AI-assisted research summary: A contract owner must send a surrender request to the insurer, and the insurer must provide the submission form/method and pay the cash surrender value within 30 business days unless an exception applies.
Sec. 1114.0542. PROCESSING OF SURRENDER REQUESTS FOR ANNUITY CONTRACTS. (a) To initiate a surrender of an annuity contract, a contract owner must submit a surrender request to the insurer in the form and manner required by the insurer. An insurer that issues an annuity contract shall make available to the contract owner the form and manner in which the contract owner may submit the surrender request. (b) An insurer that receives a surrender request from a contract owner shall, subject to Subsection (c), transfer the current cash surrender value of the annuity contract to the contract owner not later than the 30th business day after the date the insurer receives the request unless: (1) the contract being surrendered has a provision that gives the insurer the right to defer payment for a different period; (2) the insurer and contract owner agree to a different transfer period, including an agreement to make the transfer on a specific future date; (3) a different transfer period is required under state or federal law; or (4) the insurer makes a determination or reasonably suspects the surrender request involves a fraudulent insurance act the insurer is required to report under Section 701.051. (c) If a surrender request submitted to an insurer under Subsection (a) does not include all required information, the applicable period to transfer the cash surrender value does not begin until the day the insurer receives all required information from the contract owner. (d) If a required payment of a cash surrender value is not completed within the period provided by Subsection (b) or the annuity contract, as applicable, the insurer shall pay penalty interest on the unpaid amount at an annual rate of 10 percent accruing from the first business day after the date the cash surrender value was required to be transferred until the cash surrender value is transferred to the contract owner in full. (e) Nothing in this section is intended to change the suitability requirements applicable to an agent or other person advising a contract owner to surrender an annuity under Chapter 1115. Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 658 (H.B. 4386), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.