Great article, it really lays it all out very well. The “great, unbiased”, reporter at KHOU, Mr Greenblatt made a big issue of TWIA rates rising 5% and blames Mr Taylor for the increase for wanting his commissions to increase. 5% – sure!!
AND THEN uses lawyer Mostyn as an expert in the story while failing to mention how much $$$$$ he has ripped out of TWIA.
I am usually very naive, but this lapse in the KHOU report makes me wonder about the relationship between Greenblatt, KHOU and lawyer Mostyn. Maybe they get so much advertising that the story just had to be done!!
Mixed emotions for sure. If TWIA would pay claims fair and honest the first time, perhaps fewer lawsuits would be needed.
Agency billing of TWIA renewals is paperwork extensive and a large E & O exposure for our 16%. Direct bill these and YOU take the E & O exposure and I’ll gladly work for less.
Lastly was it really necessary for KHOU to have ALL AGENTS research our exceptions to the Open Records Act and respond to the AG so you could go on a witch hunt for Larry Taylor? Really?
There is little mention about the grounds of all this litigation except “wind vs water damage”. I don’t live in the area and am not familiar with the details, but I suspect that the real underlying reason is poor and/or slow claims handling.
This illustrates probably the biggest problem with the expansion of government wind insurance programs. Sure, we can probably find enough bureaucrats to collect premiums and issue policies, but it takes expertise to adjust and settle claims quickly and fairly – especially on a large scale.
Insurance companies pay people on staff to do that every day. When a CAT loss happens, task forces of experienced, trained claims and loss control folks are assembled from across the country and immediately sent (oftentimes in advance) to the affected areas.
Where does the government insurance program get enough experienced adjusters, or even the infrastructure to move claims paper efficiently through the process when a large scale event heppens?
So much easier to blame it all on “creative plaintiff attorneys” and high commissions to those fat-cat insurance agents.
What the heck does a bureaucrat know about paying claims?
The “wind vs. water damage” comes to play on what the article describes as the “slab cases.”
Hurricane force winds push sea water ashore, what’s known as the storm surge. Anyone who has any sense has evacuated the area. So when the surge arrives (usually ahead of the wind) and the house is completely washed away, leaving only the slabs or pilings, no one can be sure which came first, the damage from the force of wind, or the damage from the force of water. Typically, the wind will lift or tear off the roof shingles and there will attendant damage to the interior from the rain. The policy that covers that damage always excludes flood, storm surge, etc.
So the claim adjuster has to try and make an equitable assessment between the homeowner’s policy and the flood policy.
The flood coverage is usually provided by the federal government, but the policy is issued and administered by an insurance company. Some insurers tried to ascribe all the damage to flood because they’d get 100% reimbursement from the government.
Hurricane Ike did widespread damage throughout Houston. TWIA had something like 80,000 claims filed, and there were around 300,000 over all. There aren’t that many CAT adjusters in the world to quickly handle all those claims.
And many of them are nothing more than warm bodies. My company had one CAT guy who didn’t even get on the roof to inspect them. His claims were a mess, and in each case, we reopened the files and satisfied the insured.
Another problem are the insureds, who think just because they’ve paid premiums in over the years, they think the insurer should pay to fix everything, even though much of the damage is clearly not covered. They haven’t got a clue what the policy covers and what it doesn’t. When they don’t get what they want, and see advertisements for lawyers like Mostyn, they contact him and get a lawsuit going.
For those of us in the business who try and act responsibily, it makes one’s stomach turn.
Attorneys like Steve Mostyn are the problem. They wildly inflate the claim, add unconscionable attorney fees plus compensation for mental distress.
They name the insurer, the broker (if any) the agent and the adjuster as defendants, even though they know them to not be guilty of the alleged offense. They do this, because they know the insurance company will settle the claim to avoid the cost of litigation. In one case in which I was involved, the company didn’t even insure the dwelling (and he knew that because I told him who the actual insurer was), yet the company paid $80,000 to get the suit dismissed. Mostyn got $24,000 just for the cost of filing the suit with the county clerk.
Mostyn alone has filed more than 2,000 claims against TWIA. He has a template for his lawsuits and simply fills in the defendants’ names and amounts. He’s named me (as a claim adjuster) in 3 lawsuits – on one, he had service of suit sent to me at an address in Baltimore because he didn’t change the template.
This man is in the same species as rats, vultures and lice, except they have my respect and Mostyn does not.
Great article, it really lays it all out very well. The “great, unbiased”, reporter at KHOU, Mr Greenblatt made a big issue of TWIA rates rising 5% and blames Mr Taylor for the increase for wanting his commissions to increase. 5% – sure!!
AND THEN uses lawyer Mostyn as an expert in the story while failing to mention how much $$$$$ he has ripped out of TWIA.
I am usually very naive, but this lapse in the KHOU report makes me wonder about the relationship between Greenblatt, KHOU and lawyer Mostyn. Maybe they get so much advertising that the story just had to be done!!
Mixed emotions for sure. If TWIA would pay claims fair and honest the first time, perhaps fewer lawsuits would be needed.
Agency billing of TWIA renewals is paperwork extensive and a large E & O exposure for our 16%. Direct bill these and YOU take the E & O exposure and I’ll gladly work for less.
Lastly was it really necessary for KHOU to have ALL AGENTS research our exceptions to the Open Records Act and respond to the AG so you could go on a witch hunt for Larry Taylor? Really?
There is little mention about the grounds of all this litigation except “wind vs water damage”. I don’t live in the area and am not familiar with the details, but I suspect that the real underlying reason is poor and/or slow claims handling.
This illustrates probably the biggest problem with the expansion of government wind insurance programs. Sure, we can probably find enough bureaucrats to collect premiums and issue policies, but it takes expertise to adjust and settle claims quickly and fairly – especially on a large scale.
Insurance companies pay people on staff to do that every day. When a CAT loss happens, task forces of experienced, trained claims and loss control folks are assembled from across the country and immediately sent (oftentimes in advance) to the affected areas.
Where does the government insurance program get enough experienced adjusters, or even the infrastructure to move claims paper efficiently through the process when a large scale event heppens?
So much easier to blame it all on “creative plaintiff attorneys” and high commissions to those fat-cat insurance agents.
What the heck does a bureaucrat know about paying claims?
Ya know what I’m sayin, man?
The “wind vs. water damage” comes to play on what the article describes as the “slab cases.”
Hurricane force winds push sea water ashore, what’s known as the storm surge. Anyone who has any sense has evacuated the area. So when the surge arrives (usually ahead of the wind) and the house is completely washed away, leaving only the slabs or pilings, no one can be sure which came first, the damage from the force of wind, or the damage from the force of water. Typically, the wind will lift or tear off the roof shingles and there will attendant damage to the interior from the rain. The policy that covers that damage always excludes flood, storm surge, etc.
So the claim adjuster has to try and make an equitable assessment between the homeowner’s policy and the flood policy.
The flood coverage is usually provided by the federal government, but the policy is issued and administered by an insurance company. Some insurers tried to ascribe all the damage to flood because they’d get 100% reimbursement from the government.
Hurricane Ike did widespread damage throughout Houston. TWIA had something like 80,000 claims filed, and there were around 300,000 over all. There aren’t that many CAT adjusters in the world to quickly handle all those claims.
And many of them are nothing more than warm bodies. My company had one CAT guy who didn’t even get on the roof to inspect them. His claims were a mess, and in each case, we reopened the files and satisfied the insured.
Another problem are the insureds, who think just because they’ve paid premiums in over the years, they think the insurer should pay to fix everything, even though much of the damage is clearly not covered. They haven’t got a clue what the policy covers and what it doesn’t. When they don’t get what they want, and see advertisements for lawyers like Mostyn, they contact him and get a lawsuit going.
For those of us in the business who try and act responsibily, it makes one’s stomach turn.
Attorneys like Steve Mostyn are the problem. They wildly inflate the claim, add unconscionable attorney fees plus compensation for mental distress.
They name the insurer, the broker (if any) the agent and the adjuster as defendants, even though they know them to not be guilty of the alleged offense. They do this, because they know the insurance company will settle the claim to avoid the cost of litigation. In one case in which I was involved, the company didn’t even insure the dwelling (and he knew that because I told him who the actual insurer was), yet the company paid $80,000 to get the suit dismissed. Mostyn got $24,000 just for the cost of filing the suit with the county clerk.
Mostyn alone has filed more than 2,000 claims against TWIA. He has a template for his lawsuits and simply fills in the defendants’ names and amounts. He’s named me (as a claim adjuster) in 3 lawsuits – on one, he had service of suit sent to me at an address in Baltimore because he didn’t change the template.
This man is in the same species as rats, vultures and lice, except they have my respect and Mostyn does not.
Actually what I’m startled by is the fact that the TWIA still requires a paper application.
Here in NC, our NCJUA/NCIUA has an on-line submission process, which simplifies things considerably.