TWIA Board Votes to Raise Rates by 5% in January

The board of the insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast voted at its August meeting to raise premium rates by 5 percent beginning in January 2014.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association board of directors voted to file for a 5 percent rate increase that would be effective Jan. 1, 2014, despite the protests of coastal residents and public officials who spoke against the rate hike during the public hearing portion of the Aug. 13 meeting.

TWIA is required to make a mandatory rate filing in August, although it is not required to file for either an increase or a decrease.

Over the past several years, the association has filed in August for a 5 percent rate increase to become effective the following January in an attempt to bring its rates up to a level that would be considered “actuarially sound.”