Uninsured Motorists' Letters Start Mailing on June 14th...but...

The long awaited day is finally here - letters to vehicle owners identified as uninsured will begin June 14th. However, there is a problem.
 
As many of you know, AIAT was in the forefront of the successful passage of SB1670 which resulted in the implementation of TexasSure, the Uninsured Motorists’ Verification System. It was a long and very expensive battle, particularly against those insurance companies that would rather not deal with the type of clientele that has the tendency to allow their mandatory auto insurance to lapse.
 
It was AIAT's position that increasing enforcement of the law would serve all citizens of this state in several areas, including but not limited to, reducing Medicare costs for low-income victims of uninsured drivers to increasing the general revenue for the state. After almost a decade of constant uphill battles, we finally got the bill passed in 2005.
 
The next battle we faced was the implementation of the system. Again, those same insurance companies insisted the state rollout an unproven system that would place undue burden on small insurance companies. Their suggested interface system would also put DPS officers in harm’s way because of the time required to receive a response on whether or not a vehicle was insured. It is imperative the time DPS officers must spend on the side of a road at a traffic stop be minimal.
 
Fortunately, due to the close relationship AIAT had developed with the Department of Insurance, Doug Hite, the IT manager from American Southwest Insurance Managers and I were asked to serve on the implementation committee headed by TDI.
 
During our time on the committee, other battles arose, including our opponents proposition that Texas only identify drivers as uninsured AFTER they were pulled over or AFTER they were involved in an accident. We stood firm - in order to effectively decrease the number of uninsured drivers on our roads, we needed a system that would be Pro-active, not Re-active. We wanted the drivers that chose not to comply with the law to be notified PRIOR to causing injuries to fellow citizens and their property. We continued the battle over the next year and eventually the implementing agencies agreed and a vendor was hired that would implement the system AIAT had pushed for since day one.
 
The Texas Department of Insurance contracted with HDI Solutions to implement a database system that would be accessible by law enforcement. In addition though, a Pro-active approach would be achieved by creating a letter campaign to those identified as uninsured.
 
Before any enforcement measures could be taken, insurance companies first had to submit policyholder data to the vendor, HDI. Essentially, HDI would determine who was not insured by matching a key field of those policies, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), to the VIN numbers on vehicle registrations. With over 17 million registered vehicles in the state, this was an enormous task, but HDI used complicated and proprietary algorithms to match as many vehicles on policies to registrations as possible.
 
To limit the possibility of a vehicle owner in compliance from being incorrectly tagged as uninsured, the Department of Insurance insisted the program would not begin until 99% of VIN numbers reported by insurance companies were successfully matched against registrations.
 
Texas was the first state in the nation to accomplish this task, therefore, in June of 2008, the Department announced the TexasSure system would be accessible in the vehicles of all DPS officers and volunteering city law enforcement by years’ end. The program was well received throughout the state and our journey to decreasing the number of uninsured drivers began.
 
An additional attempt was made to increase the accuracy of the data.  Earlier this year a letter campaign was mailed to vehicle owners whose reported VIN number could not be matched against a registration. AIAT received reports from some of our members their clients received letters, however, they were easily able to rectify the problem.
 
Then finally, after a decade and half, the email arrived. The Texas Department of Insurance announced effective June 14th, 2010, vehicle owners identified as uninsured would be notified the state was aware they were breaking the law. These letters would advise the vehicle owner they had 10 days to correct the problem.
 
BUT – there was a problem. The letter went on to reference a website, www.HelpInsure.com, for these uninsured drivers to visit to “explore many auto insurance options”. This was the first I had heard of such a site. Perhaps I missed the memo? Looking into it further, I found that while I was enjoying some time off after selling my four agencies in 2006 apparently someone came to the conclusion that the insurance agents and companies that do business in our state were incompetent with their marketing efforts.  Therefore, legislation was passed requiring the Department of Insurance to spend taxpayer dollars to create a website that would include a comparative rating system for auto and home insurance AND a service by which consumers could be REFERRED to agents/companies near them.
 
Unfortunately though, the communication efforts used to advise agents they needed to register to receive these referrals must have gone unnoticed by a majority of auto insurance agents in the state. When I conducted a search on this website to locate insurance agents willing to sell auto insurance, I found the following:

To make matters worse, the comparative rating system provided did not ask a fraction of the questions needed to provide an even close-to-accurate quote. When visiting this site, the consumer is unable to enter crucial information such as:

• Any additional drivers,
• Specify the type of vehicle driven other than whether or not it was a car or truck
• Only one car could be quoted,
• Only liability coverage can be selected,
• The consumer selects what they feel reflects their credit rating, 
• No field to indicate whether or not a current policy is in force,  and so on.

So, for kicks, I entered my information to get a quote.  GEICO came up with a fantastic rate $267 a year!  Unfortunately, when I called GEICO, advised them of the second driver (my husband with four at fault accidents) and my college-age daughter, and my other two vehicles, they quoted me $4,000 every six months.  Just slightly different than the state's website indicated...(yes, I am being sarcastic).
Have you ever misquoted a customer, say by thousands of dollars? How happy do you think they would be to do business with you after that?  And how do you think they will react when the State of Texas told them it was cheaper than what you have quoted?
 
I immediately contacted the Program Coordinator for the TexasSure program and expressed my concerns about this HelpInsure.com website. A copy of my letter can be accessed here.  Let me stop here and go on record by saying I have worked with this person throughout most of this process and have the utmost respect for them. Never at any point in time did I doubt that they had the well-being of the citizens of this state first and foremost in their objectives during this entire process.
 
With that said, in my letter to her, I requested reference to this website be removed from the uninsured letters. Unfortunately, the program coordinator for the TexasSure program has no say in what goes on over at the HelpSure department.  The response I received was not what I had hoped for.  The program coordinator stated that due to the printing process, changes to the letters cannot be made for four to six months. To do so would cost the state an enormous amount of money. But in the meantime, she will forward my letter to the appropriate department and they may get back to me.
 
Therefore, we are advising agents interested in writing auto insurance for the millions of drivers about to receive these letters to visit www.HelpInsure.com immediately and register to receive referrals from the Market Connection. Now, the good news is a maximum of 25,000 letters a week will be mailed to those identified as uninsured.  At that rate, it will take quite sometime to get notices to all of the FOUR million uninsured drivers in this state. 
 
Instructions, provided by the Department of Insurance, to register for this referral site on HelpSure.com can be accessed by clicking here.

 
There are several flaws in this Referral system titled "Market Connection". At this time, the Department acknowledges they are unable to register agencies, even licensed agencies. Only individual licensed agents can register for this referral service.
 
In addition, nowhere on the site is an agent allowed to dictate what zip codes they write business in. When a zip code search is conducted by a website visitor, the results will ONLY include agents whose license is listed in that zip code.
 
The Department of Insurance has advised AIAT when a consumer conducts a search by city instead of zip code though, all agents whose license lists that city will appear in the results. Doesn't do much good for those whose license address is listed at home or for those agents with multiple locations.
 
Also,  it appears if a website visitor abbreviates a city, such as “Ft Worth” vs entering “Fort Worth”, no results will be provided, nor will an error be displayed. The consumer will most likely just assume there are no agents in Ft Worth that sell auto and/or home insurance.
 
As a member of the Alliance Insurance Agents of Texas, you are afforded the collective representation of many professional agents throughout the state. When necessary, AIAT has hired attorneys and lobbyists to fight for the rights of our members and our members’ clients. AIAT won the battle against the Department of Insurance when they attempted to outlaw agency fees and as you can see above, we won the battle against those that could care less if our roads were filled with uninsured drivers.
 
AIAT will continue this fight, but be aware, with the current economic conditions, our funds for political activities are minimal. These battles cost money. Government entities are not always as eager to change their ways as we would like them to be and sometimes we have to resort to legal counsel to defend our rights.
 
I encourage you to send a contribution to the association. Be rest assured, other than our executive director – NO officer or volunteer of AIAT is paid for their service, nor are they reimbursed for their expenses. Everyone of our Board Members not only has been responsible for their own costs, they have also made individual financial contributions out of their own pocket to this association. They serve you completely out of the commitment they have to our industry, to our clients, and to independent agents. Every dime you donate will go directly towards representing your interests as an independent insurance agent. We are the ONLY Texas Insurance Agency Association that is able to state such.
 
Also, please encourage the companies you represent to take an interest in your association. For your bottom line helps their bottom line.
 
On one last note, I would like to acknowledge Empower Insurance Group for their commitment and dedication to protecting the interests of the independent agent and this association. They have already been a tremendous resource for us with this current issue.
 
I appreciate your time. We will keep you apprised of the situation as we hear of new developments.
 
Sincerely,
AnMarie Bozick, CIC
Past President of AIAT