Texas Automobile Insurance Plan to Raise Rates in 2019

Rates will increase next year for both personal and commercial auto insurance provided by the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA).

Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan on Nov. 9 issued an order approving changes to TAIPA’s rates that become effective on March 1, 2019.

TAIPA is a not-for-profit auto insurer of last resort in Texas, the membership of which includes all Texas-authorized insurers, according to the commissioner’s order.

Applicants for automobile liability insurance who have been rejected by at least two insurers authorized to write auto policies in Texas are eligible for coverage through TAIPA. The plan’s rate filings are subject to approval by the commissioner and it may not file rates more than once every 12 months.

TAIPA originally filed its rates for 2019 on Sept. 10 and later amended them. The revised rates were filed on Oct. 17 with the secretary of state. The Texas Department of Insurance noted that it received no comments on either filing.

The rates approved by the commissioner represent an overall increase of 4.8 percent for private passenger coverage and an overall increase of 3.9 percent for commercial auto.

According to TDI, the new rates for private passenger auto insurance “represent increases of 5.0 percent for bodily injury liability, 4.8 percent for property damage liability, 2.4 percent for personal injury protection, 4.5 percent for uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury liability, and 4.5 percent for uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage liability.”

For commercial auto, the rate changes include a 4.3 percent increase for bodily injury liability, a 3.3 percent increase for property damage liability and a 3.5 percent for personal injury protection. TAIPA’s rates for uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury liability and uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage liability rates remain unchanged.

Topics Texas Auto