Greetings:
TWIA staff began daily meetings with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) last week to discuss changes to our payment and policy application processes to accommodate Weston policyholders and their agents seeking TWIA coverage.
We agreed on three important changes that we believe will help Weston policyholders more quickly and easily obtain TWIA coverage. Today, TDI issued an emergency rule authorizing the changes as follows:
- TWIA’s policy moratorium for hurricane events will not apply to Weston policyholders seeking TWIA coverage.
- Starting September 7, the effective date of Weston policy cancelations, TWIA will offer Weston policyholders a 60-day extended period to submit an application. Once submitted, TWIA is authorized to issue the policy with an effective date of September 7 at the agent’s request to avoid a lapse in coverage.
- Weston policyholders will also be offered a temporary payment plan in which they do not have to make a payment for 90 days after the policy is issued, with equal monthly payments due after 90 days.
TWIA staff is meeting internally to develop the processes necessary to implement these changes. We have identified a technical implementation date of August 31 to make the payment plan changes available.
We are working quickly to send communications to insurance agents about these changes. However, we will continue to encourage insurance agents to submit policy applications as quickly as possible to ensure coverage is in place and to expedite claim handling should a storm occur during the 60-day period.
As a reminder, the TWIA Board will meet next Wednesday, August 31 to receive an update regarding Weston’s insolvency and how TWIA is preparing for Weston policyholders seeking coverage. You can find more information about the meeting on TWIA’s website.
Should you have any questions, please contact me at DDurden@twia.org or (512) 505-2255.
Sincerely,
David Durden
Vice President, Legal & Compliance
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
|
