Regulators Ok 12.3% Windstorm Insurance Rate Hike
State regulators Monday approved a 12.3 percent rate increase for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, marking the first time the state wind pool will raise rates more than 10 percent.
State law caps the association’s annual rate increases at 10 percent, but the state insurance commissioner can bypass the cap after catastrophic losses.
The association, which sells windstorm insurance in coastal counties and parts of Harris County to those who can’t find it in the private market, said it only needed a 10 percent increase on residential policies, but it didn’t include losses from hurricanes Dolly or Ike in its rate projections.
The Texas Department of Insurance didn’t include those losses in its projections either. Instead, regulators accounted for an increase in frequency of hurricanes to help shore up the association’s funding.
The state-created but privately run association long has complained it is underfunded and its policies underpriced.
“Obviously the commissioner and the department feel this increase was warranted based on the catastrophes,” Murphy said. “I can’t come up with any reason to argue with them.”
Tags: catastrophes, catastrophic losses, coastal counties, dolly, harris county, hurricanes, insurance rate, pool, private market, rate hike, rate increase, rate increases, residential policies, state insurance commissioner, state regulators, texas department of insurance, texas windstorm insurance, texas windstorm insurance association
Leave a Reply