August 3, 2020
The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has begun an innovative technology project to speed and improve its review of insurance policy forms.
“Insurers file tens of thousands of policies for our review every year, and the legacy system is outdated. We needed to modernize,” said Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan. “Cutting edge technology will allow us to complete reviews faster and help our staff focus on the issues that most need their attention and analysis.”
Companies filed more than 26,000 property and casualty forms with the agency last year. The initial phase of the project allows a comparison of each newly filed property and casualty form with every policy and endorsement approved by TDI since April 2014. It also checks that key information on a form is complete and consistent with other information in the filing.
“We believe we’re the first state to fully implement this kind of technology, and it has the potential to transform the state review process,” Sullivan said. “States need modern tools to effectively regulate the volume and complexity of filings in a technologically advanced insurance market.”
In September, life and health policy forms will be added to the project. Soon after, TDI staff will begin using the technology’s artificial intelligence, or machine learning, capabilities to search polices for insurance concepts that require questions or objections during review. It also will look for legally required language and highlight differences.
“We expect performance to get even better as this project progresses and the software picks up patterns and differences,” Sullivan said. “All of this supports faster, more consistent regulatory decisions and greater consumer protection.”