Consumer Federation of America, Texas Appleseed, and Texas Watch sent a letter to the Texas Department of Insurance urging them to investigate insurers’ unfair delaying of insurance claims in order to avoid paying consumers what they are rightfully owed. Recent news articles suggest that insurers are treating consumers unfairly and violating Texas law-specifically Chapter 542 of the Texas Insurance Code.

The consumer advocates called on Texas to conduct market conduct examinations of insurers with consumer complaints related to delayed payments, issue a bulletin stating that unfair delaying tactics are wrong and illegal, and place meaningful penalties on insurance companies that engage in this wrongdoing.

A law firm recently published an article saying that delaying claims can be a good strategy for insurers (this article was hurriedly taken down once it started receiving criticism).