House Insurance heard a number of property and casualty bills of interest at their April 4 committee hearing. Among the bills ICT is watching:

HB 597 by Jetton, which requires a policy to have an appraisal procedure. As filed, the bill applies to all insurers writing property and casualty insurance. The bill establishes requirements and timelines for the appraisal process. The bill includes a requirement that if the amount found in the appraisal process is even $1 more the insurer will have to pay for the policyholder’s expenses. The insurance trades testified against the bill stressing the importance of form freedom. The bill was left pending.
HB 2752 by Schaefer, which as filed requires any rule that relates to ESG or that is substantive to go through formal rulemaking process. Representative Schaefer introduced a committee substitute which he said aligns with the intent of the bill, prohibiting the Commissioner or TDI from adopting or enforcing a rule related to ESG and requires any ESG related rule, regulation, directive, or standard to be approved by the legislature. AFACT testified neutral on the bill. It was left pending.
HB 3365 by Harris, which allows for a rating plan regarding the writing of automobile insurance to use moving violations in rating. Currently, only county mutuals are allowed to use traffic violations in rating. TCAIS testified in support and various county mutual companies testified against. The bill was left pending.

With 47 days left in the Texas legislative session, deadlines are fast approaching. The last day for committees in the House to report House bills out of committee is May 8. This means there are about four weeks left for legislation originating in the House to get a hearing and be voted out of committee. There is more leeway in the Senate. ICT will keep members updated.

The full Senate unanimously passed SB 224 on April 3. SB 224 creates a presumption of catalytic converter theft and provides penalty enhancements. The bill also includes regulatory provisions to clarify who can or cannot sell catalytic converters. It’s named after fallen Harris County Deputy Darren Almendarez, who was killed trying to stop thieves from stealing his own catalytic converter. Legislation to address catalytic converter theft is a priority of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. The bill will now go to the House for consideration.

DWC has adopted two rules to improve the designated doctor program. They are also considering updates to three forms related to these rules:

DWC Form-032, Request for designated doctor examination;
DWC Form-067, Designated doctor certification application; and
DWC Form-068, Designated doctor examination data report.

ICT submitted comments on the proposed informal amendments to §127.10 and §127.130(b)(9). ICT recommended that the Department keep DWC Form-068, which they ultimately did do. ICT also expressed that some members remained concerned with the revisions to §127.130(b)(9)(B) add a wide latitude of additional specialties addressing traumatic brain injuries due to the possible precedence it would set for expanding specialties, while other members did not object to the proposed revisions.

DWC has noted that to support those doctors, additional training, focused on coordinating additional testing and referrals necessary when examining injured employees, and techniques for incorporating the results of the testing and referral examinations into the overall report effectively will be provided. This will preserve the quality of the reports on traumatic brain injuries while expanding the pool of doctors able to conduct those examinations.

More details are available on the TDI website.

TDI's Research and Evaluation Group has released a report on employer participation in the Texas workers' compensation system. The report includes data on employer subscription rates and reasons for not subscribing.

An executive summary is available on the TDI website.

TWIA’s Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday, April 18 at 2:30 p.m. CT to receive an update and take possible action on the Association’s reinsurance purchase for the 2023 storm season.
Access the meeting agenda and ways to listen to the meeting can be found on TWIA’s website.
Members of the public can provide written comments via email before the meeting or provide virtual or in-person comment at the meeting.

It’s not good for business for lobbyists to cross the legislators they’re meant to sway in a public setting. And yet on March 14, a stream of insurance lobbyists stepped up to the podium at a hearing of the insurance committee of the Texas House of Representatives to oppose the state’s latest foray into legislation meant to cut the legs out from under Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts.

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Hurricane forecasting and warning systems have greatly improved in recent years, providing residents with valuable time to plan, but preparedness remains paramount in south Louisiana as another tropical storm season approaches, federal and state officials said at the start of a national conference in New Orleans on April 3.

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New data released by MarketScout, a managing general agent, Lloyd’s coverholder and wholesale broker, shows that composite rate increases for commercial property and casualty rates increased in modest fashion during the first quarter of 2023 at plus 5%.

According to the broker, the only coverages of notable change were general liability which fell from plus 6.7% in Q422 to plus 4.3% in Q123 and EPLI, down from plus 6.3% to plus 3.7%.

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Research Group Releases Report on Employer Participation in the Texas Workers' Comp System