Latest Texas Headlines

All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Registration Opens for IRMI Construction Risk Conference in Texas

Jul 13 2018 // International Risk Management Institute Inc. has opened registration for the 38th IRMI Construction Risk Conference. The IRMI conference is set for Nov. 4 through Nov. 7 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston, Texas. Roughly...

How One Hedge Fund Has Pursued $360M Financial Fraud Claim Against Big Bank

Jul 12 2018 // When the high-end property development Lake Las Vegas collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis, 31 funds that helped finance the project lost a total of $540 million. But only one of them, Dallas-based hedge fund...

Texas Extends Use of Negotiated Experience Modifiers in Workers’ Comp

Jul 11 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance has approved a request to extend the use of negotiated experience modifiers in the state’s workers’ compen­sation system for another year. Without the change, under the NCCI...

Report: Texas Failing to Enforce Flood Insurance Rules

Jul 10 2018 // Texas officials are struggling to enforce part of a flood insurance program that aims to elevate or remove severely damaged properties from flood plains, according to a newspaper investigation. The Houston Chronicle...

Alliant Acquires Texas Employee Benefits Firm, CLS Partners

Jul 10 2018 // Alliant Insurance Services has acquired the Austin, Texas-based employee benefits and risk management consulting firm, CLS Partners. The Austin-based firm brings a team of more than 50 professionals to Alliant, bolstering...

More Than $5B Headed to Texas for Flood Control Projects

Jul 9 2018 // Almost a year after Hurricane Harvey dumped historic rains on Texas, the state will receive more than $5 billion for a range of flood control projects, repairs and studies, the Trump administration announced on July 5. The...

Credit Ratings Assigned to Texas’ Service American Indemnity Co.

Jul 6 2018 // A.M. Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” to Service American Indemnity Co., headquartered in Austin, Texas. The...

Dealing with It: Texas’ Never Ending Hail Problem

Jul 6 2018 // Texas has a hail problem. OK, from an insurance perspective, Texas has a weather problem, period, but that’s another story altogether. Back to hail. On June 6, a hailstorm walloped heavily populated areas of North...

20 Accused of Stealing Heavy Equipment Worth $765K in Texas

Jul 5 2018 // Investigators in San Marcos, Texas, say 20 people have been indicted for allegedly being part of a Texas crime ring that stole heavy equipment and sold the expensive items for cash or drugs. San Marcos police on July 3...

Texas’ Hotchkiss Insurance Programs Rebrands as Catapult Insurance Solutions

Jul 3 2018 // Dallas-based Hotchkiss Insurance Programs, a privately held managing general insurance agency, is changing its name to Catapult Insurance Solutions. The name change reflects the organization’s expertise in launching...

Austin’s Employer Solutions Group Joins INSURICA

Jul 3 2018 // Insurance broker INSURICA, headquartered in Oklahoma City, has acquired employee benefits provider Employer Solutions Group (ESG), based in Austin, Texas. ESG operates throughout Texas under the leadership of Michael...

2nd Worker Dies From Injuries in Texas Hospital Explosion

Jul 2 2018 // A second worker has died from an explosion at a Central Texas hospital that left more than a dozen injured. Police reported the death of 36-year-old Filiberto Morales of Round Rock, Texas, who died June 28 after being...

Texas Prosecutors Clear Karolyis in Sex Assault Suit; Nassar, Trainer Charged

Jul 2 2018 // Texas prosecutors on June 29 filed sexual assault charges against Larry Nassar and a trainer who worked at his side, expanding the worst abuse scandal in U.S. sports history beyond Michigan while also clearing...

A-MAX Auto Insurance Names Genest as VP of Sales and Operations

Jul 2 2018 // Dallas-headquartered A-MAX Auto Insurance has appointed Rick Genest as its new vice president of Sales and Operations. Genest, a seasoned insurance executive with over 25 years’ experience in the insurance services...

People

Jul 2 2018 // Cassie Brown has been appointed Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation. She succeeds Ryan Brannan, who left the division on May 1....

Texas DWC: 40% of Workers’ Comp Claimants Have Previous Injuries

Jul 2 2018 // There are about 200,000 new claims each year in the Texas workers’ compensation system, representing about 2 percent of covered Texas employees. About 40 percent of those new claims involve claimants who have had at...

Dealing with It: Texas’ Hail Problem Is Not Going Away

Jul 2 2018 // Texas has a hail problem. OK, from an insurance perspective, Texas has a weather problem, period, but that’s another story altogether. Back to hail. On June 6, a hailstorm walloped heavily populated areas of North...

North Texas Attorney Charged with $400K Insurance Fraud

Jul 2 2018 // A Travis County grand jury has indicted a Texas attorney on charges of workers’ compensation fraud for allegedly billing clients for services that were not provided, false billing and tampering with a government...

Brightway Insurance Opens Office in California

Jun 29 2018 // Brightway Insurance has opened an office in Redwood City, Calif. The firm this week also opened its first office in Kansas, as well as in Texas. Manny Aguilar is opening Brightway, The Aguilar Agency in Redwood City. Other...

Texas Insurance Dept. Earns National Award for Support of Guard, Reserve Employees

Jun 29 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance is one of 15 employers across the nation to earn the 2018 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest honor given for support of National Guard and Reserve...