NU Online News Service, March 2, 2:07 p.m. EST
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) Board of Directors has drafted a resolution to create a committee whose purpose will be to find a replacement for General Manager Jim Oliver.
The resolution was drafted during a meeting held following an order from the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) placing TWIA under administrative oversight.
Although "there will be no change in Mr. Oliver's status or duties at this time," the resolution states that an executive committee will be assigned the task of coming up with a transition plan "that will ultimately result in the hiring of a new general manager."
Mr. Oliver will be involved in the process of finding his replacement, according to the resolution, which is not final until minutes of the meeting are approved at the board's next meeting.
No deadline was given to find a new general manager.
TWIA will also look into forming a committee or hiring a consultant firm to look at its claims-handling practices, especially related to TDI's allegations that an outside claims adjuster was paid for work that was not done and that TWIA paid claims based on his recommendations.
TWIA has faced scrutiny over its claims handling since Hurricanes Ike and Dolly in 2008. The storms wiped out the cash TWIA had on hand and depleted the state catastrophe-reserve fund. At the very end of the 2009 legislative session, lawmakers passed a new funding structure for the state's insurer of coastal homes that might otherwise go uninsured.
Another resolution by the TWIA board forbids future in-kind payments as part of severance packages. Lawmakers recently grilled Mr. Oliver about severance packages, worth a total of $160,000, given to two executives. One also received a pickup truck as part of the package.
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