(a) By accessing the Child Support Lien Network (CSLN) database (http://www.childsupportliens.com), an insurer may determine whether a claimant owes past-due child support.
(b) Secure access to the CSLN database will be approved once the registration information and confidentiality statement have been received and reviewed.
(c) Unless the insurer is participating in the CSLN or the federal Office of the Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Automated Data Match, the insurer must query the database prior to the payment of the claim.
  (1) For claims involving periodic payments after the insurer has determined that benefits will be payable, the query must be made only prior to the initial payment after the insurer has determined that benefits are payable. No inquiry is required for each periodic payment for 12 months thereafter. Examples of these types of claims would include:
    (A) periodic payments under a disability policy;
    (B) workers' compensation policy;
    (C) accident or health insurance policy involving periodic payments; or
    (D) payments to an annuitant for an annuitization including systematic withdrawal.
  (2) If additional information is required to be submitted to continue periodic payments, this will not be considered a new claim if the information is provided within 12 months of the initial determination.
  (3) A claim involving different benefits or coverages will be considered a new claim and the data base must be queried.
(d) Insurers are notified when a query of the database results in:
  (1) no match.
  (2) a positive match, in which basic match data is provided.
  (3) multiple positive matches within one state, in which the insurer is prompted to contact CSLN to identify the correct obligor.
  (4) multiple possible matches within more than one state, in which the insurer is notified that CSLN will work with the insurer and the affected states to determine the appropriate course of action.
(e) When an interactive match occurs, CSLN notifies the State child support enforcement agency of a match. CSLN or the State child support agency will send a notice of child support lien (or, in the case of workers' compensation claim, a withholding instrument) to the insurer.
(f) As an alternative to CSLN, a life insurance company can use OCSE's web-based application, the Debt Inquiry Service, to submit information about life insurance beneficiaries who have filed a claim prior to making a payout to determine if a beneficiary owes past-due support. The information may be provided through individual look-ups or by uploading a single file containing information about multiple individuals. The information provided by the life insurance companies is compared with individuals who owe past-due child support. If there is a match, the life insurance company receives the name of the State(s) where the individual owes past-due support and contact information for that State. If the match identifies an individual subject to a child support order being enforced by the Child Support Division (CSD), the life insurance company may either contact the CSD or await notice from the CSD concerning the match; however, no payout will be made to the claimant unless authorized by the CSD.
(g) Apart from life insurance claims, the OCSE Debt Inquiry Services portal does not provide enough information to satisfy the insurance data match requirements under this subchapter.

Source Note: The provisions of this §55.604 adopted to be effective June 10, 2003, 28 TexReg 4409; amended to be effective March 5, 2008, 33 TexReg 1762; amended to be effective March 16, 2010, 35 TexReg 2153; amended to be effective December 2, 2013, 38 TexReg 8639; amended to be effective May 12, 2022, 47 TexReg 2727