Texas Department of Insurance
Proposed Action on Rules
EXEMPT FILING NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO THE INSURANCE CODE CHAPTER 5, SUBCHAPTER
L, ARTICLE 5.96
Notice is given that the Commissioner of Insurance will consider a proposal
made in a staff petition which seeks amendments of the Texas Automobile Rules
and Rating Manual (the Manual), to adopt new and/or adjusted 2002 and 2003
model Private Passenger Automobile Physical Damage Rating Symbols and revised
identification information. Staff’s petition (Ref. No. A-0803-17-I),
was filed on August 8, 2003.
The new and/or adjusted symbols for the Manual’s Symbols and Identification
Section reflect data compiled on damageability, repairability, and other relevant
loss factors for the listed 2002 and 2003 model vehicles.
A copy of the petition, including a 62-page exhibit with the full text
of the proposed amendments to the Manual is available for review in the office
of the Chief Clerk of the Texas Department of Insurance, 333 Guadalupe Street,
Austin, Texas. For further information or to request copies of the petition,
please contact Sylvia Gutierrez at (512) 463-6327; refer to (Ref. No.
A-0803-17-I).
Comments on the proposed changes must be submitted in writing no later
than 5:00 p.m. on September 22, 2003 to the Office of the Chief Clerk, Texas
Department of Insurance, P. O. Box 149104, MC 113-2A, Austin, Texas 78714-9104.
An additional copy of comments is to be simultaneously submitted to Marilyn
Hamilton, Associate Commissioner, Property & Casualty Program, Texas Department
of Insurance, P. O. Box 149104, MC 104-PC, Austin, Texas 78714-9104.
A public hearing on this matter will not be held unless a separate request
for a hearing is submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk during the comment
period defined above.
This notification is made pursuant to Insurance Code Article 5.96, which
exempts it from the requirements of the Government Code, Chapter 2001 (Administrative
Procedure Act).
TRD-200305012
Gene C. Jarmon
General Counsel and Chief Clerk
Texas Department of Insurance
Filed: August 11, 2003
Effective Date: September 6, 2003
EXEMPT FILING NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO THE INSURANCE CODE CHAPTER 5, SUBCHAPTER
L, ARTICLE 5.96 ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO THE TEXAS AUTOMOBILE RULES AND RATING
MANUAL, RULE 141, RENTAL CAR COMPANIES
The Commissioner of Insurance adopted amendments proposed by Staff to the
Texas Automobile Rules and Rating Manual (the Manual), Rule 141, Rental Car
Companies. Staff’s petition (Ref. No. A-0603-13-I) was published in
the June 27, 2003, issue of the
Texas Register
(28
TexReg 4933).
Manual Rule 141 is amended to remove the requirement that an employee of
a rental car company or its franchisee verbally inform a prospective renter
that he or she may already have an insurance policy that duplicates the coverage
that would be provided by the policy (automobile rental liability insurance)
offered by the rental car company. The rule is also amended to eliminate the
requirement that such an employee verbally inform the prospective renter that
the purchase of automobile rental liability insurance is not required as a
condition of renting an automobile. The rule’s requirements for written
disclosures are not changed.
Former Insurance Code Article 21.07, Section 21(i) required a rental car
company or franchisee licensed pursuant to that section to conduct a training
program to be submitted to the Commissioner of Insurance for approval, and
the program was required to meet certain minimum standards. One standard was
that the trainee would be "instructed to acknowledge to a prospective renter"
that the renter may have insurance policies that already provide the coverage
being offered by the rental car company. The statute also provided that the
trainee would be instructed "to acknowledge" that the purchase of automobile
rental liability insurance is not required for renting a vehicle.
Former Insurance Code Article 21.07, Section 21(g)(2) set forth requirements
for written disclosures at every rental car location. Those requirements included
similar wording to that previously mentioned in Section 21(i), as well as
numerous other provisions. Manual Rule 141, adopted effective May 30, 1998
by Commissioner’s Order No. 98-0513, currently requires verbal disclosure
and written disclosure to a prospective customer that automobile rental liability
insurance may duplicate existing coverage, and that it is not required for
the rental transaction.
Former Insurance Code Article 21.07, Section 21 was repealed effective
September 1, 1999, and it was in essence replaced by Insurance Code Article
21.09, effective on that same date. Article 21.09, Section 1(d), contains
some provisions similar to former Article 21.07, Section 21(i), such as the
standard that "each trainee must be instructed to inform a prospective customer
that … the purchase of insurance specified in this article is not required
in order to complete the associated consumer transaction...." However, there
is no longer a statutory requirement for disclosure regarding duplicate coverage,
other than in Article 21.09(g), which specifically pertains to written disclosures
only.
Insurance Code Article 21.09, Section 1(d) may be interpreted as not mandating
verbal disclosure that the purchase of automobile rental liability insurance
is optional in the rental transaction, provided that disclosure is made in
writing, as required by Article 21.09, Section 1(g). That interpretation is
possible because the requirement "to inform" in Article 21.09, Section 1(d)(2)
may be construed to be satisfied by disclosure in writing. Certain rental
car companies on January 13, 2003 filed a petition with the Department (Ref.
No. A-0103-02), asserting that the verbal disclosure requirements of Manual
141 "do not have any consumer benefit," that they "unnecessarily delay the
rental transaction," and that they create problems with consistency. The petition
also asserts that no other state requires both verbal and written disclosures
of this nature, and that the other states require only written disclosures.
Considering the foregoing factors, the verbal disclosure requirements are
deleted from Manual Rule 141.
The amendments as adopted by the Commissioner of Insurance are shown in
an exhibit on file with the Chief Clerk under Ref. A-0603-13-I, which is incorporated
by reference into Commissioner’s Order No. 03-0730.
The Commissioner of Insurance has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant
to Insurance Code Articles 5.10, 5.96, 5.98, and 21.09.
IT IS THEREFORE THE ORDER of the Commissioner of Insurance that the Manual
is amended as described herein, and the amendments are adopted to become effective
on the 15th day after publication of the notification of the Commissioner's
action in the
Texas Register
.
TRD-200305051
Gene C. Jarmon
General Counsel and Chief Clerk
Texas Department of Insurance
Filed: August 12, 2003
Final Action on Rules