The Texas Department of Insurance Companies (T-DICS)

The Texas Department of Insurance should be renamed to the Texas Department of Insurance Companies (Texas-DICS). They department as a whole (not the individuals working there) are as impotent as the Texas Ethics Commission, unable to do the job they were designed to do in the first place, protect the consumer. From Paul Burka of Texas Monthly:

As for the question of whether TDI is an ally of the insurance industry or an ally of consumers, the facts speak for themselves.

Burka was talking specifically about the 75% rate hike for long term health insurance, a hike the DICS eagerly approved. Ever since Rick Perry's insurance reform of 2003 property rates have skyrocketed especially along the coastal areas. Under the banner of "less regulation", TDI can only watch as the industry continues to raise premiums and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association continues to drown in debt. Much like the Texas Ethics Commission, they have become a paper tiger, a wet noodle, a worthless gathering of talented people willing, but unable, to do the work of the people. This is all by design.

Luckily for the insurance industry, most Texans are more concerned about their taxex going up $10/year than their mortgage going up $100/month due to a rise in home insurance. Texans tend to be easily distracted.