The Texas Department of Insurance released its 2024 biennial report which makes recommended changes to laws relating to the regulation of the insurance industry and other industries. The report is required under Texas Insurance Code 32.022 and is due on or before December 31 every other year.
The report makes three recommendations and addresses two emerging issues. The first recommendation is to require all insurance companies to inform consumers why their policy was declined, canceled, or nonrenewed. This would increase transparency and may help consumers to fix a potential issue.
The second recommendation is to match State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator salaries to that of other licensed peace officers. Investigators perform duties as licensed officers but are paid under a separate classification, leading to high turnover rates in the position.
The third recommendation is to amend the definition of an authorized peace officer to include Fraud Unit investigators. This would improve the Fraud Unit’s ability to investigate as it would give them the authority to review electronic data.
The report also addresses two emerging issues. The first is the price and availability of homeowners and personal auto insurance. The frequency of natural disasters, inflation, and increased reinsurance costs have driven up the premiums for homeowners and auto insurance. Increased property value and vehicle costs have also contributed to increased rates. The report acknowledges rising costs are a difficult problem to address, but recommends mitigation or incentive programs to encourage high building standards.
The second emerging issue is good faith in network adequacy negotiations for health plans. In a 2025 network plan review, TDI found that less than 1% of plans met their expectations to negotiate in good faith. TDI will limit granting network adequacy standards waivers unless a plan made a good faith effort to comply with network standards.
The 2024 Biennial Report can be found here.