Art. 5.13-1. LEGAL SERVICE CONTRACTS.  (a)  Every insurer governed by Subchapter B of Chapter 5 of the Insurance Code, as amended, and every life, health, and accident insurer governed by Chapter 3 of the Insurance Code, as amended, is authorized to issue prepaid legal services contracts.  Every such insurer or rating organization authorized under Article 5.16 of the Insurance Code shall file with the State Board of Insurance all rules and forms applicable to prepaid legal service contracts in a manner to be established by the State Board of Insurance.  Certification, by a qualified actuary, to the appropriateness of the charges, rates, or rating plans, based upon reasonable assumptions, shall accompany the filing along with adequate supporting information.
(b) The State Board of Insurance shall, within a reasonable period, approve any form if the requirements of this section are met.  It shall be unlawful to issue such forms until approved or to use such schedules of charges, rates, or rating plans until filed.  If the State Board of Insurance has good cause to believe such rates and rating plans do not comply with the standards of this article, it shall give notice in writing to every insurer or rating organization which filed such rates or rating plans, stating therein in what manner and to what extent such noncompliance is alleged to exist and specifying therein a reasonable time, not less than 30 days thereafter, in which such noncompliance may be corrected.  If the board has not acted on any form, rate, rating plan, or charges within 30 days after the filing of same, they shall be deemed approved.  The board may require the submission of whatever relevant information is deemed necessary in determining whether to approve or disapprove a filing made pursuant to this section.
(c) The right of such insurers to issue prepaid legal services contracts on individual, group, or franchise bases is hereby recognized, and qualified agents of such insurers who are licensed under Article 21.07-1 or 21.14 of this code shall be authorized to write such coverages under such rules as the commissioner may prescribe.
(d) The State Board of Insurance is hereby vested with power and authority under this article to promulgate, after notice of hearing, and to enforce, rules and regulations concerning the application to the designated insurers of this article and for such clarification, amplification, and augmentation as in the discretion of the State Board of Insurance are deemed necessary to accomplish the purposes of this article.
(e) This article shall be construed as a specific exception to Article 3.54 of the Texas Insurance Code.
(f) All legal services contracts and related promotional material issued pursuant to Chapter 23 and the issuance of legal services contracts pursuant to Article 5.13-1 shall be truthful and accurate and shall properly describe the coverage offered.  Such description should include, but not be limited to, a description of coverage offered as either an indemnity coverage or a contract that provides only consultation and advice on simple legal matters, either alone or in combination with a referral service, and that provides fee discounts for other matters.  To provide for the actuarial soundness of a prepaid legal services contract issued under this article, the State Board of Insurance may require that prepaid legal services contracts have rates that are adequate to reasonably provide the benefits under the prepaid legal services contracts.  This subsection does not apply to a prepaid legal services contract that provides only consultation and advice on simple legal matters, either alone or in combination with a referral service, and that provides fee discounts for other matters.
(g) The State Board of Insurance may not determine, fix, prescribe, set, or promulgate maximum rates or maximum amounts of premium to be charged for a prepaid legal services contract issued under this chapter.  Nothing in this Act shall be construed as compelling the State Board of Insurance to establish standard or absolute rates and the board is specifically authorized, in its discretion, to approve different rates for different insurers for the same risk or risks on the types of insurance covered by this article.  The board shall approve such rates as filed by any insurer unless it finds that such filing does not meet the requirements of this article.
(h) An insurer may not issue or renew a prepaid legal service contract under this article after March 1, 2004.
Added by Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 134, ch. 60, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.
Subsecs. (a), (b), (f), (g) amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 873, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Subsec. (c) amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 7.03, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.  Subsec. (h) added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1181, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.