With the effective date for a new Texas law approaching on September 1, insurance lawyers are discussing how it affects claims for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. According to Law360, Texas House Bill 1774 reduces the amount of prejudgment interest an insurer must pay for wrongfully denying a claim for delaying payment from 18 percent to about 10 percent, leaving many lawyers wondering whether they should advise clients to file claims quickly in order to be subject to current law.

“For corporate policyholders, some of the new hoops that would need to be jumped through for these claims likely won’t have much of an impact,” Insurance Advisory and Recovery counsel Tamara Bruno told Law360.

For policyholders who are forced to resolve claims for Harvey-related losses through litigation, Bruno also told the publication they will have to be more diligent in order to ensure that they don’t forfeit any of their rights after the new law takes effect.

“There are things in the statue that could trip up a policyholder who isn’t careful,” said Tamara, “such as the pre-suit notice requirement that may preclude an award of attorneys’ fees.”

Read more about what Texas lawyers are saying in Law360 (subscription required).