08/06/2019
CONSUMERS: In case you haven't heard yet, there is a new Texas law related to payment of your property insurance deductibles that will take effect September 1, 2019. The new law requires a homeowner to pay their insurance deductible in full, as already required by law.
The waiving of deductibles has been improper in Texas since 1989. Unfortunately, due to a 1990 opinion by the Attorney General (when deductibles were much lower than today), many contractors ignored the prohibition and the waiving of deductibles (which often required insurance fraud) became common in Texas.
The NEW LAW, HB 2102, makes a policyholder’s payment of their insurance deductible REQUIRED and makes it a Class B misdemeanor if a contractor pays, waives, absorbs, rebates, credits or otherwise declines to charge or collect a deductible. Insurance companies will have the right to request reasonable proof that the deductible has been paid before making a payment. Many insurance companies, but not all, previously required this proof.
This new law will help protect consumers by helping to eliminate shady “free roof” practices many contractors employed, which often led to consumers unknowingly participating in insurance fraud and contractors cutting important corners to make up the difference (a practice that led many contractors to go out of business, leaving their customers in the lurch).
If a roofing company’s sales pitch offers to bypass this law (or their contract does not include the new required language), that is a RED FLAG. If they’re willing to break the law, what other rules and codes are they willing to ignore?
You can read the entire text of the bill athttps://capitol.texas.gov/tlodo…/…/billtext/pdf/HB02102F.pdf
