NU Online News Service, March 23, 11:31 a.m. EST

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) chose to immediately relieve its general manager of his duties rather than keep him until a replacement is found.

General Manager Jim Oliver was let go after the TWIA board met in executive session for several hours on March 22, the Texas Dept. of Insurance (TDI) says.

Attempts to reach Oliver were not immediately successful.

Randy Wipf, vice president of underwriting at TWIA, was named acting general manager. A search firm out of Chicago has been hired to find an interim and permanent replacement.

In a statement provided by TDI, Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin said he is "fully supportive" of the board's decision. TDI "will commit whatever resources are necessary in this time of transition," he adds.

TWIA previously said it was going to create a committee to find a replacement for Oliver, but the general manager would remain at the state-run insurer with no change to his duties and would be involved in finding his replacement.

TDI recently placed TWIA under administrative oversight, citing information provided to it that suggested an outside claims adjuster was paid for work that was never done. TDI grew increasingly concerned about TWIA's settlement of slab claims and the payment of attorneys' fees. TWIA, and Oliver, also came under fire for about $160,000 in severance packages given to two former executives—the head of claims and catastrophe manager. Each resigned under circumstances protected by a confidentiality agreement.

As part of administrative oversight, TDI has a person at TWIA to oversee certain expenditures and high-level personnel actions, TDI spokesman Jerry Hagins says.

Since TDI's announcement it has been learned that the Travis County district attorney and the Texas state auditor are involved in an investigation of the last resort insurer.

In a previous interview with NU Online News Service, Oliver said the decision to, at the time, eventually replace him had nothing to do with the TDI order. He said the severance packages were "completely justified" and were needed to ensure cooperation in future litigation involving TWIA.

Special Reports /

TWIA General Manager Let Go Now; Wipf Named Acting GM

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