| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to access to consumer information regarding roofing |
|
|
contractors. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 5, Insurance Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Chapter 525 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 525. CONSUMER GUIDE TO ROOFING CONTRACTORS |
|
|
Sec. 525.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "roofing |
|
|
contractor" means an individual or entity that installs, |
|
|
constructs, maintains, repairs, alters, or modifies a roofing |
|
|
product for a commercial or residential roof. |
|
|
Sec. 525.002. CONSUMER GUIDE; ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The |
|
|
department shall develop a consumer guide to post on the |
|
|
department's Internet website that consumers may access to obtain |
|
|
information about selecting a roofing contractor in connection with |
|
|
an insurance claim. |
|
|
(b) The commissioner shall appoint a committee to advise the |
|
|
department regarding the information to include in the consumer |
|
|
guide. The advisory committee shall be composed of an equal number |
|
|
of members from each of the following groups of stakeholders: |
|
|
(1) roofing contractors, including independent |
|
|
roofing contractors; |
|
|
(2) license holders under Chapters 4101 and 4102; |
|
|
(3) property and casualty insurers; and |
|
|
(4) consumers. |
|
|
Sec. 525.003. CONSUMER GUIDE INFORMATION FOR CLAIMANTS. |
|
|
The commissioner by rule shall require, in consultation with the |
|
|
advisory committee established under Section 525.002, an insurer to |
|
|
include with the insurer's acknowledgment of receipt of the claim |
|
|
under Section 542.055 for a loss related to a roof: |
|
|
(1) notice that a consumer guide to selecting a |
|
|
roofing contractor in connection with the claim is available on the |
|
|
department's Internet website and the Internet address of the |
|
|
department's website; or |
|
|
(2) the information included in the consumer guide |
|
|
developed under Section 525.002. |
|
|
SECTION 2. The commissioner of insurance shall ensure that |
|
|
the consumer guide developed under Section 525.002, Insurance Code, |
|
|
as added by this Act, is posted on the Internet website of the Texas |
|
|
Department of Insurance and available to insurers for inclusion in |
|
|
an acknowledgment of the receipt of a claim not later than January |
|
|
1, 2016. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |