On Nov. 2, 2023, ICT along with TDI held its annual meeting, 2023 Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud at the TDI Headquarters. The committee discussed best practices and fraud trends impacting the P&C and Workers' Compensation markets in Texas and around the country. The group heard from Texas Insurance Commissioner Cassie Brown, TDI Fraud Unit, DWC Fraud Unit, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, NICB, and received a legislative update from ICT's Executive Director, Albert Betts.

The Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud, established in 2005 through the leadership of ICT and the TDI Fraud Department meets annually and is composed of over 100 legal, subrogation, and fraud experts from the public and private sector. 

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), State Farm, and local fire departments collaborated on the "Out to Alarm Texas" fire safety initiative, distributing over 1,700 smoke detectors to households in need across Texas. The project involved more than 30 local fire departments, who worked with State Farm agents to install the detectors and provide fire safety education materials. The effort aims to reduce the risk of fire-related incidents, particularly during the approaching holiday season. ICT emphasizes the importance of regular detector maintenance and proper placement for all Texans.

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The Senate Budget Committee, led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Senator Ron Wyden, has initiated an investigation into the impact of climate change on the insurance industry. As insurers increase premiums and withdraw coverage, the Committee sent inquiries to 41 insurance companies regarding their response to growing climate-related risks. The investigation is motivated by concerns over widespread uninsurability, declining property values, and economic consequences. The Committee has set a deadline of Nov. 17, 2023, for the companies to respond to their requests.

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The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in August announced plans to issue a nationwide data call to help state insurance regulators better understand property markets, coverages, and protection gaps in light of increasing climate risks, reinsurance costs, and inflationary pressures. Work on the template for the ZIP-code-level data state insurance regulators will request from insurers is continuing under the direction of the Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee, chaired by Alan McClain, Commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department.

The NAIC has been engaged in ongoing discussions regarding the data call with members of the insurance industry and state insurance regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Federal Insurance Office (FIO).

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Texas Workers' Compensation Commissioner Jeff Nelson has announced the appointment of Dan LaBruyere as DWC's new Deputy Commissioner for Compliance and Investigations, which includes Audits and Investigations, Enforcement, the Fraud Unit, and the Fraud Prosecution Unit. Dan replaces Debra Knight who left DWC in August to become the State Fire Marshal.

Prior to joining DWC, Dan worked for the 331st Criminal District Court in Travis County from October 2021 to October 2023, including time as the Team Lead where he led the prosecution of felony cases.

Dan also served in the Hays County and Wharton County District Attorneys’ offices.

Dan graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in communications studies and earned his juris doctorate from Baylor University.

For more information, contact: DWCCommunications@tdi.texas.gov.

DWC readopts all sections in 28 Texas Administrative Code Chapters 102, 104, 109, 110, 112, 114, and 116. State agencies are required to review rules every four years and either readopt, readopt with amendments, or repeal the rule.

More information is on the TDI website.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) Board of Directors and the Texas Fair Plan Association (TFPA) Governing Committee met, on October 31 and November 2 respectively, to preview their budgets ahead of their December quarterly meetings where they are expected to approve them. 

The TWIA Board of Directors met on October 31. TWIA staff's presentation to the board can be found here. Below are some highlights from the meetings. 

• TWIA policy counts and exposure continue to grow following a trend that began in February 2021. TWIA staff projects a 23.6% growth in premium from 2023 to 2024 (to about $815.9 million). TWIA staff projects a 15.1% growth in exposures in force for 2024.
• Reflecting this growth, TWIA's draft budget for 2024 for initial Board consideration increases net operating expenses to $40.2 million compared to $35.2 million in the 2023 budget. While TWIA’s operating budget is increasing, their budgeted expense ratio (operating expense divided by earned premiums) will fall from 6.5% to 5.4%.
• The reinsurance market is expected to remain hard through 2025, but there are hints of capital returning to the market.
• The budgeted annual balance in the CRTF for 2024 is $444 million (forecast for 2023 ending balance of CRTF is $283 million).

The TWIA Board will meet in Corpus Christi on December 12, to consider final action regarding their budget.

Home improvements and maintenance are expensive, especially given recent inflation and rising homeowners insurance premiums. The national average cost of homeowners insurance has jumped 21% since 2015 while premiums in storm-prone states like Florida and Texas have skyrocketed — up 57% and 40%, respectively.

The research team at Today’s Homeowner surveyed 1,000 U.S. homeowners about homeowners insurance and how rising prices affect their decision to address home repairs and maintenance. A secondary survey of roughly 3,700 American homeowners was also performed to better understand their home improvement plans for 2023. For more information on how we gathered the data, please see our methodology section.

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Losses resulting from severe convective storms are expected to drive the 2023 net combined ratio for the property/casualty industry to 103.8, according to the latest underwriting projections by actuaries at the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) and Milliman.

The hard market is expected to continue through 2023, with net written premium growth forecast at 8.3 percent.

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