By CRAIG ALANIZ
Reporter/Photographer
press@portisabelsouthpadre.com
The Coastal Windstorm task force met at the Hilton Garden Inn to present their plan for TWIA to avoid raising premiums for the 14 coastal counties.
The task force said the issue began when Hurricane Ike caused catastrophic damage in Galveston. They said their plan in the beginning was to take defensive action but felt they lost too much ground. In 2011 the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce developed the task force to take a more offensive strategy.
The task force said there are four different plans that are being composed with similar points. They said their plan is to fix claims handling and cap damages paid and set a statue of limitation on filing claims.
The plan will take six to 10 years to stabilize the market. The task force said they desire to return insurance writing back to private industry.
Homes that are built up to code will pay less of a premium, The task force said grants will be available in their plan to help families that cannot bring their homes up to the new windstorm codes to avoid paying higher premiums.
The task force said their plan includes a Catastrophe Trust Fund that will have $1.1 billion for disasters on the coast to pay for a 20-year storm, but reserves $200 million for damages on an average year.
The task force said by March their plan would have a bill number. They said they would like more residents and homeowners to petition their representatives to pass the plan and for municipalities to have resolutions approving the plan to gain the most ground.
The task force said everyone in the coastal counties would benefit from their plan and will continue until the bill is read at legislative session.
Read this story in the Jan. 31 edition of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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