What Does Your Insurance Policy Cover? We’re Trying to Find Out.
Texas Watch—February 9th, 2012
The growing number of junk home and auto insurance policies with stripped down coverage and expanding deductibles has become a hot topic at the Capitol with lawmakers expressing frustration that prices keep rising and coverage keeps falling. In an effort to help consumers and lawmakers better understand this issue, Texas Watch submitted a 20-point open records request to the Texas Department of Insurance today seeking information about the coverage available in the market and how TDI makes decisions about insurance policies.
After lawmakers recently queried the insurance commissioner about this problem and got a blank stare in response, we clarified what a junk policy is and why they are dangerous for consumers.
The open records request we submitted today is seeking:
- Copies of all home and auto insurance policies and policy endorsements that are currently being used in the Texas market;
- Information about any policies that were not approved by TDI and policies for which TDI withdrew approval; and
- Any memoranda prepared by TDI staff related to its deliberations on policy form approval/disapproval.
Given the complexity of a market with so many different policies and so little information about them, it is remarkable that this information does not appear to be readily available to the public already. Texas Watch has long advocated for simplifying the insurance market by standardizing policy forms using forms that provide meaningful coverage. This would empower consumers to effectively generate competition on price, service, and claims processing.
