TWIA Posts Proposed Underwriting Changes for Public Review

Published on: June 30, 2021

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has posted proposed filings to its website for public review. The proposed filings represent potential changes to TWIA’s underwriting processes to serve our policyholders better.

The proposed filings will be reviewed by TWIA staff with TWIA’s Actuarial & Underwriting Committee at its July 21, 2021 meeting. It is expected that TWIA staff will recommend to the TWIA Board of Directors at its August 3, 2021 meeting that the filings be submitted for approval to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI).

While some of these changes are classified by TDI as rate filings, they will NOT result in an overall increase in TWIA rates.

Public Participation and Comment

Members of the public are invited to submit written comments on the proposed filings via email at PublicComment@TWIA.org.

Members of the public will also be invited to provide verbal comments to the Actuarial & Underwriting Committee and the TWIA Board during designated public comment portions of their respective meetings. Details and agendas for upcoming Committee and Board meetings where these items will be considered will be posted to TWIA’s website in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act.

SUMMARY OF FILINGS

Appurtenant Structures Endorsement

TWIA is proposing an additional endorsement (TWIA 419 Endorsement) to its residential policies for appurtenant structures. An appurtenant (or “other”) structure is a building of lesser value that is located on the same premises as the main building insured by a property insurance policy. Examples of appurtenant structures include sheds, gazebos, detached garages, and pool houses.

  • TWIA 419 Endorsement Proposed Filing
  • TWIA 419 Endorsement Proposed Rate Filing
  • Appurtenant structures are currently covered under TWIA’s Residential Dwelling Policy. The Dwelling Policy provides coverage for other structures up to 10% of the overall policy limit. Policyholders with other structures valued at more than 10% of the policy limit risk being underinsured in the event of a large loss. A policyholder may also have difficulty in accurately valuing these types of structures. TWIA developed an endorsement to resolve these issues.
  • TWIA is proposing a new, optional endorsement for additional premium to provide separate and supplemental coverage for appurtenant structures as an alternative to the current policy provision. A policyholder will be able to choose the new optional endorsement or choose to write a separate policy to cover the specific appurtenant structure. The original policy provision allowing for the use of 10% of the dwelling limit for damage to other structures remains in place if the additional coverage endorsement is not selected.
  • TWIA staff performed an actuarial analysis of the impact of the proposed endorsement and determined the overall impact on premium written by the Association is expected to be 0%. However, the impact on the premium of an individual policy may vary. TWIA staff have identified the small number of impacted policies and will work with agents to minimize the impact on those policyholders. This group of policyholders will have the option of selecting coverage through use of the new endorsement or securing coverage through a separate policy for the other structure.

Rate Manual

TWIA is also proposing an updated Rate Manual. The Rate Manual outlines the rules and rates for TWIA policies and requires the approval of the Insurance Commissioner. The Rate Manual was last updated in 2012.

Proposed updates to the Rate Manual include:

  • Overall formatting and structure. The current Rate Manual contains outdated references and a combination of underwriting and rating guidelines. Underwriting and rating guidelines are now required to be filed under separate categories with TDI.
  • Updates to business processes. The current Rate Manual contains outdated business processes. Changes reflect the most up-to-date procedures and practices at TWIA.
  • Updates to rate-related information. Outdated rate tables and related rating information throughout the manual have been replaced with the rates most recently approved by TDI. No new or modified rates are being introduced apart from the new appurtenant structure endorsement.

Indirect Loss Endorsements

Earlier this year, TWIA filed with TDI three new proposed policy endorsements, which reorganize the existing indirect loss coverages. TWIA aims to reduce potential confusion associated with the current framework in place to cover indirect losses by splitting out and reorganizing the provisions in the existing TWIA 310, 320, and 330 endorsements. The available coverages themselves remain unchanged.

  • Endorsement No. (TWIA) 311 – Extension of Coverage – Additional Living Expense
  • Endorsement No. (TWIA) 321 – Extension of Coverage – Wind-Driven Rain
  • Endorsement No. (TWIA) 331 – Extension of Coverage – Consequential Loss

These filed endorsements are available for public review on TDI’s TWIA Submissions webpage.

The filed endorsements make no changes to rates or premiums. The filed policy endorsements are also expected to be reviewed by TWIA staff with the Actuarial & Underwriting Committee.

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