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