Paid late?Enforce Intereston every day of delay.
Texas gives insurers a deadline to pay covered property claims. When they miss it, §542.060 adds statutory interest — 18% a year on most claims. Enforce Interest rebuilds your claim timeline, calculates what the delay is worth and presents it to the carrier. Most policyholders never hear the word.
We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Our work is limited to public-adjusting services, claim documentation, timeline analysis and claim presentations to the carrier.
Enforce Interest turns a slow claim into a documented one.
Insurance claims rarely fail all at once. They stall: an inspection that takes a month, a desk review that cuts the estimate, a document request for something already in the file, a supplement that sits for a season.
Texas lawmakers anticipated that. Since 1991 the state has had a prompt-payment statute — first Article 21.55, now Chapter 542, Subchapter B of the Insurance Code — that puts insurers on a clock and charges them for running past it. Enforce Interest exists because that clock is almost never raised by the people it protects. We read the claim file the way the statute does: what was requested, when it arrived, when payment was due and when it actually came.
The result is a dated, sourced timeline and an interest figure the carrier can check line by line. That is what Enforce Interest presents — not a feeling that the claim took too long, but the statutory math of how long, on how much, at what rate.
Texas built a payment clock into every property policy.
Scroll the statute. Each step is a separate deadline in Chapter 542 — and a missed one is what Enforce Interest documents.
You give the insurer written notice.
“Notice of claim” means any written notice that reasonably tells the insurer the facts of the claim (§542.051). Keep the date and a copy — every later deadline is measured from a document like this one.
Acknowledge, investigate, ask for what it needs.
Within 15 days (30 business days for an eligible surplus lines insurer) the carrier must acknowledge the claim, begin its investigation and request every item, statement and form it reasonably believes it will need. It can ask for more later only if the investigation makes that necessary.
Accept or reject — in writing.
Once it has the items it requested, the insurer has 15 business days to accept or reject the claim in writing (30 days if it reasonably suspects arson). If it needs more time it must say why within that window, and then decide within 45 more days. A rejection must state its reasons.
Accepted means paid — within five business days.
After notifying you that it will pay all or part of the claim, the insurer must pay within 5 business days (20 business days for an eligible surplus lines insurer), or within 5 business days after you perform any act the payment was conditioned on.
The 60-day backstop.
Whatever happens with acceptance, an insurer that delays payment for more than 60 days after receiving all the items it reasonably requested is liable under §542.060. The exception: if arbitration or litigation finds the claim invalid. In a declared weather catastrophe the claim-handling deadlines extend by 15 days (§542.059(b)).
Interest runs until the money is paid.
From the date the claim was required to be paid, the insurer owes interest on the late amount as damages — 18% a year, or the floating rate for qualifying weather claims — plus reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees. Partial payments shrink the balance the interest runs on; they don’t stop it.
Calculate your own deadlinesStandard 18% or the weather floating rate.
Since 2017, Texas has applied two different interest rates depending on the claim. Picking the right one is the first thing Enforce Interest checks.
Fixed by statute. Simple interest, per year.
- Fire, smoke, water, plumbing, theft, vandalism and other non-weather losses
- Weather claims made before September 1, 2017
- Plus reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees
§304.003 judgment rate (7.00%) + 5%, November 2026.
- Claims for damage caused wholly or partly by forces of nature — hail, wind, hurricane, tornado, flood, lightning, wildfire, snowstorm, rainstorm, earthquake
- Claims made on or after September 1, 2017, in an action governed by Chapter 542A
- In court the rate is set on the date of judgment; it can range from 10% to 20%
On a $50,000 claim paid 90 days late: $2,219.18 at 18% versus $1,479.45 at 12.00%. See every monthly §304.003 rate since 2005.
Where Texas claims get stalled.
Every first-party property loss is covered by the same deadlines. What changes is the rate, the evidence and the tactics.
Hail & wind
Roof claims, “wear and tear” denials, cut estimates and the 61-day pre-suit notice.
Storm claimsHurricane
Named-storm deductibles, wind-versus-flood disputes, TWIA and catastrophe extensions.
Hurricane claimsFire & smoke
Smoke and soot scope, contents inventories, ALE and code upgrades — at the full 18%.
Fire claimsWater & plumbing
Sudden discharge versus seepage, mold, hidden damage and freeze losses.
Water claimsThe appraisal award came in higher. The interest may still be owed.
For years carriers treated paying an appraisal award as the end of the claim. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed.
Claim stalls; carrier pays a low figure.
Policyholder invokes appraisal.
Panel awards more; carrier pays the award.
Carrier argues the claim is closed and no prompt-payment damages are owed.
Barbara Technologies: paying an award is not an acknowledgment of liability and doesn’t bar prompt-payment claims.
Alvarez: same rule applied to an award paid on a disputed claim.
Hinojos: a reasonable, timely partial payment doesn’t shield the unpaid balance.
Interest can run on whatever was owed but unpaid at the deadline, through the date the award is paid.
On a $100,000 underpayment paid eighteen months (548 days) late at 18%, the interest alone is $27,024.66. Enforce Interest calculates it from the original deadline to the award payment date — and checks whether any interest the carrier did pay used the right rate and dates.
Most Texas first-party property claims can.
Whether interest is owed depends on coverage, what the insurer requested and when, and why the payment was late. Here is the quick version.
Likely worth a review
- The carrier accepted the claim but paid part of it later, or paid it all late.
- No decision arrived within the statutory windows after you sent what was requested.
- A supplement for additional damage sat unpaid for months.
- Appraisal produced an award higher than what the carrier had paid.
- The claim was denied, then paid after you pushed back.
Probably not
- The claim was paid in full within the deadlines.
- The claim was denied and the denial was never reversed or found wrong.
- The delay was caused by the policyholder — no access, no documents, no response.
- Workers’ comp, title, mortgage guaranty, fidelity/surety bonds or marine insurance (excluded by §542.053).
Calculators built on the actual statutes.
Every Enforce Interest tool runs in your browser, cites its authority and lets you print or copy the result. No sign-up.
Statutory interest calculator
§542.060 interest on late payments, partial payments and supplements, at 18% or the floating rate.
Open toolClaim deadline calculator
Every Chapter 542 deadline from your notice date, with business days and Texas holidays.
Open toolAppraisal interest calculator
Hinojos-style interest on the gap between what was paid and the appraisal award.
Open toolDoes my claim qualify?
A two-minute check of whether your claim timeline is worth a closer look.
Open toolJudgment interest rate tracker
Every OCCC §304.003 rate since 2005 and the matching §542.060(c) rate (12.00% now).
Open toolPrejudgment interest calculator
Texas Finance Code ch. 304 accrual dates and interest for property damage claims.
Open toolFour steps. No upfront cost.
Enforce Interest is a contingency-based public adjusting service: if nothing is recovered, there is no fee.
Free claim review
Send the policy, claim letters, payment history and correspondence. We tell you whether the timeline supports a prompt-payment issue.
Timeline forensics
Every notice, request, response, inspection and payment gets a date and a source. We identify when each payment was due.
Claim presentation
The carrier receives a written presentation of unpaid amounts, deadlines and calculated statutory interest for its review.
You get paid
Payments are made to you; Texas requires the insured on every check. Our fee is contingent and capped by law at 10%.
A Texas-licensed public adjusting firm built around §542.
Enforce Interest is a service of Rise Public Adjusting, a public adjusting firm licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance (license #3356839) and based in Austin. We handle residential and commercial property claims across Texas, with a focus on files that were disputed, underpaid or slow-paid.
We started Enforce Interest after seeing the same pattern again and again: claims paid months — sometimes years — after the statute said they were due, and no one ever raised the interest. The review is free and the math is the math. If you waited more than two months for a Texas property claim to be paid, Enforce Interest wants to look at your file.
What we will and won’t do
- Adjust and document your property claim as a licensed public adjuster.
- Build the claim timeline and calculate statutory interest.
- Present unpaid amounts and interest to the carrier in writing.
- Give legal advice or file lawsuits — we are not a law firm.
- Refer you to an attorney for a fee (prohibited by §4102.158).
- Charge more than the 10% Texas cap, or take any fee if nothing is recovered.
Guides to Texas claim interest.
Plain-English explanations of the statutes and cases behind Enforce Interest.
How long must a Texas policy be in force before it can’t be canceled?
In Texas, how long must a homeowners policy be in force? The 60-day cancellation rule in Insurance Code §551.104, allowed reasons to cancel, notice periods, nonrenewal and the three-claims rule.
Smoke damage claims in Texas: investigations, scope and payment
How smoke damage insurance claims work in Texas: what a smoke damage investigation is, why scope gets disputed, wildfire smoke, contents and HVAC, and the deadlines and interest when payment is late.
How long do I have to file a freeze claim in Texas?
Texas freeze and burst-pipe claims: how long you have to report the claim and to sue, freeze exclusions, catastrophe extensions, which interest rate applies and how to document the loss.
Questions policyholders ask Enforce Interest.
What is Enforce Interest?
Enforce Interest is a Rise Public Adjusting service built around one part of Texas law: the prompt-payment rules in Chapter 542 of the Texas Insurance Code. When a carrier pays a covered property claim late, §542.060 adds statutory interest as damages. We rebuild the claim timeline, calculate that interest and present it to the carrier on the policyholder’s behalf.
What is the Texas 60-day rule?
Under Tex. Ins. Code §542.058, once an insurer has received all the items, statements and forms it reasonably requested, it generally has 60 days to pay a covered claim (unless another statute sets a different period). If it delays longer, it owes the damages in §542.060: interest on the claim amount plus reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees.
How much interest does a Texas insurer owe for paying late?
For most claims, 18% a year, simple interest, on the amount that was paid late. For weather-related property claims made on or after September 1, 2017 (in an action governed by Chapter 542A), the rate is the Finance Code §304.003 judgment rate plus 5%. The November 2026 judgment rate is 7.00%, which makes the weather rate 12.00%. In a lawsuit, that rate is fixed on the date of judgment.
Does paying an appraisal award end the insurer’s liability for interest?
No, not automatically. In Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds (Tex. 2019) and Hinojos v. State Farm Lloyds, 619 S.W.3d 651 (Tex. 2021), the Texas Supreme Court held that paying an appraisal award does not, by itself, protect an insurer from prompt-payment damages. If money was owed and unpaid when the statutory deadline passed, interest can be owed on it even though the award was later paid.
Do I need a lawyer to recover prompt-payment interest?
Not always. Many carriers resolve the issue once the dates and the math are documented and presented. If a carrier refuses and a lawsuit is needed, that is work for a licensed Texas attorney; Enforce Interest is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.
What does it cost?
The first claim review is free. If we take the engagement, the fee is a contingency percentage of what is recovered, and Texas law caps public adjuster compensation at 10% of the insurance settlement on the claim (§4102.104). If nothing is recovered, you owe nothing.
Already paid — but late? Let Enforce Interest run the numbers.
Send us your claim file for a free review. We rebuild the dates, calculate the statutory interest and tell you plainly whether there is anything to recover. No upfront cost. Texas claims only.