Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Southeast Texas School District Estimates $12M in Flood Damage
Mar 31 2016 // The head of a Southeast Texas school district where flooding swamped an elementary campus with water 5-foot deep estimates $12 million in losses and little insurance. The superintendent of the Deweyville Independent School...
Three Appointed to Texas Life/Health Insurance Guaranty Association Board
Mar 30 2016 // Texas Insurance Commissioner David Mattax has appointed three members to serve on the board of directors of the Texas Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association. The board oversees the association, which helps to...
USGS Report: North Texas Earthquake Risk ‘Elevated’
Mar 29 2016 // A U.S. Geological Survey report concludes the risk of earthquakes for the Dallas-Fort Worth area is higher than it’s ever been. The USGS review incorporates “induced” earthquakes into federal seismic...
Federal Disaster Aid OK’d for 6 More Texas Counties
Mar 28 2016 // Six more Texas counties hard-hit by flooding and severe storms this month are now eligible for federal disaster aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that Erath, Gregg, Harrison, Hood, Marion and Parker...
Higginbotham, Capps Insurance Agency Merge
Mar 25 2016 // Independent insurance broker Higginbotham, headquartered in Fort Worth, and Mount Pleasant, Texas-based Capps Insurance Agency have joined forces. Higginbotham’s partnership with Capps brings its total number of...
Hailstorms Pummel North Texas, Again
Mar 24 2016 // Large hail and strong winds caused considerable damage in heavily populated areas of north Texas overnight on March 23. It was the second time just over a week that the area has been pummeled by hail. Car windows and sky...
Texas Regulators: Mid-March Hail Storm Was Insurance ‘Catastrophe’
Mar 24 2016 // The Texas Department of Insurance has determined the weather-related event that occurred March 16, 2016, through March 17, 2016, in the counties of Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, and Parker is a catastrophe for the purpose of...
Federal Appeals Court Sides with Lexington Insurance in Deductible Dispute
Mar 23 2016 // A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of an insurance company in a breach of contract suit brought by a Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company. The dispute in...
Texas Seeks Data on Weather-Related Property Claims, Lawsuits
Mar 23 2016 // The Senate Business and Commerce and the House Insurance Committees of the Texas Legislature have requested data from the Texas Department of Insurance related to weather-related property claims, the incidence of lawsuits...
Update: With Property Claims Added, North Texas Hail Damage May Reach $600M
Mar 23 2016 // An insurer trade group says it estimates that damage caused by hailstorms that rolled through the Fort Worth area last week will reach $600 million in auto and property claims. Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance...
Southeast Texas Floods Bring Federal Disaster Declaration
Mar 22 2016 // President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in three Texas counties following severe storms including tornadoes and flooding earlier this month. The declaration covers Jasper, Newton and Orange counties in...
Hail Damage in North Texas Could Cost $300M in Car Repairs
Mar 22 2016 // Hailstorms that rolled through the Fort Worth, Texas, area last week could result in $300 million in vehicle repairs. Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, estimated that 50,000 vehicles were damaged...
Affirmative Insurance Liquidation Hearing Set for March 24 in Illinois
Mar 22 2016 // On March 1, 2016, Affirmative Insurance Co. was declared insolvent by at least $31 million by Acting Illinois Insurance Director Anne Melissa Dowling, who filed with the Illinois Supervising Court a Complaint for...
Texas Seeking Employer Representative for Workers’ Comp Appeals Panel
Mar 21 2016 // The Texas Department of Insurance is seeking an employer representative to serve on the Texas Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel. The panel resolves policyholder disputes with insurance carriers that are referred by...
Storms Set Oil Field Equipment on Fire Near Houston
Mar 21 2016 // Lingering thunderstorms were blamed for a fire that damaged an oil field equipment site on March 19 near Houston and power outages in South Texas that left more than 50,000 homes and businesses without...
Despite Energy Job Losses, South Central States Report Some Employment Gains
Mar 21 2016 // While oil and gas industry job losses had an impact in the South Central states over the last year, Arkansas, Louisiana Oklahoma and Texas still saw decreases in unemployment rates in 2015. Year-over-year from 2014 to...
People – South Central
Mar 21 2016 // Texas-based LevelFirst, the wholesale broker and MGA binding facility owned by IIAT Services Co., has appointed Heath McCasland as vice president. McCasland will assume the responsibility of brokering new business...
Flooded Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas to Remain Closed for Days
Mar 18 2016 // Highway officials say flooded Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas will stay closed through the weekend. Transportation officials closed the eastbound lanes early on March 15 as rising waters from excessive rains flooded the...
Dallas Jury Orders Johnson & Johnson to Pay $500M in Hip Implants Case
Mar 18 2016 // Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $502 million to a group of patients who accused the company of hiding flaws in its Pinnacle artificial hips that caused the devices to prematurely fail and left them facing...
North Texas Commuters Hit with Damaging Hailstorms
Mar 17 2016 // Severe thunderstorms moved in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area this morning producing heavy rain, strong winds and hail as large as baseballs, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) reported. Several businesses...
