Title insurance protects against covered problems with the ownership of a home that already existed when you bought it, like a forged deed, an unreleased lien or a missing heir. In Texas there are two policies: an owner's policy that protects you, and a loan policy that protects your lender. The premiums aren't negotiated company by company. The Texas Commissioner of Insurance sets, or "promulgates," the premium rates, and every title company must charge the promulgated rate (Texas Insurance Code Sec. 2703.151). Who pays for the owner's policy is a term in your contract, and on most loans the buyer pays for the lender's policy.
Most insurance covers things that might happen later. Title insurance looks backward. It covers covered defects in title that existed on the policy date, subject to the policy's exclusions and the exceptions listed in it. You pay a one-time premium at closing, and the owner's policy lasts as long as you or your heirs have an interest in the property, under its terms.
Title insurance is different from homeowners insurance. One is about who owns the home and what's recorded against it. The other is about damage to the house and liability.
Before closing, the title company searches the records and issues a commitment for title insurance. Under the TREC resale contract, the seller furnishes the commitment within 20 days after the title company receives the contract, with an automatic extension of up to 15 days if needed (TREC 20-19 Paragraph 6B). Read it. It has two parts that matter most:
The survey exception is why the survey, or the seller's existing survey with a T-47 affidavit or T-47.1 declaration, matters. Under Paragraph 6A(8), the parties choose whether the standard exception for boundary and area issues stays as is or is amended to read "shortages in area," and who pays for that change. See do I need a new survey or a T-47.
Texas law requires the Commissioner of Insurance to fix and promulgate title insurance premium rates, and a title company may not charge a premium at a rate different from the promulgated rate. Rate changes require a public hearing process (Texas Insurance Code Secs. 2703.151 and 2703.202). The Commissioner also prescribes the owner's policy form for residential property, so the basic owner's policy you get in Texas is a state-prescribed form (Sec. 2703.101).
The current basic premium rates took effect March 1, 2026, under Commissioner's Order No. 2025-9697, issued December 19, 2025, which reduced the basic rates from the prior schedule (TDI title insurance). The rates and rules are in TDI's Basic Manual of Rules, Rates and Forms for the Writing of Title Insurance in Texas (TDI Basic Manual). Rates are based on the policy amount, and the manual has special rules, such as a reduced rate for a loan policy issued at the same time as an owner's policy on the same property. Your title company calculates the exact figure from the manual.
What can still differ between title companies? Not the premium. Other settlement charges, like escrow fees and some service fees, can differ, and endorsements your lender requires add their own promulgated premiums.
Federal disclosure rules make lenders show the loan policy at its full premium rate and calculate the owner's policy as the full owner's premium, plus the simultaneous-issue premium for the loan policy, minus the full loan premium. The owner's policy is labeled "(optional)" (Reg Z comment 37(g)(4)-2). In Texas, where the loan policy is reduced when issued with an owner's policy, that means the two title lines on your Loan Estimate may not match the title company's invoice line by line, even though the total for the two policies works out the same. It's the disclosure math, not an extra charge.
This example is made up to show how a requirement works.
Priya is buying a home in Keller. The title commitment shows a recorded judgment against someone with the same name as the seller. That's listed as a requirement. The title company asks the seller for information to prove the judgment belongs to a different person, or for a release if it's the seller's. Closing waits on that requirement. Nobody waives it at the lender and funds anyway, because the loan policy won't be issued with an open requirement the underwriter hasn't cleared. Once it's resolved, the owner's policy, which the seller agreed to pay for in Paragraph 6A, and the loan policy, which Priya pays for under Paragraph 12A(2), are issued together at the promulgated rates.
Want to see what title costs will look like on your Texas purchase, or confused by the title lines on your Loan Estimate? I'll walk you through them before you sign. Schedule a call, or when you're ready, start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026