Deceptive Trade Practices And Insurance Code

A few things for people in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Arlington to know. First, and most important would be to seek the help and advice of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney when having arguements with an insurance company. The second, is to use the Texas Department of Insurance web-site as a source of some information.
The Texas Insurance Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), which is found in the Texas Business & Commerce Code, were adopted together in 1973 by the Texas legislature as part of a package of reform legislation, are interrelated, and incorporate each other. Thus, as is stated by the Texas Supreme Court in the case, State Farm Life Insurance Company v. Beaston, in 1995, and in, Vail v. Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, in 1988; Courts construe the two statutes together.
Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.008, clearly states that the provisions of the code are to be liberally construed and applied to promote the underlying purposes which are to define and prohibit unfair and deceptive insurance practices.
In 1981, the Texas Supreme Court stated in, Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., that the similar liberal construction mandate in the DTPA requires that the statute be given “its most comprehensive application possible without doing any violence to its terms.” The Supreme Court has applied the same reasoning in insurance cases. This is stated in, Kennedy v. Sale, decided in 1985.
The statutory remedies found in the DTPA and the Insurance Code are cumulative of other remedies found in the law. Business & Commerce Code, Section 17.43, makes clear these cumulative remedies. Texas Insurance Code, Section 541.453, makes clear this principle also, citing, Waite Hill Services, Inc. v. World Class Metal Works, Inc., wherein the Supreme Court, disallowed double recovery of same damages for breach of contract and statutory violations.
An experienced attorney knows the proper way of seeking these damages. He will usually plead the case “in the alternative” listing all possible ways of recovery and seeking the highest amount legally possible, given the facts of the case.