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On August 24, 2026, Governor Abbott directed the Texas Department of Insurance to find ways to bring property insurance costs down, citing a 79% increase in average annual homeowners premiums over six years. TDI’s recommendations are due to the Governor’s office on Monday, September 14. Whatever comes out of that report, it will not change the quote on the house you are writing an offer on this month.
That quote matters more than most buyers expect. In Fort Bend County the insurance premium is one of five line items that turn a list price into a monthly payment, alongside principal, interest, property taxes, and any MUD assessment. Buyers who wait until the week of closing to shop coverage learn the number when it is too late to negotiate anything.
Here is what to check, when to check it, and what sellers in Richmond, Sugar Land, Katy, and Fulshear can do to keep an insurance surprise from unraveling a contract.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported in April 2026 that the median Texas homeowner paid 60% more for home insurance in 2024 than in 2019. The national increase over the same five years was 30%. TDI’s own rate data shows how that happened: average statewide homeowners rate changes were +21.1% in 2023, +18.7% in 2024, and +4.3% in 2025. The increases have slowed. The base they are built on has not come down.
An insurance quote is property-specific. Roof age, claims history on the address, construction type, distance to fire protection, and whether a given carrier is still writing new policies in that ZIP code all move the number. Two houses on the same street in 77406 can quote more than $1,500 apart. That is why a rule of thumb from your lender is not a quote, and why the insurance quote before offer day is the one that counts.
When a lender pre-approves you, they plug in an estimated insurance figure. If the real quote on the house comes in higher, your monthly escrow payment goes up and your debt-to-income ratio shifts with it. On a tight approval that can mean a smaller loan than you planned on, discovered two weeks before closing.
Ask your lender what insurance number is in your approval. Then get a quote on the specific address during the option period and compare the two. If they are far apart, you still have time to renegotiate or walk. This is the same mechanism behind the year-two payment jump we covered in how Fort Bend property taxes hit your escrow account: the lender’s estimate and the real bill are two different numbers.
Effective July 1, 2026, the revised Texas Seller’s Disclosure Notice asks the seller two new questions: whether the property is currently covered by homeowners insurance, including windstorm coverage, and whether the seller has ever been unable to insure the property for any reason. Read those two answers before you write the offer. A “no” or a blank is not automatically a problem, but it is a reason to get the quote first.
Then ask for a CLUE report. The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange is the claims history on the address, and the seller can request it from their own carrier. Prior claims follow the house, not the owner, and a roof claim from 2023 can price the policy differently than an identical house with a clean file.
When the National Hurricane Center is tracking a named system toward the Texas coast, carriers impose binding restrictions. No new policies, no added coverage, no increased limits in the affected area until the restriction lifts. A lender will not fund a loan without a bound policy, so a buyer who planned to bind the week of closing can find the closing pushed with no way to fix it.
The fix is timing. If you bind the policy during the option period with an effective date of closing, a later restriction affects new business, not a policy already issued. Fort Bend County is inland, but the restrictions are drawn by carrier, not by county line, and they have reached this far before.
Most Texas policies carry a separate wind and hail deductible calculated as a percentage of the dwelling coverage, commonly 1% or 2%. On a house insured for $450,000, a 2% deductible is $9,000 out of your pocket before the carrier pays a dollar on a hail claim. That number never shows up in the monthly payment, which is why buyers miss it.
Fort Bend County is not in the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association territory, so wind is inside your standard policy rather than a separate TWIA policy. The deductible is still separate. When you compare quotes, compare the deductibles side by side, not just the premiums. A cheaper premium with a 2% deductible can cost more than a pricier one at 1% the first time a storm crosses the county.
Homeowners insurance does not cover flooding. Flood coverage is a separate policy, and a National Flood Insurance Program policy normally has a 30-day waiting period before it takes effect. That wait is waived when the policy is purchased as a condition of a mortgage closing, but if your lender does not require flood coverage and you want it anyway, the clock starts the day you pay.
In Fort Bend County, where levee and drainage districts define much of the map, a house outside a mapped flood zone is not the same as a house that has never flooded. Ask the question on the disclosure, ask the neighbors, and get the flood quote in the same week as the homeowners quote so you are comparing the whole cost of owning the house.
Pull your own CLUE report and your current declarations page before the sign goes in the yard. Know the age of your roof and keep the invoice if it has been replaced; carriers price the roof before anything else. Answer the two insurance questions on the disclosure completely, and if you have ever had trouble insuring the house, say so before listing so the issue can be fixed or priced in rather than discovered by a buyer’s agent on day nine of the option period.
A buyer who got the insurance quote before offer day already knows the number. A buyer who did not gets the surprise late in the contract and does one of two things: asks for a credit, or walks. Both cost you more than the report would have. For the rest of the numbers between contract and closing, our Fort Bend seller closing costs guide walks through the full list.
If you have a mortgage, yes. The lender requires evidence of a bound policy before funding and typically collects the first year’s premium at closing. Cash buyers are not required to carry insurance, but a house in Fort Bend County with no wind or flood coverage is a risk most owners choose not to take.
During the option period, the Texas contract’s termination option lets a buyer terminate for any reason and keep their earnest money, forfeiting only the option fee. After the option period ends, an expensive quote is not by itself grounds to terminate. That is the whole reason to get the quote early.
No. A seller is not required to provide one, but they can request it from their carrier and most will when asked. What the seller must do, as of July 1, 2026, is answer whether the home is currently insured, including windstorm coverage, and whether they have ever been unable to insure it.
Send me the address. I will tell you which taxing districts it sits in, what the disclosure says about insurance, and what to ask the insurance agent before your option period starts. Reach Lenore Smith Realty Group here, or call 713-824-9389.
Selling? Start with what you will actually walk away with. Check your Fort Bend home’s value and we will build your net sheet from there.
This article is general information about the Fort Bend County market, not legal or insurance advice. Talk to a licensed insurance agent about your policy and a licensed attorney about your contract.
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