Heated remarks aimed directly at the Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency stirred up a small crowd of protestors at a rally in Aransas Pass on Monday, Aug. 27. The group of chamber leaders, elected officials, and angry residents stood in front of construction, where, one year after Hurricane Harvey, recovery was still in progress — despite claims by the insurance agency that rebuilding is 95 percent complete.
“Look at what’s behind me,” shouted Rep. Todd Hunter into the microphone. “It looks to me like 95 percent of what’s behind me still needs to be fixed. I think we’ve got our percentages wrong. I think 95 percent still needs to be done.”
Six chambers of commerce in the Coastal Bend united to hold the rally to protest a 10 percent windstorm insurance rate hike. If approved by the insurance commissioner this fall, the hike will go into effect Jan. 1, 2019. Enlisting support from stakeholders in the process, the chambers hope to persuade Commissioner Kent Sullivan to reject the hike approved by the board July 31.
Along with appeals to the commissioner, Hunter (R-Corpus Christ) and Rep. J.M. Lozano (R-Kingsville) are also busy working on legislation to put a ceiling on future rate hikes and change the composition of the board.
Currently more than half of the nine-member board is made up of representatives of the insurance industry who do not live in the Coastal Bend. The difference a more locally represented board would make was evident in the 5-4 rate hike vote. All the “no” votes were connected to the coast, while all the “yes” votes were from those living outside the area.
Hunter and Lozano both want to hold any future rate increases to 1 percent and will introduce new laws to that effect when the state legislature convenes in January. Another Hunter bill would move TWIA’s headquarters from Austin to the Coastal Bend area.
Lozano added that perhaps it was time to let the private insurance market back into the picture. TWIA is neither a private company nor a state agency. It was created as a last-resort insurance provider for residents who could not get insurance anywhere else because of high-risk factors. It is ruled by State Insurance Code.
Coincidentally, TWIA’s turn before the state Sunset Commission has come around this year. Many of the signs waved above heads at the rally stated: “Sunset TWIA.” The Sunset Commission reviews state agencies to decide if the bureaucracy is still needed. If the commission decides an organization should be “sunset,” it sets a date for closing it that only new legislation can stop.
“The system is broken,” Lozano said. “We need to eliminate TWIA and make sure private markets can come in and compete for our business.”
TWIA’s history of slow payments on claims also came under criticism.
“Celia was the last wind hurricane in this zone,” Hunter said. Celia hit the Coastal Bend on Aug. 3, 1970. “So you’ve paid insurance for 47 years, and now it’s taking 47 years to get your claims paid. They are trying to rush a rate hike faster than they are playing their claims, and I’m saying no!”
Lozano and Hunter called on people to send the Sunset Commission their opinion on the matter before the legislature goes into session.
“Let them know what should happen to TWIA,” Hunter said. “Give them your ideas, whether you think they should exist or not.You have a chance to have your voice heard before the legislature meets.”
Anyone protesting the rate hike can also sign an online petition asking for the rate hike to be withdrawn.
Monday’s protest rally was organized by a new organization called Coastal Bend United that includes representatives from seven area chambers of commerce, the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp., and the San Patricio Economic Develop Corp. Chambers involved are from Corpus Christi, Rockport-Fulton, Aransas Pass, Ingleside, Portland, Port Aransas.