(a) An insurer that provides information required by
this subchapter or acts in good faith to comply with procedures established
by the CSD for the operation of the program under this subchapter,
including the remittance of funds as specified under this rule, or
responds to a notice of child support lien or levy under Texas Family
Code Chapter 157, Subchapter G, is not liable for those acts under
any law to any person; including, but not limited to, any claims asserted
under Chapter 541, Chapter 542, Chapter 601, or Chapter 602 of the
Insurance Code; Chapter 17 of the Business and Commerce Code; Chapter
181 of the Health and Safety Code; or, an action for common law bad
faith. However, an insurer who fails to comply with a child support
lien, including the remittance of funds as specified under this rule,
may be liable to the CSD as the child support lien claimant in an
amount equal to the amount of funds payable under an insurance claim,
not to exceed the amount of the child support arrearages for which
the lien was issued. (See Texas Family Code §157.324.) An insurer
who has questions or concerns about a child support lien, including
the appropriate remittance of funds under a policy to which the lien
attaches, must contact the Texas Special Collections Unit, P.O. Box
12027, Austin, Texas 78711-2027, before paying out any funds under
the policy.
(b) An insurer should remit funds in satisfaction of
a child support lien in one of the following ways:
  (1) On receipt of a signed agreement between the CSD
and a claimant and/or claimant's attorney, the insurer should remit
the funds agreed to be paid to satisfy the child support lien to:
Texas State Disbursement Unit, Insurance Intercept, P.O. Box 245996,
San Antonio, Texas 78224-5996. The funds should be made payable to
the Office of the Attorney General, and the remittance should identify
the name of the claimant/obligor and the CSD's case number(s) as shown
on the Notice of Lien.
  (2) If the claimant is represented by an attorney but
the insurer has not received a copy of any signed agreement between
the attorney and the CSD, the insurer should remit all the funds directly
to the claimant's attorney and must include the Office of the Attorney
General as a co-payee and provide the Office of the Attorney General
with written notice of the data and amount of the payment sent to
the attorney.
  (3) If the claimant has no attorney and the insurer
has not received a copy of any signed agreement between the claimant
and the CSD, the insurer must remit all the funds to the Texas State
Disbursement Unit, Insurance Intercept, P.O. Box 245996, San Antonio,
Texas 78224-5996 with the funds being made payable to both the Office
of the Attorney General and the claimant and the remittance providing
the name of the claimant/obligor and the CSD's case number(s) as shown
on the Notice of Lien.


Source Note: The provisions of this §55.605 adopted to be effective June 10, 2003, 28 TexReg 4409; amended to be effective March 16, 2010, 35 TexReg 2153; amended to be effective December 2, 2013, 38 TexReg 8639