Ron Snouffer - CEO, National Claims Negotiators Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, I don't mind that kind of summer wind.
It's the eighty mile per hour, one hundred mile per
hour one hundred and twenty mile per hours summer wind
that can cause the problem, that's for sure. As I said,
the Los Angeles wildfires have us wondering, as a state
that does have insurance of last resort the Texas Wind
and Hail Association to cover properties on the coast, are
there enough assets. We're hearing all sorts of stories because

(00:24):
of the great devastation Los Angeles that their insurance of
last resort does not have enough assets in order to
pay for all the damages. I'm not sure what they're
going to do, but I'm more concerned about us. We
live in Texas. Ron Snuffer joins US CEO of National
Claims Negotiators. I guess I have a dog in this fight, Ron,
because I happen to have a place in Freeport that
is ensured by the Texas Wind and Hail Association, and

(00:46):
so I'm of course wondering whether or not if something
bad were to happen, if I'd be covered.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
It's going to be a tough situation if we get
some major purriganes this season. Not have money in order
to cover all the losses that they expect in twenty
twenty five at this point in time.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, we had barrel. They had enough money for barrel.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Correct, They had enough money for barrel, but it depleted them.
They have about fifty cents on the dollar compared to
what their actuaries are saying they need for twenty twenty
five at this point in time.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
I guess the question would be, why are they have
less assets than they need to have. It's regulated. This
insured may be a private company, but is regulated by
the state.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Correct, So it's not a private company. It's actually a
state agency that they work for, the Texas Department Insurance.
They're the insurance of last resort. When you can't get
insurance from anybody else to you get insurance through And
they actually requested from TDI to have a premium increase

(01:54):
back in October and the state said no, and they
informed the state if they didn't get that premium increases,
they would be short on funds if there was a
major disaster in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Okay, so if there is a major disaster they are
short on funds. What happens after that? Are you just
are the people who are paying all this money for
the insurance just out of luck.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
It would be basically on a first come, first or
basis who gets paid. People that file their claims the
quickest and have the best documented files will be paid fastest,
and then the rest of the people will be paid
over time as they collect additional money. And that depends

(02:35):
on if the state allows them to issue surety bonds
in order to fund the damages that are associated with it.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Okay, so there is no mechanism with the State of
Texas as far as funding this agency. If they are
underfunded and all hell breaks loose, the taxpayers are potentially
out of luck unless this annuity mechanism kicks in. Right,
It's not like there's this state coffer of money that's
set aside, or with the state considering taking money from

(03:04):
the state budget in order to compensate homeowners. Well, that's
just it.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
The money that is set aside is state funded money.
It's based on the premiums that they collect off a
TWIA and the money that the state allows and the key.
So the state has already said that they will not
allow them to or they will not bail them out
if there's an issue. Back in twenty thirteen when the

(03:29):
last major hurricane event when we're at a category five happened,
they ended up being one hundred and eighty five million
dollars short of being able to pay out all the planes.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow. Well, the thing that's really sad about that is
last year alone, I've paid over four thousand dollars for
that Texas Wind in Hail Association policy. That's probably the
most expensive insurance policy I've ever paid on, and it's
not very comforting to know that despite that, there's not
enough money set aside to reimburse me if something should happen.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, it's really scary the amount of money that consumers
are paying as a last resort. I mean, there aren't
very many options along the coast that will cover you,
and the ones that are able to cover you are
very very expensive.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Yeah, no doubt. Okay, you have a recommendation for people,
what should just have side? I guess save a lot
of money. Huh. If you want to live on the
coast of Texas, better say, set aside a lot of money,
Better have a big rainy day fund.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's the best case scenario right there. There's really no
other options. At this point in time, you better be
prepared to pay out a pocket or get a loan
from the bank to rebuild anything that's necessary that the
insurance company is not going to cover.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Okay, Ron, I'm not sure. I'm glad I talked to you,
but thank you for the information. I do appreciate that
that's Ron snow for SEEO of National Claims Negotiators