The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) recently released their  ICT 2022-2023 Annual Report which provides a comprehensive overview of the achievements, milestones, and key initiatives undertaken by ICT over the past year.

The report provides insights and information about our efforts on behalf of the Texas property and casualty industry.

Some Key highlights from 2022-2023:

• Advocacy and Representation Efforts on behalf of the industry
• Outreach and Education on insurance issues and life safety programs
• Events, Meetings and Member Engagement
• ICT’s Financial Performance

This report allows our members and stakeholders to explore ICT’s successful advocacy efforts aimed at promoting fair and responsible insurance practices, learn about the outreach and educational programs ICT conducted to enhance public awareness of insurance-related matters and review how ICT is maintaining a strong financial position.

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ICT, along with AFACT, submitted comments on TDI's proposed amendments to the Filing Made Easy (FME) Rules.

The comments included:

• objection to the requirement that insurers must incorporate the provisions of all associated mandatory endorsements that it uses or plans to use at the time of filing
• objection to adding new categories of supporting information for third-party data and model information
• concern to the changes in the rule that prohibit certain documents in filing to be either encrypted or password protected 
•  concern with the prohibition of the use of scanned documents 

TDI proposed an informal draft of the revised FME Rules in April 2022 and ICT also submitted comments on the informal proposal. ICT's comments can be found on ICT's Info Hub.

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) adopted amended Title 28, Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Sections 180.64, 180.66, 180.68, 180.72, and 180.76, concerning the Medical Quality Review Panel (MQRP), to:

• Conform with related rules and practices.

• Clarify the amount of notice to which a respondent is entitled before an informal settlement conference (ISC). 

• Clarify that DWC may conduct an ISC remotely or in person.  

• Make editorial changes for plain language and agency style.  

DWC also repealed 28 TAC Section 180.78, concerning the effective date of the subchapter, because it was no longer necessary.   DWC made minor clarifying changes to the text in response a public comment.  

The adoption order will be published in the August 18, 2023, issue of the Texas Register and available here once published. The adoption order and the associated document that details the MQRP process are also on the TDI website. 

The TWIA Board of Directors is meeting on Tuesday, August 8 to consider TWIA's statutorily required annual rate filing for 2024 policies. ICT, in conjunction with AFACT, submitted comments urging the TWIA board to approve a 5% increase in residential rates and an 8% increase in commercial rates for 2024. This is consistent with the TWIA Actuarial & Underwriting Committee's recommendation to the Board. 

Members of the Texas House coastal legislative delegation and Senator Mayes Middleton submitted comments against any rate increase. 

As a reminder, TWIA's 2023 Rate Adequacy Analysis indicated that TWIA's current rates are inadequate by 20% for residential coverage and 22% for commercial coverage. 

ICT will keep members informed of the TWIA Board's decision and provide a full recap of the meeting on its member Info Hub. 

ICT's Info Hub>>

As many as 3 million Americans were displaced by natural disasters during the last year, according to an analysis of Census Bureau date from HireAHelper. While most disaster displacements are temporary, 18% of those 3 million Americans (about 533,000 people) had yet to return home as of May 2023.

The length of displacements due to extreme weather vary, but most tend to be short-term, with 33% lasting less than a week and 31% lasting one week to one month. Just under 89,000 people reported making a permanent move after a natural disaster in the last 12 months.

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As GlobeSt.com has previously reported, higher financing costs are not the only fiscal strain on CRE in general and multifamily specifically. Operating expenses have risen sharply and are unlikely to recede with a receding inflation tide. Prices will stay up.

That’s bad news for many operators because the increases pare away at net operating income, which puts pressure on debt service coverage ratio. That makes lenders uncomfortable and can derail attempts to refinance.

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Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions LLC said Monday it had secured $100 million in series D funding led by Intact Ventures, an affiliate of Resilience’s primary capacity provider, Intact Insurance.

The funding will be used to accelerate the expansion and scaling of the Resilience cyber risk platform, the company said in a statement.

Resilience, which said it had raised more than $225 million in prior funding, serves primary and excess insurance buyers in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

The cyber insurer, which was founded in 2016, had said in June it was expanding into Europe.

Intact Ventures is a member of Intact Financial Corp., the largest provider of property/casualty insurance in Canada.

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