JERSEY CITY, NJ, Sept. 12, 2002 — The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has cleared the way for insurers to provide policyholders expanded coverage options under Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s (ISO) Homeowners 2000 program.
With Texas on board, ISO's Homeowners 2000 program has been approved by insurance regulators in 43 ISO jurisdictions.
The TDI approved ISO's six policy forms and 93 coverage endorsements for homeowners and mobile homeowners. The department stipulated that insurers using the ISO forms must file their initial rates and rate changes for policies written through any of their Lloyd's companies or reciprocal exchanges with the department on an informational basis for a period of two years.
ISO's Homeowners 3-Special Form is analogous to Texas's HO-B policy form. While the ISO policy form covers water damage from sudden or accidental discharge, it does not cover losses caused by constant or repeated seepage or leakage of water from a household appliance or from a sewer or drain backup. Policyholders' savings on insurance would vary by geographic locations of homes and coverages chosen.
Insurers that choose to use ISO policy forms must demonstrate to the TDI the rating differentials that reflect the differences in coverage between the ISO policy forms and the TDI policy forms previously sold in the state.
"The approval of ISO's Homeowners 2000 policy forms means that Texas homeowners will now have coverage options similar to the rest of the country," said Kevin B. Thompson, ISO's vice president of personal and standard commercial lines.
The approved ISO policy forms provide limited mold coverage similar to that adopted by the TDI last November, though homeowners can purchase full mold remediation coverage up to policy limits. New applicants and existing policyholders are also able to select ISO endorsements that cover dwelling foundation damage, and water damage from constant or repeated seepage or leakage of water from a household appliance or from a sewer or drain backup.
ISO is a leading source of information, products and services related to property and liability risk. For a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance, ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting and claims information and analysis; consulting and technical services; policy language; information about specific locations; fraud-identification tools; and data processing. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents, brokers, self-insureds, risk managers, and insurance regulators and other government agencies.
Release: Immediate
Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com