Galveston, Brazoria, Harris, Fort Bend, and most residents near the coast have first hand experience with wind and flood damage caused by high winds and hurricanes. For that last few years a large number of residents in these counties and others have been trying to get their homes repaired and/or get reimbursed by their insurance company for the damages they suffered. The TWIA has undervalued claims, delayed payment and generally made a mockery of the whole reason why people purchase insurance, to pay for claims when you have suffered a loss.
What has the insurance commission done during all this time, not a lot. Instead all those people who paid their premiums for coverage, had to turn to trial lawyers. TWIA has been found by juries to have underpaid claims and as such should be held responsible for the damages, including attorneys fees and expenses. The loser pays right, not exactly. The same House which touted loser pays (which is actually a loser or possibly even the winner pays if it is the party bringing the claim) now praises their newest House Insurance Protection Event (HIPE).
Their solution for the actions of TWIA is to make those who they have cheated to have to go before a commission selected by (you guessed it) the Texas Department of Insurance. So the department that has basically ignored the problems faced by policy holders is now going to be the group to appoint a commission to administer claims. Of course another provision would limit damages and recoveries of those harmed by the actions of the TWIA.
I guess this another one of those “emergencies” that had to be addressed instead of education, budgets, etc. It is probably also just coincidence that it came up right after another jury found against the TWIA and their practices.
What happened to less government and personal responsibility? It seems like the House has determined that since no one appears to be paying attention to what is going on in Austin they will just pass every law they can to take away the rights of the citizens of Texas.
As long as they can throw in a “trial lawyer” “frivolous lawsuit” claim they believe that you will just agree with them, at least until it impacts you and by then it is too late. A certain segment appears to have complete faith in a jury to determine whether someone should be put to death in a murder case, but unable to determine if a individual or company should be responsible for the damages from injuring another.
I am anxious to hear the justification on why you do or do not agree with the latest attack on our jury system and rights as Texans.