The Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association (TPCIGA) is a nonprofit, unincorporated legal entity. It is composed of all licensed property and casualty insurers who must be members of the association as a condition of their authority to transact insurance in Texas. It was created by legislation enacted in 1971 by the Texas Legislature. TPCIGA provides a mechanism for the payment of covered property and casualty claims to avoid financial loss to claimants or policyholders because of the impairment of an insurer. It assists in the detection and prevention of insurer insolvencies and provides an association to assess the cost of that protection among insurers. Since 1992, it has been responsible for handling claims directly.