78R1480 DLF-D

By:  Burnam                                                       H.B. No. 119



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to insurers as proper parties to certain actions for 
damages.      
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subchapter E, Chapter 21, Insurance Code, is 
amended by adding Section 21.56A to read as follows:
	Sec. 21.56A.  INSURER AS PROPER PARTY. In a suit for recovery 
of damages in which a defendant in the suit is an insured under a 
policy of liability insurance that may provide coverage for the 
damages, the insurer who issued the policy, including a county 
mutual insurance company, Lloyd's plan, surplus lines insurer, or 
reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, is a proper party to the 
suit.
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                          
	SECTION 3.   This Act applies only to a suit filed on or after 
the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the effective 
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the 
suit was filed, and that law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.