Texas Department of Insurance License Agent Lookup

Whether the businesses come under the realm of private or public sphere, sticking to the law of the state is the first thing to do. In that regard Texas Department of Insurance License Agent lookup provides the services to interesting people who want to establish their insurance companies in the state of Texas. The department facilitates the individuals at every step to set up a good business while keeping them under their watch as not allowing them to breach any insurance law.

It also remains active for the consumers who face any challenge of getting scammed or fraud from these companies to address their complaints. It has an organized method of registering their complaints for the individuals who are facing issues from their insurance companies working in Texas. So if you are the agent wanting to establish your insurance company in Texas or a policyholder who faces such an annoying situation at the hand of an insurance company, here is your place to get to know what you should do.

Texas Department of Insurance company lookup

The Texas Department of Insurance company was established in 1876 as the Department of Insurance, Statistics, and History. It regulates the Insurance companies that provide insurance services to Texas-based consumers. It looks into the working of the companies and addresses the complaints and frauds done to the consumers by these insurer companies.

The company is responsible for ensuring the Texas Insurance Code that includes regulating Insurance business in Texas, ensuring fair competition among Insurance companies, protecting consumers from getting scammed or fraud by the insurer companies, strengthening the stability of the Insurance market, and ensuring that the insurance code and other laws regarding the insurance companies and insurance are properly executed.

Besides delivering the services of regulating the work related to insurance, the company performs the duties of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and provides administrative support to the Office of the Injured Employee Counsel.

The Insurance Commissioner is the chief executive and administrative officer of the company who is responsible to oversee the operations and administration of the workers’ compensation system, Texas Labor Code, and other regulations which ensure the smooth processing of the insurance in the state of Texas as the company put forwards in their mission that they will:

• Regulate Insurance industry functions diligently and fairly
• Promote a competitive and stable market
• Providing information that will help the consumers

The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. It has 1400 employees around the state with a budget of $110 million.

How can the Department of Insurance help you?

The Department of Insurance helps the consumers if they have complaints against insurance companies, Health maintenance organizations, adjusters, or insurance agents. The complaints can be related to health, title, property, and workers’ compensation insurance and can only be entertained if they are regarding insurance companies and people who they regulate. Other than that, if you have complaints against service providers such as body shops, doctors, and building contractors.

If you have complaints regarding the following factors, then you can contact the TDI:

• Policy cancellation and non-renewals
• Slow or late payment of claims
• Health care treatment or service denials
• Improper claim denials
• Misrepresentation about what the policy covers
• False or misleading advertising,
• Suspected insurance fraud
• Discriminatory rate increases

Before filing your complaint to the department, you can call your insurance company if they can resolve your issue but if you are not properly responding, you can consult the issue department of Insurance.

However, there are certain complaints that the company does not entertain such as:

• Finding out who was at fault in an accident
• Make the company pay you if, in theory, they have not violated any law related to insurance laws and rules
• Settle a dispute between you and the company when you don’t have any evidence other than your words
• Make judicial judgments or give legal advice.

Keep in mind that even if the company is not able to resolve your issue, filing a complaint will let them know the potential problems with the insurance companies that can later be resolved with any help.

Also, the information you provide to the department can be used for reasons to address your complaint. It can be shared with the insurance companies to find out your data. Although the personal information won’t be shared without your consent. Usually, your email address, your house address, phone number, etc is considered your personal information which is not shared until the department gets your consent to be shared.

How to get your Texas Insurance Agent License?

1.   Complete the prelicensing course

In order to get your Insurance agent license, Texas requires you to complete your prelicensing course to get knowledge of the field. You can find plenty of teachers for the course. Kaplan Financial Education offers you the classes that will help you to pass the State exam.

2.   Pass the Texas state exam

After completing the prelicensing course, you must pass the state exam. The exam is generally based on multiple-choice questions having two parts. The general part consists of information regarding basic insurance product knowledge while the second part of the exam deals with the insurance rules, laws, regulations, and practices that are unique to the Texas state.

The score of the exam is not based on each part separately but on the exam as a whole. The passing score for the exam is 70 out of 100 points.

3.   Get Fingerprinted

As you successfully passed the exam, now you need to get fingerprinted. For that, the IdentoGo company will take your fingerprints for the Department of Insurance. After that, they will submit the fingerprints to the Texas Department of Public Safety. They check the information and send it back to the company with the status of clear.

If you are from another state, you can submit your criminal history record from your state’s law enforcement agency and your certificate of Good Standing from your state.

4.   Apply for a Texas Insurance license

After you passed the exam and got clearance from the Department of Public Safety, you can now apply for the Texas Insurance license online through NIPR (www.NIPR.com). Or you can download the form from the website of DTI if you want to apply in person.

During the process, you will be assigned NPN. It is an identifier that keeps track of individuals and companies on a national basis. With NPN, many states have replaced the producer number.

5.   Ensure Insurance Continuing Education (CE) credits

To keep your license in good standing, you are required to adhere to the state’s CE requirement which is supposed to take a certain amount of education hours every two years.

How to file a complaint against the insurance company?

The Texas Department of Insurance regulates the insurer companies and their working. If there is any mishap on part of the insurer company, a policyholder can directly contact the Department filing its complaint against the insurer. The department addresses complaints related to health, property, auto, and title insurance.

To file the complaint, you need to visit their website and fill out the complaint form. Before filing the complaint make sure to have the following information with you:

• Your insurance policy number
• The name of the insurance agents and adjusters involved in your case
• A copy of your insurance card
• A detailed description of your problem
• Your claim number and date of loss or accident
• What do you think should be done if you are complaining
• Copies of all the materials that support your complaint

You can file this complaint online or you can take the print of the form and mail it to them at the following address:

MC 111-1A

Consumer Protection

Texas Department of Insurance

P.O. Boc 149091

Austin, TX 78714

Authorized and admitted companies

Texas Department of Insurance issues License and certificates to the following companies that represent the standard market:

• Captive Insurance
• Health Care Collaborative
• Domestic companies
• Foreign companies
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities
• Health maintenance organizations
• Premium Finance companies
• Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
• Reciprocals
• Professional Employer organization self-funded health plans
• Texas Lloyd companies
• Title insurance
• Third-party administrators
• Workers’ compensation self-insurance groups

Insurers are required to submit their requests for certified certificates of Authority or certificates of compliance by submitting the form to TDI by email. On approval, insurers can start their business in Taxes under the watch of the Department of Insurance company.

Workers’ compensation insurance guide

TDI offers comprehensive coverage for workers’ compensation, overseen by its Division of Workers’ Compensation in Texas. Our dedicated regulation ensures thorough management of workers’ compensation affairs.

Workers’ compensation insurance serves as a vital support for employees, covering medical expenses in case of work-related injuries or illnesses. Additionally, it provides financial aid for lost wages and extends assistance to the bereaved family for burial expenses.

This insurance, however, ceases to apply if the employee:

• Sustains injuries while engaged in reckless behavior or under the influence
• Incurs injuries outside the workplace, including during recreational activities or volunteer work
• Intentionally inflicts harm upon themselves
• Experiences injury due to a natural calamity like floods or hurricanes
• Suffers harm caused by someone unrelated to work circumstances

If the employee doesn’t get workers’ compensation

The above-mentioned coverage can be provided by the department but in case the compensation is not provided then the employee lose the legal protection against most lawsuits which means that if an injured employee sues you at a workplace you can’t argue in court that:

• The negligence of another employee caused the injury
• The injured employee knew about the potential danger and accepted it
• The employee’s negligence caused the injury

In order to prevent these situations, you can get the workers’ compensation by following ways.

Buying coverage

If you want to get coverage under state law, you need to buy your workers’ compensation insurance from the companies which are licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance. Insurance that is bought from the companies that are not licensed by the TDI, won’t provide you the coverage under state law of insurance.

Self Insurance

Large private employers may self-insure their workers’ compensation claims often. The employers who self-insure have to pay the cost of their claims themselves. Self-insurance can be gotten from self-insurance groups that must get approval from the TDI.

Health care networks

Government entities, insurance companies, self-insurance groups, and self-insured employers can set up healthcare networks that treat their injured workers or contract with existing networks that are certified by the TDI.

The premium cost might be lower for those employers who are covered with an insurance company that uses a network.

What about the ‘alternative policies’?

As mentioned above, Texas law only covers the workers’ compensation insurance that is bought by the companies which are licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance, so any alternative policy or coverage which is bought by an unlicensed company won’t be considered as a workers’ compensation. It means that you lose the legal leverage of going against any lawsuit that is filed against you at the working place and the injured employee can sue you for any caused damage at the workplace.

It is important to buy the workers’ compensation insurance for the licensed companies because the Texas Property and Casualty Guaranty Association pays the claims for licensed insurance companies that become insolvent. On the other hand, claims filed against companies that are not licensed might not be paid.

Conclusion

The Texas Department of Insurance, as the state regulatory authority, oversees insurers, agents, and adjusters, fostering healthy competition within the insurance industry. It diligently addresses grievances from Texas residents concerning insurance company performance. TDI grants licenses to insurance companies operating in Texas, ensuring smooth operations within the state.

Operating under the Texas Insurance Code, TDI ensures compliance with state laws, thereby preventing conflicts between consumers and sellers. The agency facilitates a transparent and lawful business environment.

Agents seeking licensure for insurance companies or businesses in Texas undergo a thorough approval process, ensuring only proficient individuals enter the insurance market.

TDI’s website serves as an accessible platform for filing insurance-related complaints, covering auto, property, health, and more. The complaint submission process is streamlined, requiring only a simple form submission, with prompt attention from the company.