---
title: "The Texas claim clocks, as code"
description: "Texas claim deadlines: acknowledge in 15 days, decide in 15 business days, pay in 5 business days. One claim, start to finish."
date: "2026-10-09"
tag: "Clocks"
url: "https://api.insure/blog/texas-claim-clocks"
---

# The Texas claim clocks, as code

Texas gives an insurer 15 days to acknowledge a claim, 15 business days to decide it and 5 business days to pay. Here is how those clocks run on one claim.

**In short.** Under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act, an insurer acknowledges a claim within 15 days of notice, accepts or rejects it within 15 business days of receiving the last item it requested, and pays within 5 business days of notifying acceptance. api.insure starts each clock from evidence and closes it only on evidence.

State claim-handling law sets hard deadlines on every claim. In Texas they live in Chapter 542, Subchapter B, of the Insurance Code. Three of them shape every first-party claim.

## The three clocks

- **Acknowledge: 15 days from notice.** Within 15 days of receiving notice of a claim, the insurer acknowledges it, starts its investigation, and requests the items it reasonably needs (§542.055).
- **Decide: 15 business days from the last item.** The insurer accepts or rejects the claim in writing within 15 business days of receiving everything it requested to secure final proof of loss (§542.056).
- **Pay: 5 business days from acceptance.** Once it notifies the claimant that it will pay, it pays within 5 business days (§542.057).

Two details matter in practice. The decide clock does not start at notice: it starts when the last requested item arrives. And after a declared weather catastrophe, the deadlines extend by 15 days (§542.059).

## One claim, start to finish

Here is claim `clm_8f3ka92`, wind and hail damage to a Texas home:

- **Jul 14.** The loss.
- **Jul 15.** First notice of loss. The acknowledge clock starts, due Jul 30.
- **Jul 16.** Acknowledgment sent on the record, day 1 of 15. The clock closes on that evidence.
- **Jul 24.** The last requested item, the roof estimate, arrives. The decide clock starts, due Aug 14.
- **Jul 29.** A licensed adjuster on the network approves the claim, business day 3 of 15. The pay clock starts, due Aug 5.
- **Jul 31.** Payment issued, business day 2 of 5.

## Clocks as code

On api.insure the clocks are deterministic machinery, not reminders:

- Each clock starts from an event on the record, never from a guess.
- It closes only on evidence: the acknowledgment sent, the decision issued, the payment record.
- Business-day clocks skip weekends.
- The final window takes a daily human acknowledgment.
- No configuration, tenant or platform, can extend a statutory deadline.

Every claim response carries its clock state, so your product can show the policyholder exactly where the claim stands:

```json
{
  "claim": "clm_8f3ka92",
  "clocks": {
    "acknowledge": { "rule": "TX: 15 days", "closed": "2026-07-16" },
    "decide": { "rule": "TX: 15 business days", "started": "2026-07-24", "due": "2026-08-14" }
  }
}
```

## Questions

### How long does a Texas insurer have to acknowledge a claim?

Fifteen days from receiving notice of the claim, under Texas Insurance Code §542.055. In that window it also starts its investigation and requests the items it needs.

### When does the Texas 15 business day decision clock start?

When the insurer receives all items, statements and forms it requested to secure final proof of loss, under §542.056. It does not start at first notice.

### How fast must a Texas insurer pay an accepted claim?

Within 5 business days of notifying the claimant that it will pay, under §542.057.

### Do the Texas deadlines change after a hurricane or hailstorm?

Yes. After a weather-related catastrophe or major natural disaster declared by the commissioner, the claim-handling deadlines extend by 15 days, under §542.059.

### Can a setting extend a statutory deadline on api.insure?

No. Clocks close only on evidence, and no tenant or platform configuration can extend a statutory deadline.

## Sources

1. [Texas Insurance Code §542.055, Receipt of Notice of Claim](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._ins._code_section_542.055), Texas Legislature (via Public.Law)
2. [Texas Insurance Code §542.056, Notice of Acceptance or Rejection of Claim](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._ins._code_section_542.056), Texas Legislature (via Public.Law)
3. [Texas Insurance Code §542.057, Payment of Claim](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._ins._code_section_542.057), Texas Legislature (via Public.Law)
4. [Texas Insurance Code §542.059, Extension of Deadlines](https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._ins._code_section_542.059), Texas Legislature (via Public.Law)