Public Invited to Comment as TWIA Board Considers Annual Rate Filing at August 4 Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) will meet via Zoom on August 4 at 9:00 a.m. CT. The Board is expected to consider the Association’s statutorily-required annual rate filing, among other issues. The meeting agenda is available on TWIA’s website.

Members of the public are invited to provide comment on TWIA’s required rate filing during the designated public comment portion of the meeting by logging on to the meeting via Zoom. More information on how to join the meeting via Zoom is available here.

Members of the public may also comment via email to PublicComment@TWIA.org. Emailed comments received by Noon CT on Friday, July 31 will be compiled and provided to the TWIA Board of Directors prior to the August 4 meeting.

TWIA is required by statute to make a rate filing with the Texas Department of Insurance by August 15 each year. The annual rate filing is subject, in certain circumstances, to review and approval by the Commissioner of Insurance.

The Board’s Actuarial & Underwriting Committee met on July 21 and voted to recommend that the Board direct TWIA staff to file a 0% rate change for commercial and residential wind and hail insurance policies. The Committee also voted to advise the Board that, due to pandemic-related delays, it recommends to the Board that the Committee should continue reviewing TWIA’s rate adequacy later this year. This would allow the Committee to consider the independent study currently underway of TWIA’s rate adequacy and use of hurricane modeling in estimating potential losses in its rate-setting process. The independent study is being performed by consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, which will provide a status update on their work at the August 4 meeting.

TWIA’s 2020 Rate Adequacy Analysis, prepared by the Association’s actuarial staff, indicates that TWIA’s current rates are inadequate by 44 percent for residential coverage and 49 percent for commercial coverage.

Other items that the Board is scheduled to consider at the August 4 meeting include:

• The Association’s required annual filing with the Texas Department of Insurance on maximum limits of liability on TWIA policies.
• Recommendations from the Legislative and External Affairs Committee regarding TWIA’s Biennial Report to the Legislature.
• A presentation by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IIBHS) on fortified home construction.
• Selection of auditors/accountants for 2020 and authorization of non-audit services.

This meeting will also be livestreamed via YouTube. An archived recording of the meeting will be available on TWIA’s website at www.twia.org/about-us/board-of-directors/archived-meetings.

If you are a member of the media, you may send inquiries to mediarelations@twia.org.