{"id":186995,"date":"2025-04-16T00:28:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T00:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/insurance\/attorney-fees-onclaims-under-542a-dallas-fort-worth-insurance-lawyer-blog-april-12-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T00:28:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T00:28:48","slug":"attorney-fees-onclaims-under-542a-dallas-fort-worth-insurance-lawyer-blog-april-12-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995","title":{"rendered":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Attorney fees are almost always a part of insurance claims. \u00a0What too many people don\u2019t realize are the requirements for being able to recover those fees. \u00a0Those requirements may differ depending on the type of insurance claim. \u00a0Here is a January 2025, opinion from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.txnd.uscourts.gov\/location\/dallas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division<\/a>, that deals with attorney fees under <a href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/Docs\/IN\/htm\/IN.542A.htm#542A.003\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Texas Insurance Code, Section 542A..003<\/a>. \u00a0The opinion is styled, <a href=\"https:\/\/casetext.com\/case\/hearn-v-allstate-vehicle-prop-ins-co\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Betty Hearn v. Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Co.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This is an insurance coverage dispute stemming from hail and wind damage to Hearn\u2019s property. \u00a0On June 28, 2023, Hearn, through her counsel, sent a notice letter to Allstate of her intent to file suit, which included an amount for \u201cactual damages,\u201d \u201cattorney\u2019s fees to date,\u201d and a total value, \u201cless any amounts paid and any applicable deductible.\u201d \u00a0The letter states it is intended to serve as notice pursuant to Texas Insurance Code section 542.003A.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Texas Insurance Code section 542A.003 requires \u201cnot later than the 61st day before the date a claimant files an action . . . the claimant must give written notice to the person in accordance with this section as a prerequisite to filing the action.\u201d \u00a0\u201cA court may not award to the claimant any attorney\u2019s fees incurred after the date the defendant files the pleading\u201d proving the defendant was entitled to, but did not receive, a proper \u201cpresuit notice stating the specific amount alleged to be owed by the insurer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Allstate argues Hearn\u2019s letter fails to state a specific amount owed as required by section 542A.003(b)(2), as it does not include \u201ca number [Hearn] will commit to.\u201d \u00a0Hearn argues that her notice was sufficient, as the amount stated in the letter \u201cincludes a fixed number but also takes into account uncertain sums.\u201d \u00a0Both parties have provided cases and rulings that support their position, including supplemental authority, which the Court appreciates. \u00a0Based on the Texas Supreme Court\u2019s recent consideration of this same issue, the Court agrees with Hearn that the notice is sufficient.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The letter includes the following amounts:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Specific amount alleged to be owed:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>$22,500.00 in actual damages (less any amounts you paid, if any, and any applicable deductible). . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>$5,400.00 for attorney\u2019s fees to date. . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>TOTAL: $27,900.00 (less any amounts paid and any applicable deductible), plus interest.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The letter also includes several disclaimers that damages and amounts recoverable by Hearn could be higher under the policy and that attorney\u2019s fees will increase as attorneys work on Hearn\u2019s case. \u00a0At issue is whether the amounts listed meet the requirement in section 542A.003(b)(2), which requires \u201cthe specific amount alleged to be owed by the insurer on the claim for damage to or loss of covered property.\u201d \u00a0While this motion has been pending, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.txcourts.gov\/supreme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Texas Supreme Court<\/a> has addressed the issue more fully:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>We have not previously construed the statute\u2019s \u201cspecific amount\u201d requirement, but several federal courts have. . . the federal courts have consistently held that the \u201cspecific amount\u201d language requires only that the notice assert a specific dollar amount, not that it must provide a \u201cfixed and final total dollar sum\u201d that is free from estimate and can never change. \u00a0This construction appears to be most consistent with the statute as a whole, in light of its provisions suggesting that the amount awarded may vary from the amount stated in the notice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As the letter from Hearn\u2019s counsel includes a specific dollar amount, the Court finds that the specific amount requirement is met and Hearn\u2019s presuit notice was sufficient under section 542A.003.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attorney fees are almost always a part of insurance claims. \u00a0What too many people don\u2019t realize are the requirements for being able to recover those fees. \u00a0Those requirements may differ depending on the type of insurance claim. \u00a0Here is a January 2025, opinion from the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, that deals with attorney [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[73445,4759,17368,3767,14667,10939,2538,11034,13466,73444,11288],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-186995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insurance","tag-542a","tag-april","tag-attorney","tag-blog","tag-dallas","tag-fees","tag-fort","tag-insurance","tag-lawyer","tag-onclaims","tag-worth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attorney fees are almost always a part of insurance claims. \u00a0What too many people don\u2019t realize are the requirements for being able to recover those fees. \u00a0Those requirements may differ depending on the type of insurance claim. \u00a0Here is a January 2025, opinion from the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, that deals with attorney [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\"},\"wordCount\":597,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\",\"keywords\":[\"542A\",\"April\",\"Attorney\",\"Blog\",\"dallas\",\"Fees\",\"Fort\",\"insurance\",\"Lawyer\",\"OnClaims\",\"Worth\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\",\"name\":\"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Attorney fees are almost always a part of insurance claims. \u00a0What too many people don\u2019t realize are the requirements for being able to recover those fees. \u00a0Those requirements may differ depending on the type of insurance claim. \u00a0Here is a January 2025, opinion from the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, that deals with attorney [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025","datePublished":"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995"},"wordCount":597,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","keywords":["542A","April","Attorney","Blog","dallas","Fees","Fort","insurance","Lawyer","OnClaims","Worth"],"articleSection":["Insurance"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995","name":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025 - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","datePublished":"2025-04-16T00:28:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","width":1200,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186995#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Attorney Fees OnClaims Under 542A \u2014 Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog \u2014 April 12, 2025"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/116455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186995"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=186995"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=186995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}