Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Stamping Office: Upward Trend Continues for Surplus Lines
Jan 24 2017 // Overall, 2016 ended on a positive note for the U.S. excess and surplus lines insurance industry, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). Nationally, nearly $26 billion in surplus lines insurance...
People
Jan 23 2017 // Texas Commissioner of Insurance David Mattax has been elected secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak was elected vice chair of...
Surplus Lines Specialty Coverages on the Upswing in Texas
Jan 23 2017 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas, which recently changed its acronym from SLSOT to SLTX, reported at the end of 2016 that the number of surplus lines policy filings had surpassed the numbers recorded in 2014 or...
Regulators: Texas Workers’ Comp Attorney Fees Go Up Jan. 30
Jan 19 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) reported that the maximum hourly rates that may be charged by attorneys and legal assistants in the workers’ compensation system...
Nored Named to Head Legal Division at Texas Insurance Department
Jan 18 2017 // Texas Insurance Commissioner David Mattax has selected Michael Nored to head the Legal Division at the Texas Department of Insurance. Nored replaces Stan Strickland, a 21-year veteran of the agency who is leaving at the...
Severe Storms Cause Damage Across Texas
Jan 17 2017 // A powerful storm system unleashed strong winds and torrential rains across much of Texas over night on Sunday, knocking out power, damaging homes and flooding streets. Authorities say at least 30 homes were damaged when...
Midwest Regulation Report Card: States’ Grades Range from A to D
Jan 9 2017 // Grades assigned to the insurance regulatory systems in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin range from A to D in a...
South Central Regulation Report Card: Texas’ Grade Rises, Arkansas’ Drops
Jan 9 2017 // No South Central state had the best score and none had the worst in a report recently released by a conservative-leaning research organization that annually assesses the effectiveness states’ insurance regulatory...
Percentage of Texas Workers’ Comp System Non-Subscribers Declines
Jan 9 2017 // The percentage of companies that don’t participate in the Texas workers’ compensation system has fallen to the lowest level since 1993, the agency that regulates this line of insurance in the state has...
Crew Leader in Deadly Texas Balloon Crash Killed in Motorcycle Accident
Jan 6 2017 // The ground crew leader for a Texas hot air balloon company involved in a 2015 deadly crash has been killed in a motorcycle accident. The Austin American-Statesman reports Alan Thomas Lirette was a key witness in the...
Texas OKs New Rule for Wrap-Up Construction Project Policies
Jan 5 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has approved a filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) to establish eligibility requirements for wrap-up construction project policies. The changes in Item...
Texas Re-Certifies 10 Companies to Self-Insure for Workers’ Comp
Jan 5 2017 // The Texas Department of Insurance’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) re-certified 10 employers to self-insure workers’ compensation claims. Together, the companies employ about 15,000 people in...
Texas Lawmakers to Seek Transparency in Government/Private Business Deals
Jan 5 2017 // Two Texas lawmakers want to tighten public records laws to make it harder for governments and the companies they do business with to keep financial information secret. Sen. Kirk Watson, an Austin Democrat, and GOP Rep....
Velocity Risk Underwriters Expands Coverage to Coastal Homeowners in Florida
Jan 4 2017 // Velocity Risk Underwriters has expanded its Florida home insurance products and is now writing coastal homeowners policies statewide. Velocity offers an A.M. Best “A” rated coastal homeowners program through...
Texas Clinic Owner Pleads Guilty to $1M Insurance Fraud
Jan 3 2017 // A Gainesville, Texas, clinic owner has pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and was ordered to repay $1 million after an investigation by the Texas Department of Insurance found that he billed for chiropractic services...
Texas Surplus Lines Office Changes Acronym to SLTX
Jan 3 2017 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas has changed its acronym to SLTX. The stamping office formerly branded itself with the SLSOT acronym. The office unveiled its new logo at the Texas Surplus Lines Association (TSLA)...
U.S. Refineries’ Accident Risk on Rise Due to Labor Shortage
Jan 3 2017 // After years of running flat out, U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are lining up repairs to plants in 2017 – but facing a severe labor shortage that could delay work, drive up costs and raise accident risks. Fuel producers...
Texas Feed Manufacturer Fined Nearly $92K for Health, Safety Violations
Dec 30 2016 // Thomas Moore Feed in Navasota, Texas, has been cited by federal safety officials for repeat and serious health and safety violations. Proposed penalties total $91,911. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration...
Texas Sets Workers’ Comp Discount, Interest Rate for Q1 2017
Dec 30 2016 // For the first quarter of 2017, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation has set at 4.41 percent any interest or discount provided for in the state’s workers’ comp statutes. The...
Texas Mutual: Judge Upholds State Regulation of Air Ambulances
Dec 30 2016 // A Texas district court judge in Austin has upheld the state’s right to regulate fees paid to air ambulances for transporting patients covered by workers’ compensation insurance, according to Texas Mutual...
