Bay Area Houston

I’ve been with USAA insurance for over 25 years. That ends today.

USAA claims to “support the troops” and to be loyal to those who served and their families. It’s hard to believe when you receive an increase of 25% after being a loyal customer who paid their premiums on time and had only 1 claim in 11 years.

Back in 2003 the great Republican Party reformed the insurance industry to allow more competition and remove those pesky restrictions set by the State. Insurance premiums have since skyrocketed. USAA took complete advantage of the reforms. (See below) My premiums have risen according to the chart below. After 2015 the premiums seemed to have stabilized. Looking for a competitive alternative was not easy and I eventually stayed with USAA not willing to risk a new company. It was easy to stay with USAA. So easy a caveman could do it. I did. That ends today.

I’m done with USAA. On the bright side they create a Subscriber Savings Account for every new member. After 25 years that account grew and I will be able to cash it out when I leave. It will fund a very nice trip to Italy.

Arrivederci USAA!

Many Texans have a pre-existing condition including Congressman Pete Olson from Sugarland.

During one of the very few town hall meetings Pete has had with his constituents he discussed how he fainted during a workout in the Capital gym. According to CNN:

“While working out in the House gym, I got quite dizzy and fainted,” Olson said in the note sent Friday by his campaign committee. “After being rushed to George Washington University Hospital, it was determined that I had a condition called bradycardia, which is medical talk for a slow heart beat. Whatever they call it, it wasn’t good and I don’t recommend it.”

Unlike Pete, most Texans will find their insurance that covers pre-existing conditions will be cut allowing the insurance company to raise premiums or opt not to cover your family in your time of need. Lucky for Pete his insurance, provided by the Federal Government, and paid by tax dollars has always covered pre-existing conditions and will alway cover them.

The insurance industry wants to fool you. Again.

Back in 2003 the Texas Legislature created the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC). You are probably wondering what this has to do with Senate Bill 10 and the insurance industry. I am glad you asked. SB10 sets up a long legal process homeowners must maneuver before an insurance company will pay a disputed claim as a result of a hail storm, hurricane, or other event. This process will take months to complete therefore requiring blue tarps to cover the roof of homes to prevent further damage. This long process is just like the State-sponsored Inspection and Dispute Resolution Process. (SIRP),  the shining star of the TRCC created in 2003. In 2008 the Texas Sunset Commission reviewed the results of the process and deemed it to be so worthless their report recommended the abolishment of the TRCC. The bill to save the Commission died in the Senate and the TRCC ended just 6 short years after its creation. From the Sunset Report:

This recommendation would abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission as an independent agency and repeal the Texas Residential Construction Commission Act (TRCCA).

Now the insurance industry wants to force that very same process on homeowners who have had damage to their home that their insurance agency refuses to repair. What is the old saying? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, same on me.” Hopefully the fooled can’t be fooled again.

Prior to the massive insurance reform of 2003 the Texas Windstorm Association (TWIA) covered about 6% of the coastal area and was working as it was designed in the 70’s. It might not have been perfect, but it was solvent and able to pay claims, until the Republican Party used it’s magic “Free Market” wand on it. Now everyone in the state, including you, may pay for it.

According to Seth Chandler of the University of Houston Law Center:

“We have less than half a billion dollars in the bank right now. TWIA thinks it can go borrow and get re-insurance and cover about another $3 billion, but I add three billion to a half billion and I get to $3.5 billion. I don’t get to anywhere near the five, 10, 15 billion that a major hit on the Texas coast could cost,” said Chandler.

In 2009 the Tea Party allowed TWIA to tax homeowners across the coastal area in order to cover a major event, no matter where that event took place. They also allowed the taxation of owners of car insurance. Now in the 2015 session they will ask to allow TWIA to tax everyone in the state to cover TWIA’s mismanagement.

State Insurance Representative (SIR) Larry Taylor (Teabagger Friendswood) led the charge to reform TWIA in 2003. Now he is leading the charge to tax Texas property and car owners claiming his district needs the protection because of their economic engine. Unfortunately it may be a hard sell since SIR Larry Taylor was the one that broke the system in the first place. His “free market” allowed his insurance buddies to flee the market, leaving his district with the only provider, TWIA, which is in serious financial trouble.

Lucky for Taylor, he owns an insurance company and makes money from selling TWIA contracts. He also pushed a bill to raise his own commissions from these sales. He isn’t hurting, but everyone in Texas will be soon.

In 2003 the Texas Legislature caved to the home builders of Texas and created the Texas Residential Construction Commission. (TRCC) The Commission was supposedly designed to protect homeowners with construction defects  yet just 6 years later the Texas Sunset Commission called for its abolishment. From the Sunset Report:

The Commission was so flawed even lobbying by Bob Perry, the home builder and owner of the Republican Party at the time, could not save it. It died.

Unfortunately the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has adopted one of the most worthless parts of the TRCC, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Process. This process which was advertised as the shining star of the TRCC requires homeowners to submit to a lengthy process of inspections, boards, and appeals before filing a suit in court. The supporters of this claim it will help homeowners get their homes fixed in a timely manner instead of having to get an attorney and file a suit. Here is the process defined in a report by TWIA. 

That is exactly what they said about the TRCC and it failed miserably. The process is complicated requiring the help of an attorney. The process is lengthy which will drag on the complaint, by design. And the consequences of not following the process could severely limit your settlement. Instead of demanding that TWIA pay claims, the Texas Teabaggers just simply made it harder for homeowners to sue.

At least they gave the homeowners the right to sell their Constitutional right to a trial by jury for a few dollars. Arbitration is the 21th Century version of snake oil. It is a private, secret, justice system that will require legal representation and additional costs to the homeowner. It is a suckers court. According to the new rules of TWIA:

A $12Billion “Ike Dike” is being proposed by local businesses for the Galveston area. Guess who is going to pay for it? From KHOU:

http://swfs.bimvid.com/player-3.2.15.swf
According to the newly formed “Bay Area Coastal Protection Alliance” the Dike would cost taxpayers $6B, which in real world terms is about $12B and will be built within 2 years. (yea, right) There is no argument, hurricanes cause a tremendous amount of damage, but you have to wonder if a dike is needed in Galveston, then will we need one for the Port of Houston? And the Corpus area? New York? The State of Florida?

And who will pay for that? I think the Ike Dike Tax Hike Alliance is going to have a very difficult sell on their hands. I am sure if it is built all the savings the insurance industry will reap will flow down to the policy holders.