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Insurance Broker Fees in Texas

Picture of Charles D. McDade, LUTCF By   ·  8 minute read
The Texas Insurance Decision Guide

Insurance Broker Fees in Texas

  • By Charles McDade, LUTCF
  • Updated October 16, 2026
  • Home and Auto Insurance

Which lines on a Texas quote the carrier set, which one an agency chose, what the state requires before you pay it, and why this desk adds none on personal lines.

insurance-broker-fees-texas-hero

The answer

A broker fee is money an agency adds on top of your premium. A commission is paid by the carrier out of the premium and never moves your price. Texas allows agency fees, with your documented acknowledgment when the desk also earns a commission. The taxes and fees a carrier puts on a policy, the surplus lines tax, the stamping fee, a FAIR Plan surcharge, are set before you see them and add nothing to any agency. McDade adds no agency or brokerage fees to personal lines policies, including personal flood and surplus lines home. The carrier's lines are the price. The agency's line is a choice.

Inside the premium, on top of it

Two words get mixed up on every quote. Commission is set between the carrier and the agent before your number is ever run, inside the rate the carrier filed with TDI. A fee is something an agency adds afterward, with Texas rules around it. Here they are side by side, so you can tell which one you are looking at. Nothing about a commission moves your price. A fee moves it by the fee.

  • Commission

    Who pays it
    The carrier, out of the premium
    Who sets it
    The carrier, before your price is run
    Where it sits
    Inside the rate the carrier filed with TDI
    What it does to your price
    Nothing. The price is the price
    What Texas asks of you
    Nothing
    Where it lands
    Inside the price

  • Agency fee

    Who pays it
    You, on top of the premium
    Who sets it
    The agency
    Where it sits
    On the invoice, a fee agreement, or a line near the bottom of the quote
    What it does to your price
    Raises it by the fee, every term it is charged
    What Texas asks of you
    Your documented acknowledgment before you buy, when the desk also earns a commission
    Where it lands
    On top of it

Every line on the page, and who set it

Six lines can show up under the coverages on a Texas quote or declarations page. Four belong to the carrier or the state and are fixed before you see them. One can be either. One is the agency's choice. Here is who sets each, where it shows, and the one question that sorts it. Find the line, find who set it, and you know what it is.

  • 01Surplus lines tax
    Who sets itTexas law, 4.85 percent of gross premium on a surplus lines policy
    Where you see itA tax line on a surplus lines declarations page
    AskIs this policy surplus lines, and why?
  • 02Stamping fee
    Who sets itThe Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas, 0.04 percent of gross premium since January 1, 2024
    Where you see itA stamping fee line beside the tax
    AskSame question. Surplus lines has reasons. Know yours.
  • 03Carrier policy fee
    Who sets itThe carrier, filed with its rates
    Where you see itNear the bottom of the declarations page, in the carrier's name
    AskIs this the carrier's fee or the agency's?
  • 04FAIR Plan surcharge
    Who sets itCarriers recouping Texas FAIR Plan assessments, a uniform percentage of premium, under TDI's October 2025 bulletin
    Where you see itA surcharge line on some property policies, in windows that run into 2028
    AskIs this a recoupment surcharge, and what is the percentage?
  • 05Inspection fee
    Who sets itThe carrier or the agency, an exception Texas allows
    Where you see itOn the quote or the invoice
    AskWho inspected, and who is charging for it?
  • 06Agency fee
    Who sets itThe agency, by its own choice, with your documented acknowledgment under Insurance Code 4005.004
    Where you see itThe invoice or a separate fee agreement, and a line the declarations page may not show
    AskWhat does it buy, and who do I call after bind?

Why some desks charge, and why this one does not

Some agencies add an annual fee to cover what shopping a household costs, or the cancellations that come with the business they write. That is their call, Texas allows it with disclosure, and it works for them. It is not what this desk does for a homeowner, an auto owner, or a neighbor in Houston. We plan to be part of this community for decades, and the relationship is worth more than the added revenue. Commercial accounts are different and do carry fees here, because the work is different and companies come and go. For the family on the street, the price you see is the price. We would rather keep you for twelve years than charge you once.

$0agency or brokerage fees on personal lines, flood and surplus lines home included
100%of the taxes and fees on our policies set by the carrier, up front and on the page
1network, the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston, for the risks we refer out

The hard house, and the honest answer

Some houses are hard to place. A difficult area, or a roof and a claim history and a pool and an older electrical panel, eight or ten things moving at once. Some desks charge for the time it takes to learn that risk. We would rather refer you to a desk that already knows it, and belonging to the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston is how we know who that is. If your business is farm and ranch, we know the people who do only that. We will not ask you to pay for what we still have to learn.

Fees you will see on a policy from this desk

  • The surplus lines tax, when the house needs a surplus lines carrier.
  • The stamping fee, beside it, on the same policy.
  • A carrier's own policy fee, filed with its rates and labeled as the carrier's.
  • A FAIR Plan surcharge, when a carrier recoups its assessment within the window TDI set.

Fees you will not see

  • An agency or broker fee, on any personal lines policy.
  • An annual service fee for keeping your file.
  • A fee for the time it took to learn your risk.
  • A fee for a policy change, an ID card, or a certificate.

Find every fee in four moves

A declarations page has three neighborhoods, and the fees live in the last one, or off the page entirely. Here is the map, then the four moves.

  1. 1
    Coverages and premiumThe carrier's. The commission is already inside this number.
  2. 2
    Taxes, fees, and surchargesThe carrier's and the state's, fixed before you see them, near the bottom of the page.
  3. 3
    Agency feeThe agency's choice, on the invoice or a fee agreement, and it needs your documented acknowledgment.
  1. 01

    Read the bottom of the declarations page

    Taxes, fees, and surcharges sit under the coverages. A surplus lines policy says so, with the tax and the stamping fee beside it.

    Dec page
  2. 02

    Read the invoice

    An agency fee often lives on the invoice or in a separate fee agreement, not on the declarations page.

    Invoice
  3. 03

    Ask who set each line

    The carrier's lines are filed and fixed. The agency's line is its choice, and the desk can tell you which is which in one sentence.

    One question
  4. 04

    Ask for the acknowledgment

    If the desk charges you and also earns a commission, Texas requires your documented acknowledgment before you buy. Ask to see it, and ask what the fee buys.

    In writing

Every fee is on paper somewhere. Ask for the paper.

What happens when you send it

You want one thing from this page. To know what the quote in your hand really costs, with every line named, and to hear it plainly, including when the desk you have is doing right by you.

  1. 01

    Send it

    The quote or the declarations page, through Home Quote Evaluation or by email to contact@mcdadeins.com. An office or virtual appointment works too.

    Free
  2. 02

    We name every line

    Each tax, fee, and surcharge marked as the carrier's or the agency's, then the contract behind the price read the way we read every contract. Comparing apples to apples does not work, because we do not sell fruit.

    On our desk
  3. 03

    You get one of three answers

    Stay, adjust, or move, with the reason in writing. About 40 percent of the time we tell homeowners to stay with their current carrier, and sometimes even with their current agent, because that is the right answer for the family.

    Your call

You send the quote. We name every line.

The relationship is worth more

Any fee or tax on one of our policies was put there up front by the carrier, and it adds nothing to our bottom line. Everything else is a choice, and I made mine the day we opened. If given the option of charging fees or keeping a relationship with a client for twelve years and more, I would take the relationship any day of the week. The relationship is worth more than the added revenue.

Charles McDade, LUTCF

Questions readers ask

Can an insurance agent charge a fee in Texas?

Yes, within rules. Insurance Code 4005.003 lets a property and casualty agent charge for the cost of a motor vehicle record or a property photo, and for postage, printing, and similar costs, only with notice and your written consent for each fee. Insurance Code 4005.004 says a desk paid by you for placing a policy may not also take a commission on it unless it first obtains your documented acknowledgment and describes how that commission is computed.

Does McDade charge broker fees?

McDade adds no agency or brokerage fees to personal lines policies, including personal flood and surplus lines home. Commercial accounts carry fees here, because the work is different and companies come and go. Every tax or fee on a personal lines policy from this desk was set by the carrier up front and adds nothing to our bottom line.

What is the surplus lines tax on my home policy?

A state tax of 4.85 percent of gross premium under Insurance Code 225.004, charged when a home is placed with a surplus lines carrier, with a stamping fee of 0.04 percent of gross premium beside it since January 1, 2024. Neither is negotiable, and neither goes to the agency. The question worth asking is whether the house needs surplus lines at all, which Admitted vs Surplus Lines Home Insurance in Texas answers.

Why is there a FAIR Plan surcharge on my policy?

The Texas FAIR Plan Association assessed its participating insurers 60.1 million dollars for 2024 and 17.6 million dollars for 2023, and TDI's October 2025 bulletin lets those insurers recoup the money through a uniform percentage surcharge on property policies inside three-year windows that run into 2028. It is the carrier's line, set by a rule, and the percentage should be on the page.

What is the difference between a policy fee and an agency fee?

A policy fee is the carrier's, filed with its rates, and it shows on the declarations page in the carrier's name. An agency fee is the agency's, added on top, and it needs your documented acknowledgment when the desk also earns a commission. If a line does not say which it is, ask. The answer takes one sentence.

My quote has a fee on it. What should I do?

Ask three things. What the fee buys, who you will call after bind, and where the acknowledgment is. A fee with good answers can be worth paying. A fee with none is a reason to send the quote to a desk that will name every line for you.

Keep going

Sources worth opening before you decide

The purpose is to help the reader ask better questions before claim time.

See what your quote really costs

Every line on the quote has a name. Know which ones are the price.

Send the quote or the declarations page you hold. A licensed Texas agent names every line, the carrier's and the agency's, then reads the contract behind the price and tells you plainly when the desk you have is doing right by you. We translate the contract before you sign for another year.

See What My Quote Really Costs

The audit is free. The decision is yours. No broker fees for personal lines clients.