UPDATE: On April 18, 2018, the deadline for TWIA policyholders to request appraisal on their Harvey claim was extended. The new deadline is 180 days from the day a policyholder received their most recent Notice of Claim Acceptance (in full or in part) letter.  

Note: Some commercial policies have a 150-day deadline. For more details, please refer to www.twia.org/extensionletter.

Dear Agent,

As of September 26, TWIA has received 66,482 claims related to Hurricane Harvey. Many of the affected policyholders have or will soon receive a Claim Disposition letter from TWIA outlining the amount we will pay for losses covered by their policy.

Some policyholders will want to dispute their claim payment amount. In such cases, please advise the policyholder to first contact TWIA so we may attempt to: address any unmet policyholder needs, provide a timely resolution, and prevent the policyholder from incurring any out-of-pocket or additional costs associated with a formal claim dispute process.

If TWIA and the policyholder are unable to resolve the issue, the Claim Disposition letter outlines options to dispute claims, including a process called "appraisal." Please note that the appraisal process is used to resolve only the part of a claim accepted or covered by TWIA, rather than disputing if any or all of a loss is covered.

Under normal circumstances, policyholders have 60 days from the date they receive their Claim Disposition letter to request appraisal. However, for claims arising from Hurricane Harvey, TWIA recommended more time be granted to policyholders and TDI has extended the deadline to 120 days. 

If the policyholder does not meet the deadline to request appraisal, they waive the right to dispute the amount TWIA has agreed to pay for their loss. Insurance Code §2210.574(c) allows the policyholder to request an additional 30 days to demand appraisal - this request must be submitted to TWIA no later than 15 days after the deadline.

You may learn more about the appraisal process on our website or in the official language of Insurance Code §2210.574. If you have any questions, please call us at 800-788-8247, Option 1, or email Claims@twia.org.

Sincerely,

Texas Windstorm Insurance Association