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Texas Insurance Code - Not Codified - Article 5.145. Policy Forms For Personal Automobile Insurance Coverage And Residential Property Insurance Coverage

Legal Research Home > Texas Laws > Insurance Code - Not Codified > Texas Insurance Code - Not Codified - Article 5.145. Policy Forms For Personal Automobile Insurance Coverage And Residential Property Insurance Coverage

Art. 5.145. POLICY FORMS FOR PERSONAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE 
COVERAGE AND RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY INSURANCE COVERAGE.  

Article repealed effective April 1, 2007
	                                                                               

Definitions
	Sec. 1. In this article:                                                       
	(1)  "Insurer" means an insurance company, reciprocal or 
interinsurance exchange, mutual insurance company, capital stock 
company, county mutual insurance company, Lloyd's plan, or other 
legal entity authorized to write personal automobile insurance or 
residential property insurance in this state.  The term includes an 
affiliate, as described by this code, if that affiliate is 
authorized to write and is writing personal automobile insurance or 
residential property insurance in this state.  The term does not 
include:
	(A)  the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association under Article 
21.49 of this code;
	(B)  the FAIR Plan Association under Article 21.49A of this 
code;  or        
	(C)  the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association under 
Article 21.81 of this code.
	(2)  "Personal automobile insurance" means motor vehicle 
insurance coverage for the ownership, maintenance, or use of a 
private passenger, utility, or miscellaneous type motor vehicle, 
including a motor home, trailer, or recreational vehicle, that is:
	(A)  owned or leased by an individual or individuals;  and                     
	(B)  not primarily used for the delivery of goods, materials, 
or services, other than for use in farm or ranch operations.
	(3)  "Residential property insurance" means insurance 
coverage against loss to residential real property at a fixed 
location, or tangible personal property, that is provided in a 
homeowners policy, including a tenants policy, a condominium owners 
policy, or a residential fire and allied lines policy.

Regulation of policy forms and endorsements
	Sec. 2. (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision in this code 
and except as provided by this section, an insurer is governed by 
the provisions of Section 8, Article 5.13-2 of this code, relating 
to policy forms and endorsements for personal automobile insurance 
and residential property insurance.
	(b)  An insurer may continue to use the policy forms and 
endorsements promulgated, approved, or adopted under Articles 5.06 
and 5.35 of this code on notification to the commissioner in writing 
that the insurer will continue to use those forms.

Requirements for forms;  plain language requirement
	Sec. 3. (a) Each form filed under this article must comply 
with applicable state and federal law.
	(b)  Each form for a policy of personal automobile insurance 
must provide the coverages mandated under Articles 5.06-1 and 
5.06-3 of this code unless the coverages are rejected by the named 
insured in the manner provided by those articles.
	(c)  A form may not be used if it is not in plain language.  
For the purposes of this section, a form is written in plain 
language if it achieves the minimum score established by the 
commissioner on the Flesch reading ease test or an equivalent test 
selected by the commissioner or, at the option of the commissioner, 
if it conforms to the language requirements in a National 
Association of Insurance Commissioners model act relating to plain 
language.  This section does not apply to policy language that is 
mandated by state or federal law.

Personal automobile insurance
	Sec. 4. (a) A contract or agreement that is not written into 
the application for insurance coverage and the personal automobile 
insurance policy:
	(1)  is void and of no effect;  and                                            
	(2)  violates this article and Subchapter A of this chapter.                   
	(b)  A contract or agreement described by Subsection (a) of 
this section constitutes grounds for the revocation of the 
certificate of authority of an insurer to write personal automobile 
insurance in this state.

Public insurance counsel
	Sec. 5. Notwithstanding Article 1.35A of this code, the 
office of public insurance counsel may submit written comments to 
the commissioner and otherwise participate regarding individual 
company filings made under Article 5.13-2 of this code.

Rulemaking
	Sec. 6. The commissioner may adopt reasonable and necessary 
rules to implement this article.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 206, Sec. 2.01, eff. June 11, 
2003.      

Last modified: August 11, 2007