TWIA Board Directs 0 Percent Rate Filing, Votes to Revisit Rates Before December Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association voted today for the Association to file a 0 percent rate change in its annual required rate filing with the Texas Department of Insurance. The Board also voted to revisit the issue of rates at an interim meeting of the Board to be scheduled before its December quarterly 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 statute also allows TWIA to make a rate filing with TDI at any time.

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.

The Board directed its Actuarial & Underwriting Committee to make a recommendation regarding a subsequent rate filing expeditiously upon the completion of an 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 the actuarial consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, which provided a status update regarding their work at the Board meeting. Willis Towers Watson advised the Board that their report will be completed by the end of August.

Other actions taken by the Board include:

• Directing TWIA staff to make a filing seeking no change to the maximum limits of liability on TWIA policies in its required annual filing regarding that topic with the Texas Department of Insurance.
• Approving with modifications the legislative recommendations and a draft of TWIA’s Biennial Report to the Legislature presented by the Legislative and External Affairs Committee. The TWIA Board recommends that the Legislature consider fortified home construction effectiveness in other states, whether TWIA should pursue such a program, and whether the State of Texas could provide funding support.
• Approving selection of auditors/accountants for 2020 and authorizing non-audit services as presented by TWIA staff and voting to conduct a request for proposals for these services in 2021.

An archived recording of the meeting is 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.