By Dutton H.B. No. 505 75R2367 PB-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to qualification as a self-insurer to satisfy certain 1-3 evidence of financial responsibility requirements. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 601.124, Transportation Code, is amended 1-6 to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 601.124. SELF-INSURANCE. (a) A person in whose name 1-8 more than 25 motor vehicles are registered may qualify as a 1-9 self-insurer by obtaining a certificate of self-insurance issued by 1-10 the department as provided by this section. 1-11 (b) The department may issue a certificate of self-insurance 1-12 to a person if: 1-13 (1) the person applies for the certificate; and 1-14 (2) the department is satisfied that the person: 1-15 (A) has and will continue to have the ability to 1-16 pay judgments obtained against the person; and 1-17 (B) is in compliance with the requirements 1-18 imposed under Subsections (c), (d), and (e). 1-19 (c) The self-insurer must supplement the certificate with an 1-20 agreement that, for accidents occurring while the certificate is 1-21 in force, the self-insurer will pay the same judgments in the same 1-22 amounts as an insurer would be obligated to pay under an owner's 1-23 motor vehicle liability insurance policy issued to the self-insurer 1-24 if such policy were issued. 2-1 (d) A person who self-insures under this section is subject 2-2 to Article 21.55, Insurance Code, as if the person were an insurer 2-3 under that article. 2-4 (e) A person who self-insures under this section shall use 2-5 the services of an insurance adjuster licensed under Chapter 407, 2-6 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2-7 21.07-4, Vernon's Texas Insurance Code), to investigate or adjust a 2-8 loss in a claim involving a motor vehicle registered to the person. 2-9 (f) The department for cause may cancel a certificate of 2-10 self-insurance after a hearing. The self-insurer must receive at 2-11 least five days' notice of the hearing. Cause includes failure to 2-12 pay a judgment before the 31st day after the date the judgment 2-13 becomes final. 2-14 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and 2-15 applies only to a certificate of self-insurance that is issued or 2-16 renewed by the Department of Public Safety on or after January 1, 2-17 1998. A certificate that is issued or renewed before January 1, 2-18 1998, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the 2-19 effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for 2-20 that purpose. 2-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.