Coastal Windstorm Insurance Coalition – a TWIA case study

The Texas coast was battered by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Texans living on the gulf coast must purchase windstorm insurance in addition to the homeowners’ insurance required of all Texans. Texas has a quasi-state agency (TWIA) that operates as the primary insurer for windstorm insurance policies along the Texas coast. Due to TWIA’s financial constraints following payment of insurance claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, its member insurance companies wanted to raise rates on policyholders. Governor Abbott abated any rate increases until June 2019 in order to give the Texas Legislature an opportunity to address TWIA funding.

The Challenge

Passing legislation to benefit coastal Texans would have strong opposition from the property and casualty insurance industry, the second largest insurance market in the nation and eighth largest in the world, with over $160 billion in annual written premiums.

Brannan convened a meeting with coastal legislative representatives and the governor’s office to discuss what protections should be in legislation. The initial filed draft changed as we negotiated the bill, eventually voting it out of the House Insurance Committee on an 8-1 vote and – unprecedentedly – out of the House chamber on a 132-10 vote. However, the original bill was turned into a “study” by the senate committee of jurisdiction.

Brannan Firm Delivered Results

Brannan did not stop working to deliver results for his client. He worked with the Senate bill author and supportive Senate offices. Our bill author in the Senate amended the original bill into another bill on the Senate floor. After extensive debate and attempts to quash the amendments and underlying bill, the Senate stuck with us and we passed the amended bill 19-11. The governor signed the bill into law on June 10, 2019 and it went into effect immediately.