Rep. Hunter gears up for another TWIA battle

CORPUS CHRISTI – In September of last year, county officials joined other coastal communities to speak out against a proposed Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) insurance rate {increase} of 30% after Hurricane Harvey. Prior laws kept the rate hike capped at 10%, so in August the TWIA voted to raise the rates up to that 10%.

After months of rallies held by outspoken Coastal Bend residents and county officials against a TWIA proposed insurance rate increase, Governor Greg Abbott stepped in just before the Oct. 15 deadline to delay any decisions made for or against the rate hike.

On Wednesday morning, State Rep. Todd Hunter (R) took to the podium at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center in Corpus Christi with the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce to give an update on TWIA reforms as well as inform the community of what’s coming next.

“We were the first area to get hit and, in my opinion, we were the first to be forgotten.

“We saw all the communities coming together, and then the attention went away from us. And I tell the people in Austin, we had people living in tents on the beach not that long ago.”

Read more: https://www.mysoutex.com/san_patricio_county/news/rep-hunter-gears-up-for-another-twia-battle/article_44224e08-9ab3-11e9-871c-9f57f2530969.html

While the sentiment against a large rate increase is admirable, if TWIA is insolvent or insurance companies withdraw from the market statewide to reduce market share and how many policies are assigned to them in the coastal counties then it hurts everyone. One of the consequences of climate change is that insurance rates must increase or insurance companies and their reinsurers will avoid the risk.