The Insurance Council of Texas is thrilled to welcome our newest associate member, Seibels to our community of insurance professionals.

Seibels is a leading service provider to the property & casualty insurance industry, providing business process outsourcing (BPO) and third-party administration (TPA) services powered by world-class technology. Seibels was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. 

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ICT recently launched an Instagram account to keep members and the public updated on what is going on in the insurance market in Texas, give insurance advice and tips on how to prepare for natural disasters. For the latest news and updates, be sure to follow ICT on all your social platforms.

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The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) announces new leadership for the State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO). Debra Knight will serve as the new State Fire Marshal for Texas.

Knight brings more than 30 years of experience in administrative and criminal law, as well as insurance and compliance analysis. She joined TDI in 2013 after 20 years in private practice and the insurance industry.

Before being appointed to the position of State Fire Marshal, Knight served as the deputy commissioner of Compliance and Investigations for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. She oversaw investigating administrative and criminal violations.

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The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is adopting amendments to 28 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Section 133.30. The amendments conform Section 133.30 to Texas Occupations Code Chapter 111, which the Legislature amended under House Bill 2056 to define “teledentistry dental service.”  

Section 133.30 (which has been in effect since May 6, 2018), sets billing requirements when a health care provider provides telemedicine and telehealth services. Before adopting these amendments, Section 133.30 had definitions for “telemedicine services” and “telehealth services,” but it did not define “teledentistry dental service.”  

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The TWIA Board of Directors held their quarterly meeting on August 8, where they considered TWIA's annual rate filing for 2024 policies. By statute, TWIA must make a rate filing with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) by August 15. TWIA's 2023 Rate Adequacy Analysis indicated that TWIA's current rates are inadequate by 20% for residential coverage and 22% for commercial coverage. Ultimately, the Board voted to file a 0% rate change for both residential and commercial with TDI. The Commissioner has until October 15th to approve or disapprove the rate filing.

Initially, after discussion, the Board voted 5-4 to increase residential rates by 5% and commercial rates by 8%. The vote failed to pass due to a law enacted in 2021 which prohibits TWIA from filing a rate increase unless two-thirds of the Board approve the increase. 

Various members of the Texas Legislature spoke during the public comment period and voiced support for no rate increases. 

In addition to considering the rate filing, the Board received updates on a project to study agent commissions, directed staff to notify the Texas Comptroller that the entire CRTF balance be kept available to fund the payment of insured losses, and directed staff to file for no changes to TWIA's maximum liability limits with TDI. The meeting materials can be found here. ICT members can access a full recap on their member Info Hub. 

The National Hurricane Center was eyeing two tropical disturbances on Monday that have low chances of formation over the next week.

In an 8 a.m. update from the hurricane center, forecasters said a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic was churning out messy showers and thunderstorms a few hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. If the system develops, it would happen slowly while the system moves west to west-northward at about 15 mph across the Atlantic through the end of the week.

Forecasters gave the system a 10% chance of formation over the next week.

The second system is a tropical wave forecasters said is likely to move off the west coast of Africa by early Wednesday. The system could develop later this week or over the weekend while it moves northwest across the eastern Atlantic. Environmental conditions are likely to become unfriendly to storm development by early next week, forecasters said.

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Severe storms that swept much of the U.S. in the first half of this year resulted in $34 billion in insured losses — the "highest ever" recorded in a six-month period.

The big picture: That's according to a report out Wednesday from Swiss Re Group, which estimated global insured losses from natural catastrophes at $50 billion — the second highest since 2011.

"The effects of climate change are evident in increasingly extreme weather events," the report notes.

• This year has been notable for a series of climate change-related extreme weather events, including this summer's record heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere, unprecedented ocean temperatures and a series of atmospheric river events in California.
• The threat of climate change-related disasters is a large factor driving up consumer costs, putting insurers out of business or stopping them from offering new homeowner's policies in states such as Florida and California.

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Wildfires on Hawaii's Maui have killed at least 99 people, forced tens of thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate the island and devastated the historic resort city of Lahaina. It's the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. The Big Island of Hawaii is also battling wildfires, which have caused no fatalities.

Here are some key questions and answers about the blazes:

ARE THE MAUI FIRES STILL BURNING?
Firefighting crews were still battling flare-ups. The largest fire in Lahaina is 85% contained and has burned 2,170 acres (880 hectares), Maui County said. Another fire in upcountry/Kula is 65% contained and has charred 678 acres. Smaller fires elsewhere are now 100% contained.

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