The Never Ending Assault on Your Constitutional Rights

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Company has asked the Texas Insurance Commissioner to approve language for inclusion in standard homeowner’s insurance policies that would require homeowners to submit all claims to binding arbitration. This means that Farm Bureau policyholders will be forbidden from taking legal action against Farm Bureau in the courts of this state. As a practical matter, Farm Bureau is asking the Insurance Commissioner to give up your state and federal Constitutional rights. This sounds outrageous and it is, but it may work. State and federal courts have consistently held that contracting parties may agree to give up the right of access to the judicial system and to submit all disputes to arbitration. This has opened the door to inclusion of such clauses in virtually every kind of contract you sign, e.g., banking, credit cards, telephones, internet, etc. The difference here is that homeowner’s insurance policies must be approved by the state. Needless to say, if the Texas Insurance Commissioner approves this sneaky, underhanded maneuver, every insurance company will follow suit.

It is routine for insurance companies to deny legitimate claims or offer less, often much less, than what they owe. It is also true that insurance companies have a history of acting in bad faith or fraudulently, particularly in times of a natural disaster. Can you imagine not being able to take your insurance company to court if it should happen to you? Why should we be forced to give up an invaluable constitutional right in order to buy insurance?

For more on this vitally important issue, read Chris Tomlinson’s article in the Houston Chronicle of July 13, 2016.