State Farm Lloyds v. Geeslin

267 S.W.3d 438, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6470, 2008 WL 3877718
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 22, 2008
Docket03-05-00524-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 267 S.W.3d 438 (State Farm Lloyds v. Geeslin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Farm Lloyds v. Geeslin, 267 S.W.3d 438, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6470, 2008 WL 3877718 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

W. KENNETH LAW, Chief Justice.

In this appeal, State Farm Lloyds appeals an enforcement action initiated by the Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI” or the “department”). 1 Purporting to exercise its general enforcement authority under article 1.02 and chapters 82 and 84 of the insurance code, TDI initiated enforcement action against State Farm Lloyds, seeking (1) to prevent State Farm Lloyds from charging its current rates, which, according to TDI, were excessive; (2) to require State Farm Lloyds to pay restitution to affected policyholders; and (3) to impose sanctions on State Farm *440 Lloyds. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment in district court, seeking declarations as to TDI’s authority to act and impose sanctions under article 1.02 and chapters 82 and 84 of the insurance code. See Tex. Ins.Code Ann. art. 1.02, §§ 82.051-.056, 84.021-.022 (West Supp.2005). The trial court denied State Farm Lloyds’s motion for summary judgment and granted TDI’s motion, holding that TDI could seek restitution and sanctions from State Farm Lloyds based on State Farm Lloyds’s allegedly excessive rates. We reverse and render judgment in favor of State Farm Lloyds.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2003, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 14, which amended the insurance code to establish a new system for regulating residential property insurance rates. Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 206, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 907. Through SB 14, the legislature sought to address perceived problems under the then-existing flexible rate-setting insurance scheme, under which only five percent of the Texas homeowners insurance market was regulated. House Research Organization, Bill Analysis, Tex. S.B. 14, 78th Leg., R.S. (2003); House Comm. Report, Tex. S.B. 14, 78th Leg., R.S. (2003). When legislators proposed SB 14, insurance premiums in Texas were the highest in the country, often for reduced coverage. Id. Under the new system established by SB 14, insurers were required to file their rates with TDI, and TDI could review and approve or disapprove these rates.

The changes to the system of insurance regulation were implemented in three phases. Article 5.26-1, effective June 11, 2003, through September 1, 2004, established a one-time procedure for quickly bringing all Texas homeowners insurers under this new rate-regulation program. According to its terms, insurers were required to file their initial regulated rates with TDI within twenty days of the effective date of SB 14, June 11, 2003, and to implement the rates immediately. Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 206, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 907, 921 (Tex. Ins.Code former art. 5.26-1, § 2(a)). Within forty days of the filing deadline, TDI was required to review and either approve or modify the initial rates. Id. former art. 5.26-1, § 2(b). If TDI failed to act within the designated statutory time period, the insurer’s filed rates were deemed approved. Id. former art. 5.26-1, § 2(c).

After the initial filing, article 5.142, effective June 11, 2003 through December 1, 2004, provided temporary rate-regulation procedures. Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 206, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 907, 907 (Tex. Ins.Code former art. 5.142). Under the terms of article 5.142, insurers were required to file their rates with TDI and await the commissioner’s approval before implementing these rates. Id. former art. 5.142, § 5. Thus, if insurers wanted to change their initial article 5.26-1 rates during this period, they could do so under the terms of article 5.142, which required prior approval of a new rate before the new rate could be used. See id.

Finally, after December 1, 2004, article 5.13-2 allowed insurers to file rates and implement the rates immediately without prior approval. Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 206, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 907, 928 (Tex. Ins.Code former art. 5.13-2, § 5). Under this permanent file-and-use system, insurers can use proposed rates immediately, but TDI can review and either disapprove the rates before they go into effect or disapprove further use of the filed rates after they go into effect. Id. former art. 5.13-2, §§ 5, 7.

*441 State Farm Lloyds filed its then-existing rates with TDI on June 26, 2003, as its initial rates under article 5.26-1. Id. former art. 5.26-1 § 4. On August 18, 2003, TDI notified State Farm Lloyds of its determination that the rates must be reduced by twelve percent because the rates “are not reasonable for the risks to which they apply.” State Farm Lloyds appealed.

State Farm Lloyds requested a hearing before the commissioner, as authorized by article 5.26-1. The commissioner heard the merits of the case on September 2 and 3, 2003. To prevail in its appeal under the terms of article 5.26-1, State Farm Lloyds was required to satisfy the insurer’s statutory proof requirement — to show by clear and convincing evidence that the rate reduction specified by TDI would produce inadequate rates. Id. An inadequate rate was defined as a rate that is “insufficient to sustain projected losses and expenses” and “endangers the solvency of an insurer using the rate.” Tex. Ins.Code former art. 5.142, § 2(b)(2); see also id. former art. 5.26-1, § 1(b) (“The definitions adopted under article 5.142 of this code apply to this article”). Following the hearing, the commissioner issued a final order affirming the department’s rate reduction, stating in a single conclusion of law that the rates recommended by TDI would produce adequate base rates for State Farm Lloyds.

State Farm Lloyds sought judicial review in district court. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm Lloyds, declaring appellees’ actions void and unenforceable, vacating the commissioner’s rate order, and denying appellees’ request to remand the case for further administrative proceedings. According to the district court, article 5.26-1 was unconstitutional on its face and as applied because it violated the due course of law provision of the Texas Constitution and the due process clause of the United States Constitution. Article 5.26-1 was also unconstitutional, the court found, because it violated the takings provisions of both the Texas Constitution and the United States Constitution. Further, the court found that appellees had denied State Farm Lloyds due process by failing to follow the applicable contested case provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) and TDI’s own contested case rules. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §§ 2001.051-.178 (West 2000); 28 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 1.1-.90 (2003). The commissioner and TDI appealed to this Court. See Geeslin v. State Farm Lloyds, 255 S.W.3d 786 (Tex.App.-Austin 2008, no pet.).

Nine days after the trial court declared TDI’s rate order void, TDI initiated disciplinary action against State Farm Lloyds, seeking to require State Farm Lloyds to cease and desist from charging allegedly excessive rates and to pay restitution to affected policyholders.

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267 S.W.3d 438, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6470, 2008 WL 3877718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-lloyds-v-geeslin-texapp-2008.