Last week at the Texas Association of Public Insurance Adjuster (TAPIA) Fall Conference, Rene Sigman made the most dramatic speech ever at a public adjuster conference—and did it twice in one day. She stood up to a Texas politician railing about his constituents being harmed by bad laws and bad faith insurance companies. She called him out for voting against policyholders.
TWIA screwed over many policyholders following Hurricane Ike. and TWIA committed many acts of fraud to underpay policyholders including management changing field estimators reports without their approval or knowledge to lower claims payments. This Texas politician then voted to protect TWIA in 2011 and make it even harder for people to get full compensation required under the insurance policy.
In 2017, this same politician then voted for the private insurance industry helping pass the catastrophe bill now devastating policyholders along the Texas coast and in Houston in their fights with insurers. He certainly did not talk about that because his own constituents are now harmed by what he has done. Rene set the record straight about his poor voting record for policyholders.
Rene then made a presentation, “Trends in Policies and Why You Should Care.” This presentation was a study about how the Texas Department of Insurance has allowed insurance companies to re-write polices. In every instance, the re-written language harms policyholders by making coverage less, making the policyholders duties after loss more, shortening time limitations which lets insurers escape otherwise valid claim obligations, and adds arbitration or appraisal processes which make it more costly for the policyholders and skewed in favor of the insurer.
Rene’s presentation shows how insurance regulators in Texas are guarding the insurance companies and failing to protect consumers. It is shameful conduct by the Texas Department of Insurance, and her study demonstrates it. Maybe somebody will care and make a needed changing of the guard at the Texas Department of Insurance.
TWIA has acted horribly to its coastal customers for a long time. It even had a protest against it with angry Texans venting frustration and demanding change in a post I wrote back in 2009, Texas Windstorm “Slabbers” and Policyholders March on Austin.
Why would any politician vote to make it even easier for TWIA or private insurance company claims management to harm customers unless they sold out to the insurance industry?
Merlin Law Group urges all Texans to vote for politicians who will pass legislation which protects them and not the bad acting insurance companies. Texas needs regulators who will actually regulate the insurance companies that the citizenry is paying them to do.
Merlin Law Group will help make more transparent who these politicians are that vote for insurance companies over their constituents.
Thought For The Day
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
― Rob Siltanen
Song For The Day Featuring The iconic Merlin in the 2017 Transpac
