Barbara Technologies and the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act
The Prompt Payment of Claims Act adds real teeth to Texas claim deadlines. Barbara Technologies clarified when interest and attorney's fees actually kick in.
Chapter 542 of the Texas Insurance Code — the Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA) — imposes strict deadlines on carriers to acknowledge, investigate, and pay first-party property claims. When a carrier misses those deadlines and is later found to owe benefits, it also owes statutory interest plus reasonable attorney's fees.
In Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. 2019), the Texas Supreme Court held that an appraisal award payment does not automatically insulate a carrier from TPPCA liability. Whether TPPCA damages are owed depends on whether the carrier was ultimately liable under the policy and whether it complied with the statutory deadlines — not merely on whether it eventually paid the appraisal number.
For policyholders, the practical takeaway is straightforward. Document the date the carrier received your claim, every acknowledgement, every request for information, and every payment. Those dates are the raw material for a TPPCA calculation if the claim is later underpaid or delayed.
A licensed public adjuster keeps that timeline for you as part of the file. If a TPPCA issue develops, you (or your attorney) will have a clean record of every deadline the carrier had — and whether they missed it.
Citations: Tex. Ins. Code ch. 542; Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. 2019).