The Facts

  • TWIA’s market share grew from 17.9% in 2001 to 62% in 2011.
  • Here is the exposure for TWIA in three areas of the coast:
  • Galveston: $37.9 billion
  • Corpus Christi: $15.3 billion
  • Brownsville: $4.9 billion
  • In the case of a strike by a Class 4 hurricane, here is the average projected loss in each area:
  • Galveston: $4.4 billion
  • Corpus Christi: $3.7 billion
  • Brownsville: $606 million
  • At the start of the 2012 hurricane season, TWIA had somewhere between $250 and $275 million in the Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund to pay claims.
  • The number of TWIA policyholders increased from 68,756 in 2001 to 257,818 at the end of June 30, 2012.

 

Recommendations

  • Eliminate the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.
  • Replace TWIA with a true provider of last resort, much like the Texas FAIR plan for automobile insurance policies.
  • Require that the new windstorm rates be actuarially sound.
  • Require that the new windstorm rates be higher than any competing private sector offers.

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