By: Taylor S.B. No. 852
(In the Senate - Filed February 26, 2013; March 5, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
March 18, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 18, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 852 By: Taylor
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to availability of certain property and casualty insurance
forms.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 10, Insurance Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 1812 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 1812. AVAILABILITY OF SPECIMEN POLICIES
Sec. 1812.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "specimen
policy" means a standardized form, including an insurance policy
form or endorsement, used by an insurer to write personal
automobile, commercial automobile, inland marine, or residential
property insurance in this state that does not contain personally
identifiable information about an insured.
Sec. 1812.002. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN FORMS.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code relating to
the delivery of policy forms, an insurer may elect to make a
personal automobile, commercial automobile, inland marine, or
residential property insurance policy available to an insured by
posting a specimen policy on the insurer's Internet website instead
of other authorized means. An insurer making the election must
comply with Section 1812.003.
(b) On request of and at no cost to an insured, an insurer
shall provide to the insured a copy of a specimen policy applicable
to the insured that is posted on the insurer's Internet website.
Sec. 1812.003. NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN FORMS.
(a) An insurer that posts a specimen policy on the insurer's
Internet website under this chapter must, on issuance or renewal of
a policy incorporating the specimen policy:
(1) on the declarations page of the insured's policy:
(A) disclose that the specimen policy is
available on the insurer's Internet website; and
(B) clearly identify each posted specimen policy
incorporated into the insured's policy;
(2) explain that and how an insured, on request and at
no charge, may obtain a copy of the specimen policy from the
insurer; and
(3) provide to the department and the office of public
insurance counsel an electronic copy of the specimen policy that
may be posted on the Internet website of the department or the
office of public insurance counsel.
(b) An insurer that during an insured's policy period posts
a specimen policy or amends a posted specimen policy incorporated
into an insured's policy must, on the date the specimen policy is
posted or amended, in writing and in the insurer's customary manner
of communicating with the insured:
(1) notify the insured that the specimen policy is
available on the insurer's Internet website;
(2) clearly identify each added or amended specimen
policy incorporated into the insured's policy; and
(3) explain that and how the insured, on request and at
no charge, may obtain a copy of the specimen policy from the
insurer.
Sec. 1812.004. ACCESSIBILITY OF CERTAIN AVAILABLE FORMS. A
specimen policy posted on the insurer's Internet website under this
chapter must be, until no policy incorporating the specimen policy
is in force:
(1) easily accessible on the website; and
(2) provided in a format readily capable of being
saved or printed using a widely available and free computer
application or program.
Sec. 1812.005. RETENTION OF CERTAIN AVAILABLE FORMS. An
insurer that posts a specimen policy on the insurer's Internet
website under this chapter must for at least five years after the
latest date a policy incorporating the specimen policy is in force:
(1) preserve an electronic copy of the specimen
policy; and
(2) make a printed or electronic copy of the specimen
policy available on request at no cost.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to an insurance policy that
is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A policy delivered, issued for
delivery, or renewed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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