Texas Windstorm Insurer’s Actuarial Committee Recommends 5% Rate Hike

When the board of directors of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast meets in December, its members will be considering a 5% rate increase recommended by the organization’s actuarial and underwriting committee.

The committee voted on Nov. 19 to recommend that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s (TWIA’s) board submit to the Texas Department of Insurance a proposal for a 5% rate increase that applies to both commercial and residential risks.

The committee also voted to recommend to the TWIA board that they direct TWIA staff to provide additional written information to the TWIA board, the committee, and TDI on issues discussed at the meeting related to TWIA’s rate adequacy analysis within three months following the TWIA board’s meeting on December 10.

The committee’s recommendations will be presented by Committee Chair Debbie King to the TWIA Board at its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on December 10 in Corpus Christi.

At the Nov. 19 meeting and during a previous Oct. 17 meeting on rate issues, the committee considered both in-person and written comments by coastal residents, lawmakers and business interests, who overwhelmingly requested no rate action be taken at this time.

In July, TWIA published its 2019 Rate Adequacy Analysis that indicated the association’s rates were inadequate by as much as 42%.

Some of the assumptions upon which TWIA’s rate analysis was based were challenged by consulting actuary Steve Alexander, who is a member of the actuarial and underwriting committee. The committee on Nov. 19 considered the issues raised by Alexander, as well as written comments submitted by TWIA staff in response to Alexander’s concerns.

Source: TWIA

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