Insurance Investigation Recommendations Submitted to TDI
After years of rate hikes, the Governor recently directed the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to take action to make property and casualty insurance more affordable.
We joined the Consumer Federation of America and Texas Appleseed in sending a detailed letter to the Insurance Commissioner, recommending that TDI include strong consumer representation on its Insurance Fraud Task Force and conduct a comprehensive and data-driven study of true insurance cost drivers.
We requested that TDI investigate the following:
- Non-claims spending;
- Loss ratios and rate adequacy;
- Selling expense inflation;
- Shareholder returns and capital allocation;
- Claims handling practices;
- Transparency requirements;
- Data privacy and needed accountability for big data and AI-powered underwriting and rating models;
- Pricing penalties that make insurance less affordable for lower-income Texans; and
- Regulatory authority and enforcement.
The pricing and claims handling practices of the for-profit insurance industry have escaped scrutiny for too long. As we stated in the letter, "Texans deserve clear answers grounded in all of the evidence."