By Burnam                                              H.B. No. 188
         77R662 DLF-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to insurers as proper parties to certain actions for
 1-3     damages.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 21, Insurance Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 21.56A to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 21.56A.  INSURER AS PROPER PARTY.  In a suit for
 1-8     recovery of damages in which a defendant in the suit is an insured
 1-9     under a policy of liability insurance that may provide coverage for
1-10     the damages, the insurer who issued the policy, including a county
1-11     mutual insurance company, Lloyd's plan insurer, surplus lines
1-12     insurer, or reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, is a proper
1-13     party to the suit.
1-14           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-15           SECTION 3.  This Act applies only to a suit filed on or after
1-16     the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the effective
1-17     date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the
1-18     suit was filed, and that law is continued in effect for that
1-19     purpose.