Texas Nixes State Farm’s Catastrophe Request

State Farm Insurance’s catastrophe determination petition, made in response to wildfires that have been charring much of the state all month, has been denied by the Texas Department of Insurance.

According to the insurance department, the denial was based on information provided in the September 12 request made by State Farm, in which the insurance company asked for a catastrophe determination because of a large number of destructive wildfires which had occurred in several counties, including Anderson, Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Camp, Cass, Colorado, Fayette, Gregg, Grimes, Harrison, Henderson, Hill, Houston, Hunt, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Palo Pinto, Red River, Rusk, Smith, Tarrant, Travis, Upshur, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, and Williamson between September 4th and September 12th of this year.

According to the department, the declaration of a major natural disaster or weather-related catastrophe for extended claims processing time is not warranted at this time, and that all claims stemming from the fires must be processed in accordance with the deadlines defined by the Texas Insurance Code.