Dear Agent,
As we enter the height of hurricane season, now is the perfect time to brush up on TWIA policy moratoriums – and to ensure your clients have the coverages they need. During a moratorium, TWIA is unable to issue any new policies or increase coverage on existing policies/renewals.
Please take a moment to review the ins and outs of policy moratoriums, below. If you’re interested to learn more, visit our website at www.twia.org/moratoriums.
What is the best way to submit a payment if a moratorium is expected?
Electronically. To ensure TWIA receives payment before a moratorium goes into effect, submit it through eCheck or EFT. Not only are electronic submissions timely, but they create a timestamp TWIA can use to determine the coverage effective date.
For policyholders who wish to pay their premium directly to TWIA, the timeliest options are eCheck (free) or credit card (vendor processing fees apply) through our online payment portal. Please note that there may be a lag of several hours between when you, the agent, submit the application and when the transaction becomes available for payment online. This lag could impact your client’s ability to pay before the moratorium goes into effect.
TWIA must receive both the application and the payment before we can issue a policy.
When does a TWIA policy moratorium go into effect?
The short answer is: when there’s a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.
The technical answer, as outlined in our Plan of Operation, is:
- When a storm is designated as a hurricane by the NOAA National Weather Service or NOAA National Hurricane Center, and
- The designated hurricane is within the Gulf of Mexico or the boundaries of 80 degrees west longitude and 20 degrees north latitude.
How and when is a TWIA policy moratorium lifted?
For TWIA to lift a policy moratorium, the TWIA General Manager must determine the storm no longer threatens property anywhere within the TWIA coverage area. Once this occurs, TWIA will lift the moratorium at 12:01 a.m. the next day. At that time, TWIA will begin processing applications and payments received during the moratorium. The earliest date policies can go into effect is at 12:01 a.m. the day the moratorium is lifted.
Where does a moratorium apply?
To the entire TWIA coverage area, regardless of projected storm path.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about policy moratoriums, or anything else, please let us know. Our Agent Services team is available at agentservices@twia.org or (800) 788-8247.
Sincerely,
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
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