many of these incidents are preventable with proper training.
When it comes to business insurance in Texas, it’s definitely gotten tougher, especially for certain industries and locations. Carriers are tightening their underwriting, rates are rising, and some coverage lines are getting harder to secure altogether.
What's Making Business Insurance Harder to Get in Texas?
Weather-driven claims
Frequent hurricanes, hailstorms, and extreme heat have made Texas one of the most disaster-prone states. Commercial property carriers are responding by:
- Pulling back in high-risk areas
- Increasing deductibles for wind/hail
- Requiring more documentation or inspections
- Sometimes declining to quote at all
Fewer carriers, less competition
Some major insurers have reduced their appetite for commercial risks in Texas, particularly for:
- Construction
- Hospitality
- Real estate/lessors risk
- Coastal properties
This has shrunk the market and given the remaining carriers more pricing power.
Skyrocketing premiums
Rates are climbing across almost every line, especially commercial property, liability, auto, and umbrella. If your loss history isn’t clean or if you operate in a high-risk class, expect double-digit increases or stricter terms.
Legal environment
Texas has a reputation for high litigation frequency and big verdicts (especially in auto and general liability claims). This has caused umbrella and excess liability markets to recoil or raise rates sharply.
Surplus lines growth
Many businesses are being pushed into the excess & surplus market, especially for property and high-limit liability. These carriers aren’t admitted in Texas and may offer less flexible terms, but they’re increasingly the only option.
What Can Businesses Do?
- Work with an independent agent or broker who can access a wide range of markets (not just direct writers).
- Get ahead of your renewal - start marketing your policy 90+ days out, especially if you’ve had claims or operate in a tough class.
- Invest in risk management- carriers reward businesses that can demonstrate loss control, especially in safety, cybersecurity, and fleet management.
Yes, getting business insurance in Texas is harder than it used to be, especially for property-heavy, high-risk, or coastal operations. But with the right strategy, proactive planning, and a knowledgeable partner, it’s still very possible to secure solid protection at competitive rates.
Need help navigating the changing insurance landscape in Texas? Let’s talk about your options.
Most homeowners and companies know that property insurance rates are rising in this “hard” market over the past few years. Navigating co-insurance challenges shows that hard markets come with increased premiums, increased deductibles, and stricter coverage terms. Catastrophic property losses from weather events are becoming more frequent, and the dollar amounts per loss continue to rise, forcing insurance companies to re-evaluate their property insurance portfolios. At the same time, the cost to rebuild properties has increased dramatically due to rising construction costs for material and labor. Additionally, replacement costs on an insurance policy might be significantly higher than the market/retail value of the property. Now more than ever, property owners need to review their property coverage limits and make sure they are carrying adequate limits to avoid a co-insurance penalty, truly navigating co-insurance challenges.
OSHA recently released an updated recordkeeping guide that details requirements for tracking employee injury and illness in the workplace via forms 300A, 300 and 301. The new guide adds recently incorporated changes to OSHA guidelines.
It also simplifies reporting guidelines by merging the previous four OSHA reporting documents into a single guide.
On Oct. 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed rule to rescind and replace its 2021 independent contractor classification rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposal is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Oct. 13, 2022. Comments on the proposal must be submitted within 45 days of the publication date.
The hard market looks to continue as the insurance industry takes a $5.6 Billion underwriting loss. Click the link below to view the full article.
When it comes to general liability insurance, a lot of business owners think they’re covered for everything, but that’s not always the case. Let’s clear up some general liability misconceptions to help you understand what this policy really does—and doesn’t—cover.
The Rise of social media has continued to put business leaders in the spotlight, and now directors and officers (D&O) insurance isn’t only for large, publicly traded companies. Protect your business and co-workers from costly claims by asking us about our D&O guide, which provides an overview of D&O Policies and their benefits.
On November 1, 2023, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is making significant changes to the rating system for Experience Modification Ratings (EMR) for workers’ compensation coverage. These changes are important to understand as they have an impact on how the mod is calculated and your resulting workers compensation insurance premiums.