Texas Department of Insurance Announces New Legislative Priorities

The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has released its 2018 Biennial Report to the 86th Texas Legislature.  Every two years and pursuant to Texas Insurance Code section 32.022, TDI releases a report on insurance areas that the Department has identified for priority attention in the upcoming Texas legislative session.  The 2018 Report outlines five major areas of insurance regulation that, in TDI’s view, warrant legislative changes, including the following:

• Requiring flood coverage disclosures in property insurance policies;
• Extending deadlines for settling claims and resolving disputes in connection with insurance policies issued by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association; and
• Transferring authority over amusement ride regulation from TDI to a “more appropriate agency”.

In addition, the 2018 Report discusses “other considerations” for the Legislature ranging from balance billing by out-of-network health care providers to federal actions that “threaten to preempt the state’s authority to regulate insurance” to non-standard auto insurance.

A full copy of the 2018 Report can be found here.

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