10 Ways to Save Money on Your Insurance Premiums

Insurance premiums in Texas have climbed sharply over the past three to five years. Homeowners in particular have felt it — statewide average premiums for homeowners insurance have increased more than 50% since 2019, driven by major hail and storm seasons, rising rebuild costs, and carriers repricing their exposure across the state.

Some of what drives your premium is outside your control: where you live, the age of your home, and what your neighbors have filed claims for. But several factors are within your control, and they add up to real money.

These are ten specific things that can meaningfully reduce what you pay for insurance without leaving gaps in your coverage. Not all ten will apply to your situation, but most people can act on at least four or five of them.

Bundle your policies

1. Combine your home and auto coverage with a single carrier. Most major carriers offer a multi-policy discount when you hold both homeowners and auto insurance with them. The discount typically runs 5% to 25% depending on the carrier. On a combined premium of $3,000 per year, a 15% bundling discount saves $450 annually. That is real money for a change that takes one phone call.

The financial benefit is the obvious reason to bundle. There are practical ones too. One renewal date, one agent, one claims process when something involves both your car and your property. And because the carrier sees you as a more complete customer, they are less likely to non-renew you after a single claim.

Bundling does not always produce the lowest combined price, though. Some carriers are very competitive on auto but average on home, or vice versa. The discount on a combined policy needs to be compared against the best standalone quotes for each line. An independent broker can run that comparison quickly.

2. Add an umbrella policy and let it unlock additional discounts. This one runs counter to how most people think about saving money on insurance. Adding a policy sounds like spending more, not less. But most carriers that write personal umbrella policies require you to hold your home and auto with them as well, and bundling all three together often produces a larger discount on the underlying policies than bundling just two.

A $1 million personal umbrella policy typically costs $150 to $300 per year in Texas. In many cases, the additional bundling discount it unlocks on your home and auto policies offsets a significant portion of that cost. You end up with substantially more liability coverage for a net increase that is much smaller than the sticker price of the umbrella suggests.

Raise your deductible wisely

3. Increase your deductible if you have the savings to cover it. This is the most direct lever most homeowners and auto policyholders have on their premium. A higher deductible shifts more of the risk to you, and carriers price that shift into lower premiums. Moving from a $500 to a $1,000 deductible on a homeowners policy typically reduces the premium by 10% to 25%. Moving to $2,500 can reduce it by another 10% to 15%.

The caveat is important: a higher deductible only saves you money if you can actually pay it when a claim happens. A $2,500 deductible on a homeowners policy where you have $800 in savings is not a money-saving strategy. It is a plan to be short $1,700 at the worst moment. Match your deductible to what you genuinely have available, not to the lowest premium number on the quote sheet.

For West Texas homeowners, there is an additional layer to understand. Your policy may have a separate wind and hail deductible expressed as a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. A 2% deductible on a $300,000 home is $6,000, regardless of what your standard deductible says. Knowing both numbers is part of understanding your actual exposure.

4. Stop using insurance for small repairs. Every claim you file goes into the CLUE database and follows your property for five to seven years. Multiple claims in a short window can make your home harder to insure and push your premium up at renewal, sometimes significantly. If a covered repair costs $800 and your deductible is $1,000, the math already tells you not to file. But even when the claim would pay out a few hundred dollars above your deductible, the long-term premium impact often makes it cheaper to pay out of pocket.

Insurance is most valuable as protection against large, unexpected losses — a hailstorm that destroys your roof, a fire, a serious liability claim. Using it as a general maintenance fund tends to cost more in premium increases than it returns in small claim payments. A good rule of thumb: if you can absorb the cost without financial hardship, absorb it.

Ask about discounts

5. Ask your agent specifically what discounts you qualify for. Most carriers have fifteen or more available discount categories. Loyalty discounts, new customer discounts, paperless billing, automatic payment, claims-free history, new home discounts, and others are standard across most major carriers. They do not always get applied automatically, and agents do not always volunteer them unprompted. Asking directly, and asking your agent to go through the full list, is a five-minute conversation that can reduce your premium.

This matters most when you are reviewing a policy rather than buying fresh. Discounts applied at purchase do not always get re-evaluated at renewal. If your situation has changed — you installed a security system, you turned 25, you hit five years claims-free — those changes should trigger a discount review.

6. Complete a state-approved defensive driving course. Texas accepts several accredited defensive driving courses, and most auto insurance carriers will apply a discount for completing one. The discount typically runs 5% to 10% on the auto portion of your premium and usually lasts three years before you need to renew it. The courses are available online, take a few hours, and cost $25 to $35. For a driver paying $150 per month in auto insurance, a 7% discount saves roughly $126 per year on an investment of $35.

Some carriers also offer similar credits for young drivers in the household who complete a driver's education course. If you have a teenager on your policy, that is worth asking about specifically.

7. Add safety and security features to your home. Homeowners carriers price risk, and properties with features that reduce loss frequency and severity get lower premiums. Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, deadbolt locks, burglar alarm systems, and monitored security systems each carry discount potential with most carriers. Impact-resistant roofing, which is relevant for West Texas hail exposure, can reduce the wind and hail portion of your premium significantly — sometimes enough to offset the upgrade cost over five to seven years.

The discounts are usually not applied automatically when you add features after your policy starts. You need to notify your carrier or broker. Keep receipts and documentation for any upgrades you make so the discount can be properly applied at renewal.

Review coverage annually

8. Adjust your coverage as your life changes. A policy that fit your situation five years ago may be over- or under-insuring you today. If your children have grown and moved out, your personal property coverage needs may be lower. If you have paid off your mortgage, your lender's coverage requirements no longer apply and you have more flexibility in how you structure the policy. If you have significantly increased your savings or investments, your liability limits should probably reflect that.

The same logic applies across all your coverage lines. Life insurance needs change as children become adults and mortgages get paid down. Auto insurance needs shift as vehicles age and their value relative to the cost of coverage changes. A vehicle worth $4,000 carrying $800 per year in collision and comprehensive coverage is a math problem worth examining.

9. Shop your coverage every two to three years. Carrier pricing changes constantly. A company that was the most competitive for your profile three years ago may have filed rate increases since then, while a different carrier has become aggressive in your market. Loyalty is not rewarded the way most people assume. Some carriers offer new-customer pricing that undercuts renewal pricing for existing policyholders at the same company.

Shopping every year is not necessary for most people, but two to three years is a reasonable cycle. If your premium has increased more than 15% at a single renewal, that is a clear trigger to get quotes. A broker who works with multiple carriers can run the comparison in one conversation rather than requiring you to contact each company separately.

Work with an independent agent

10. Work with an independent agent rather than buying direct or through a captive agent. This is the one change that makes all the others easier. A captive agent works for one carrier. A direct insurance platform, whether online or by phone, gives you one company's pricing. An independent agent works with multiple carriers and can compare options across the market for your specific profile.

The practical difference is significant. Two carriers can quote the same home, same driver, and same coverage limits and produce premiums that differ by hundreds of dollars per year. One may be more competitive for your zip code, your roof type, your claims history, or your credit profile. Without comparing, you have no way to know which one that is.

Independent agents also know things about the market that a standard comparison website does not capture: which carriers are restricting new business in your area, which ones have been non-renewing after claims, which ones handle hail claims efficiently and which ones are difficult. That operational knowledge matters as much as the premium.

At LSM Insurance Agency, we work with multiple carriers across Lubbock, Wolfforth, Levelland, Shallowater, Plainview, Midland, and Odessa. We compare home, auto, life, and commercial coverage across carriers to find the right fit for your situation — not just the one product we happen to sell. If your premiums have gone up at renewal and you have not shopped in a few years, call us at (806) 792-7098 or stop by our office on Joliet Ave. A coverage review costs nothing and often turns up savings people did not know were available.

None of these ten steps requires you to reduce coverage you actually need. Every one of them is about paying for the right protection at the right price — which is what insurance is supposed to be.

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Every driver in Texas is required to carry car insurance. That is not optional, not negotiable, and not something that changes based on how long you have been driving or whether you consider yourself a safe driver. If you are behind the wheel of a vehicle registered in this state, you need liability coverage. The question most people do not ask is whether the coverage the law requires is actually enough to protect them. The answer, in most cases, is no. Texas sets a floor, not a ceiling. The minimum keeps you legal. It does not necessarily keep you financially safe if something serious happens. Here is what Texas requires, what happens when you drive without it, and why most drivers should be carrying more than the state minimum. Texas legal minimums Texas follows what is called a 30/60/25 liability requirement. Those three numbers represent the minimum coverage every driver must carry: $30,000 for bodily injury per person. 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Law enforcement and state agencies use it to identify uninsured vehicles without relying solely on traffic stops. If your vehicle registration and your insurance policy do not match up in that system, you can receive a notice even without being pulled over. Penalties for no insurance Texas enforces its insurance requirement. The penalties for driving without coverage are specific and they escalate with each offense. A first offense for driving without insurance results in a fine between $175 and $350. That number looks manageable until you add the administrative fees, court costs, and surcharges that accompany it, which can push the total to several hundred dollars above the base fine. A second or subsequent offense raises the fine to between $350 and $1,000. Courts also have the authority to impound your vehicle depending on the circumstances. Beyond the fines, Texas can suspend your driver's license and vehicle registration if you are caught without insurance. Reinstating both requires filing an SR-22, which is a certificate of financial responsibility your insurance company files with the Texas Department of Public Safety on your behalf. The SR-22 requirement typically follows you for two years. During that time, every insurer sees you as a higher-risk driver, and your premiums reflect that. Drivers coming off an SR-22 requirement commonly see their rates run 20% to 50% higher than before. Texas also assesses an annual surcharge through the Driver Responsibility Program for certain violations including driving without insurance. That surcharge can add $250 or more per year on top of any fines. Then there is the worst-case scenario: you cause a serious accident without insurance. You are personally responsible for every dollar of damage and medical costs. A multi-vehicle accident with injuries can generate claims well into the hundreds of thousands. Courts can garnish wages, attach bank accounts, and place liens on property to satisfy those judgments. The other party's attorney will find every asset you have. Why minimums aren't enough The 30/60/25 limits were designed to establish a legal floor, not to serve as a realistic benchmark for adequate coverage. There is a significant difference between those two things. Consider the numbers in real-world terms. An emergency room visit in Texas averages between $1,500 and $3,000 for the initial visit alone. A surgery after a serious accident can reach $50,000 to $100,000 before rehabilitation and follow-up care. The $30,000 per-person limit can be consumed by a moderately serious injury well before a case is settled. The property damage limit is equally thin. $25,000 covers a basic used vehicle, but the average transaction price for a new vehicle in Texas is now above $40,000. If you total a newer car in an accident you caused, your $25,000 property damage limit runs short, and the gap becomes your personal liability. Multi-vehicle accidents are where the exposure gets most serious. If you cause a collision involving several people with significant injuries, the $60,000 per-accident cap divides among all of them. In a serious wreck with multiple injured parties, that number disappears quickly and everything beyond it falls on you. One more thing the minimum does not cover: your own vehicle. Liability-only coverage pays for damage you cause to other people. Nothing in a minimum policy pays to repair or replace your car after an accident you caused, or after a hailstorm, theft, or any other event. Recommended coverage levels Most insurance professionals recommend that Texas drivers carry significantly more than the state minimum. The standard recommendation for drivers with assets to protect is at least 100/300/100: $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, and $100,000 in property damage. That is not three times the protection for three times the price. Moving from 30/60/25 to 100/300/100 typically adds $20 to $40 per month to a policy. It is a relatively small premium increase for a dramatically higher ceiling on what your insurance will cover. Beyond higher liability limits, several additional coverages are worth considering: Collision coverage pays for damage to your own vehicle after an accident, regardless of who was at fault. If you are still making payments on a vehicle, your lender almost certainly requires it. Even if you own your vehicle outright, paying out of pocket to replace it after a serious accident is something most households cannot absorb easily. Comprehensive coverage handles damage that is not a collision: hail, theft, flooding, fire, and animal strikes. In Lubbock and across West Texas, hail is a consistent threat from spring through early summer. Comprehensive coverage is what protects you when a storm damages your car while it sits in a parking lot. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is particularly important in Texas. Roughly one in five drivers in this state carries no insurance at all, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. If an uninsured driver hits you, your UM coverage pays for your injuries and vehicle damage. Without it, you have to pursue the uninsured driver directly, which rarely leads anywhere productive if they could not afford insurance in the first place. Personal injury protection (PIP) covers your own medical bills and lost wages after an accident regardless of fault. Texas insurers are required to offer it, though you can decline it in writing. For a relatively low cost, it fills a meaningful gap, particularly if your health insurance has high deductibles or limited coverage for accident-related treatment. Cost of minimum vs full coverage The cost difference between minimum liability and full coverage in Lubbock is real but often smaller than people expect. For a driver with a clean record, liability-only coverage in Lubbock typically runs around $85 to $106 per month based on 2025 and 2026 rate data. Full coverage, meaning liability plus collision and comprehensive, typically runs $160 to $211 per month for the same driver profile. That gap of roughly $55 to $105 per month is what separates having your own vehicle covered after an accident from not having it covered. For drivers with newer or higher-value vehicles, the math clearly favors full coverage. For drivers with older, lower-value vehicles where the cost of coverage approaches the value of the car itself, the decision is more personal. Several factors push premiums up consistently: at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, a DUI or DWI, a lapse in coverage, and a low credit score. Texas allows insurers to use credit-based insurance scores in rate calculations, and the impact can be significant. Drivers with poor credit can pay substantially more than drivers with excellent credit for identical coverage on the same vehicle. Factors that consistently bring premiums down: a clean driving record, good credit, bundling auto with home or renters coverage, completing a state-approved defensive driving course, and keeping continuous coverage without gaps. Most carriers offer at least one discount that most drivers qualify for and never ask about. The carrier you choose also matters more than most people realize. Two companies can look at the same driver and vehicle and produce quotes that differ by hundreds of dollars per year. Each insurer uses its own proprietary formula, and some companies are more competitive for certain risk profiles than others. The only way to know where your rate actually sits is to compare. At LSM Insurance Agency , we compare auto insurance rates across multiple carriers for drivers in Lubbock, Wolfforth, Levelland, Plainview, Midland, Odessa, and across West Texas. If you are currently carrying only the state minimum and want to know what better coverage would cost for your specific situation, call us at (806) 792-7098 or stop by our office on Joliet Ave. The state minimum keeps you legal. For most drivers, it does not come close to keeping you protected. And the price difference between those two things is usually smaller than you think.

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