By Kent Sullivan
Insurance Commissioner
Just two
years after Hurricane Harvey, tragic images of flood victims wading
through Houston and Southeast Texas once again dominated the news. Even
before the floodwaters receded, we began working to help victims recover.
At TDI, we
have two primary concerns in the immediate aftermath of a major storm:
- How can we help
consumers?
- How is the insurance
industry responding?
We have a
team experienced in responding to catastrophic storms that quickly
assembles any time there’s a threat in the Gulf. The weekend after
Imelda’s flooding, we kept our toll-free Help Line open to help consumers
and agents. We also developed information in English and Spanish that we
sent to media and posted on our website.
We also
closely monitor how Texas insurance companies respond after a disaster.
We want to know:
- How many claims they’re
getting and how many they expect.
- Whether there’s a need
for more emergency adjusters or other resources.
- Are there any issues
affecting their ability to help consumers?
Based on
early estimates, it appears Imelda will produce about 10-15% of the claim
volume of Harvey, largely auto claims. That’s still a significant storm
to handle. But it appears the industry was generally ready and able to
rise to the occasion. Companies report that they had adjusters and
processes in place to handle the volume and quickly begin issuing checks
to policyholders.
While Imelda
was smaller in scope than Harvey, I believe the lessons we learned two
years ago left TDI and the industry better prepared to respond after a
major storm. That’s critical because insurance is the key to recovery.
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