Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Louisiana Worker’ Comp Rates Are Down, but Costs per Claim Growing
May 15 2017 // Workers’ compensation rates decreased statewide in Louisiana on May 1 by 9.8 percent, marking the fourth year in a row rates have dropped in that state, according to insurance regulators. In January, the Louisiana...
Insurance Industry-Backed Storm Damage Bill Passes Texas House
May 15 2017 // The passage in the Texas House of a bill limiting liability for property insurance companies sued by policyholders following weather related events has given the insurance industry, which lobbied strongly for the bill,...
Higginbotham Acquires Part of Hilb Group of Texas
May 12 2017 // Fort Worth, Texas-based insurance agency, Higginbotham, has purchased a portion of the Hilb Group of Texas LLC’s operations in San Antonio. The transaction adds eight insurance and customer service professionals with...
Texas Public Safety Agencies Embracing Drone Use
May 12 2017 // Government use of aerial drones became much easier when the Federal Aviation Administration flipped the switch on new regulations last year. The Austin American-Statesman reports since then, a number of Austin-area public...
Texas’ State National Companies: Revenues Up in Q1 2017
May 11 2017 // State National Companies Inc., a Bedford, Texas-based specialty provider of property/casualty insurance services, reported an 18 percent increase in total revenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. The company...
Insurance Partners of Texas Acquired by Marsh & McLennan Agency
May 8 2017 // Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), the middle market agency subsidiary of Marsh, has acquired Insurance Partners of Texas, an Abilene, Texas-based employee benefits consulting firm. Terms of the transaction were not...
Louisiana’s Schilling and Texas’ Shepard Receive Big ‘I’ Awards
May 5 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) honored two agents from South Central states with awards at the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference. Lee Schilling...
Texas House Passes ‘Hailstorm’ Bill Aimed at Weather Damage Lawsuits
May 5 2017 // Note: this story was originally published in the Texas Tribune. The Texas House gave initial passage on May 4 to a bill that would make it harder for property owners to sue insurers over weather-related damage to...
The Nitsche Group’s Lovelace Named Five Star Professional
May 4 2017 // Tracy Lovelace, lead personal lines relationship manager for Giddings, Texas-based The Nitsche Group, has been named a Five Star Home & Auto Insurance Professional for 2017. This is her second consecutive year to be...
Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Texas Insurance Managers
May 3 2017 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Harlingen, Texas-based Texas Insurance Managers Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With roots tracing back to 1903, Texas Insurance Managers offers commercial and...
Texas Seeks Property Insurers’ Catastrophe Area Premium Data
May 3 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has issued a special data call to companies writing direct commercial property or business owners insurance in Texas during calendar year 2016, seeking information that would help...
Charter Bus with Texas School Athletes Crashes; 2 Dead
May 2 2017 // Texas Department of Public Safety authorities say two people are dead after a head-on crash involving a pickup truck and a chartered bus carrying 34 coaches and athletes from seven El Paso high schools returning home from...
SWBC Promotes Meriwether to Chief Financial Officer
May 1 2017 // San Antonio-based insurance and financial services firm, SWBC, has promoted Karen Meriwether to chief financial officer (CFO). Meriwether joined SWBC in 2015 as vice president of internal audit and chief audit executive....
Storms Leave Trail of Destruction in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas
May 1 2017 // Severe storms including tornadoes have swept through several small towns in East Texas, leaving a trail of overturned vehicles, mangled trees and damaged homes. Authorities believe as many as five people were killed and...
People – South Central
May 1 2017 // Tim Brady, shareholder and senior vice president of Texas-based Brady, Chapman, Holland and Associates Inc., has been elected to the board of directors of RiskProNet International, an association of independent insurance...
Judge: Exxon Must Pay $20M for Emissions from Texas Plant
Apr 28 2017 // A judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a penalty of nearly $20 million for releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants into the air over the course of eight years from a complex it operates east of Houston. U.S. District...
Texas Workers’ Comp Nonsubscriber Reports Due April 30
Apr 28 2017 // Texas employers that do not provide workers’ compensation insurance must submit two types of forms to the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC). DWC is offering a temporary grace period for employers that...
Texas Mutual Names Bentley VP – Marketing, Customer Engagement
Apr 28 2017 // Workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., has named Jeremiah Bentley as vice president of marketing and customer engagement. Bentley will oversee the company’s advertising and public relations...
7 Texas Auto Dealer Employees Charged with Insurance Scams, Theft
Apr 27 2017 // Police in El Paso, Texas, say seven current and former employees of an auto dealership have been arrested for running a series of illegal schemes that included taking vehicles from the lot and stealing tires. Authorities...
Daniels Takes on Marketing Role at Texas-Based ITS
Apr 26 2017 // Dallas-based ITS, an insurance consulting and services firm specializing in the design, implementation and utilization of technology to optimize critical business processes and achieve exceptional results, reported it has...
