| 1 | 1 | | By: Landgraf H.B. No. 3697 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to a study by the Texas Department of Insurance to research |
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| 7 | 7 | | and evaluate claims data and the recovery of attorney's fees in |
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| 8 | 8 | | first-party insurance claims. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. The Texas Department of Insurance shall conduct |
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| 11 | 11 | | a study to research and evaluate claims data made in the past five |
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| 12 | 12 | | years to compare and establish an understanding between first party |
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| 13 | 13 | | claims made, legal actions filed by claimants to recover damages, |
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| 14 | 14 | | and complaints made by claimants to the Department, if there is any. |
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| 15 | 15 | | The study shall also include a discussion from various stakeholders |
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| 16 | 16 | | in an effort to more broadly comprehend the issues and provide for |
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| 17 | 17 | | the legislature an inclusive report. The Department shall utilize |
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| 18 | 18 | | the resources necessary to achieve this directive and publish and |
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| 19 | 19 | | distribute a copy of this report to the Governor of Texas, Speaker |
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| 20 | 20 | | of the House, and Lieutenant Governor no later than January 1, 2016. |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 2. Section 542.062, Insurance Code, is amended to |
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| 22 | 22 | | read as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (a) In any lawsuit arising out of an insurance claim, |
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| 24 | 24 | | whether commercial, property and casualty, automobile, life, or |
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| 25 | 25 | | health, and where attorneys' fees are recoverable, a claimant is |
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| 26 | 26 | | entitled to recover reasonable and necessary attorneys' fees which |
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| 27 | 27 | | shall not be more than the amount of economic damages to which the |
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| 28 | 28 | | claimant is legally entitled to recover. This provision applies to |
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| 29 | 29 | | any and all causes of action asserted by the claimant whether by |
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| 30 | 30 | | statute or common law. |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) JUSTICE COURT CASES. |
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| 32 | 32 | | This section does not apply to any |
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| 33 | 33 | | lawsuit arising out of an insurance claim filed in Justice Court in |
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| 34 | 34 | | Texas. Such a lawsuit will be treated as a Small Claims Case, as |
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| 35 | 35 | | defined. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 37 | 37 | | to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of |
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| 38 | 38 | | this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date |
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| 39 | 39 | | of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action |
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| 40 | 40 | | immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is |
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| 41 | 41 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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