Property & Casualty 2008 Compliance Conference

TexasSure Vehicle Insurance Verification

About TexasSure Created by SB 1670 (79 th Legislature, 2005) Joint effort: –Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) –Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) –Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) (formerly TxDOT) –Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Primary goal is to reduce the number of uninsured motorists in Texas

How TexasSure Works Data Sources –TxDMV database of registered vehicles Weekly updates –DPS database of self-insured vehicles Weekly full book –DPS Driver License database Weekly updates –Insurance company data Weekly full book of business, personal auto Weekly full book of business, commercial auto (optional)

How TexasSure Works Vehicles Included –Financial responsibility is required on all vehicles, except trailers and semi trailers, registered for on-road use unless a vehicle qualifies for a special registration class (antique, parade, etc). –All vehicles covered under a personal auto policy must be reported unless the insurer is able to determine that the vehicle is not subject to Texas registration for on-road use –ATVs and golf carts are excluded from reporting

How TexasSure Works Policies Included –Personal Auto –Non-owner –Mileage-based –Commercial Auto (optional)

How TexasSure Works Matching –Each week, all reported insured vehicles are matched to the database of registered vehicles –Vendor uses matching algorithms and fuzzy logic, which enables data that is not exactly the same to be accurately matched –99%+ weekly match rate TexasSure database is updated weekly

How TexasSure Works Matching Example #1 –TxDMV Registration Data Owner: Melissa Mallett VIN: Address: 333 Guadalupe St –Insurer Data Driver: Melissa Burkhart VIN: Address: 333 Guadalupe St MATCH

How TexasSure Works Matching Example #2 –TxDMV Registration Data Owner: Melissa Burkhart VIN: Address: 333 Guadalupe St –Insurer Data Driver: Melissa Burkhart VIN: Address: 333 Guadalupe St MATCH

Insurer Responsibilities Division 7, 28 TAC §§ – Reporting Guide and User Manual Achieve and maintain a 98% match rate by January 1, 2010

Insurer Responsibilities TDI Monitoring Activity –Review of insurer reporting status (weekly) –Comparison of TexasSure and TICO data (quarterly) –Review of reported expired policies (quarterly) –Review of insurer compliance with reporting requirements (quarterly)

Who Uses TexasSure? Access is strictly limited to authorized State users Available to all Texas law enforcement agencies –Released October 2008 –Law Enforcement searches on the following fields: License Plate VIN Driver License Number (in test) Name and Date of Birth (in test)

Who Uses TexasSure? Vehicle Registration Renewal –Released June 2008 –Available in county tax offices and online –Not available at point-of-sale locations, such as grocery stores

Who Uses TexasSure? Future Authorized Users –Driver license offices –Vehicle inspection stations

TexasSure Consumer Notices Unmatched Notice –Began December 2009 –Less than 1% of insured vehicles cannot be matched to a registered vehicle –TexasSure assists customers in identifying the reason for a non-match, advises on corrective action –Second notice sent if no response is received after 30 days

TexasSure Consumer Notices Uninsured Notice –Scheduled to begin mid-June –Notices to owners of registered vehicles that appear to be uninsured –Will attempt to exclude commercial vehicles where feasible –Customers will be able to report policy information if they are self-insured or insured on a commercial or personal policy –TDI will attempt to verify reported policies

TexasSure Consumer Notices TexasSure Call Center Established –Assist consumers in resolving Unmatched or Uninsured notice –Toll-free number (IVR and CSR access) –Website –Mail

TexasSure Stats 250+ participating insurance companies Over 99% of all reported insured vehicles are matched to a registered vehicle 98%+ average insurance company match rate Monthly usage continues to increase –Law enforcement: approx 3M queries each month –TxDMV offices: approx 1.4M queries each month

Unmatched Vehicle Registrations As of 2/22/ % Statewide Includes only registration classes that require auto liability insurance Represents uninsured vehicles as well as some vehicles insured on a commercial auto policy or self-insured.

Next Steps Include commercial auto policies –Recommendation from Texas State Auditors Office in their recent audit of TexasSure –Legislation instructed to implement commercial auto when feasible Expand use to driver license offices and vehicle inspection stations

Frequently Asked Questions Is the policyholders personal information protected? –Yes, access to your policyholders personal information is restricted by the Federal Driver Privacy Protection Act and various Texas statutes.

Frequently Asked Questions What are the penalties for driving without insurance? –First time offenders are subject to a fine of up to $350, plus court costs, and may be assessed additional fees as authorized by Transportation Code Chapter 708. Repeat offenders are also subject to a two-year driver license suspension.

Frequently Asked Questions How can I ensure that policyholders will not be mis- identified as uninsured? –Take action to correct incorrect and/or missing data and policy and policyholder information; confirm the information that you have on file.

Frequently Asked Questions Will I be able to check insurance coverage on an individual driver? –No. Only authorized State users have access to the data.

Frequently Asked Questions Will I be able to obtain a list of vehicles identified as uninsured and use that for marketing purposes? –No. Records of insured and uninsured vehicles will not be made available to anyone other than authorized State users.

Frequently Asked Questions Do I still need to provide proof of insurance cards? Do my customers still need to carry their proof of insurance card? –Yes, Drivers are still required by law (Texas Transportation Code § ) to make available current effective paper proof of insurance upon request.

TexasSure Vehicle Insurance Verification Melissa Burkhart, Coordinator Staff: Iris Saenz Maria Pullin Tiffany Sloane