Author Topic: Texas’ New Hailstorm Law: Five Things That Every Corporate Policyholder Should Know  (Read 891 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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Lexology by  Haynes and Boone LLP - Micah E. Skidmore  6/8/2017

On, May 27th, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law what has become known as the Texas “Hailstorm Bill.” Since a variant of this legislation was first introduced in 2015, reforming Texas’ “Prompt Payment of Claims” statute (Chapter 542 of the Texas Insurance Code) and its “Bad Faith” insurance law (Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code) have been the focus of heated debate and intense lobbying by insurers and consumer and business interests alike.

Proponents of the bill argued, under the banner of “tort reform,” that reducing statutory penalties against insurers was necessary to curb abusive “hailstorm” claims, which, by some reports, insurers have spent $340 million fighting since 2012.1 Haynes and Boone insurance partner, Ernest Martin, organized opposition from Texas businesses and provided testimony to legislative committee members warning that weakening statutory penalties will remove crucial incentives for insurers to pay first-party claims for property damage, business interruption and similar insured obligations. In the end, several significant changes were made to the legislation to accommodate policyholder concerns. The Hailstorm Bill (Senate Bill No. 10 and House Bill No. 1774) does impose limitations on claims for loss and damage resulting from so-called “forces of nature,” as well as related attorneys’ fees, but important protections remain for corporate policyholders seeking to recover other first-party claims. Here are five things that every corporate policyholder in Texas should know about what has changed and what has not in this new legislation:

More: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=244cbcdf-3192-4367-9b25-de323d19c615