Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Agency, Allred-Thompson-Mason-Daugherty, now Named Higginbotham
Feb 22 2015 // Allred-Thompson-Mason-Daugherty Insurance (ATMD) agency Wichita Falls, Texas, is now doing business under the name of Higginbotham. The name change was effective Jan. 1. ATMD has been in operation since 1988. Jay Awtrey,...
Texas Lawmaker Urges Extension of Wind Insurance Inspection Waiver
Feb 22 2015 // A Texas lawmaker says thousands of coastal residents could lose their windstorm insurance coverage if the Legislature doesn’t extend a program that provides waivers for those who have been nonrenewed for coverage by...
Energy Workers at Loose Ends after Drop in Crude Prices
Feb 20 2015 // The drive from Ken Mercer’s home in Tennessee to the oil fields of western North Dakota takes 20 hours if you drive straight through. Every month, Mercer, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, would make the trip as...
New Leadership Team in Place at Texas-Based Hotchkiss Insurance
Feb 20 2015 // Carrollton, Texas-based Hotchkiss Insurance Agency (HIA) announced a new leadership team. Mike Hotchkiss is now the CEO, Ken Hotchkiss is the chief operating officer and Greg Hotchkiss is the chief financial officer. HIA...
All Risks Adds Tuley, Coffey in Texas
Feb 19 2015 // The South Central region of wholesale insurance broker All Risks Ltd. has tapped David Tuley, to commence its Houston operation. In addition, Katie Coffey joined All Risks’ Austin, Texas, office as a brokerage...
Texas Issues Data Call on Named Driver Policies, Excluded Driver Endorsements
Feb 19 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance has issued a special data call to obtain information from insurance companies writing private passenger automobile insurance in Texas. TDI said the information requested is in response to...
Texas Workers’ Comp Unit Recovers Over $500K for Injured Workers, Beneficiaries
Feb 18 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance-Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced that through performance audits of several insurance carriers on the accuracy of payments of lifetime income benefits (LIBs) and...
Networked Insurance Agents Hires Villegas as Texas Sales VP
Feb 18 2015 // Networked Insurance Agents has hired Henry Villegas as sales vice president in Texas. In this role he serves as the key point of contact for independent agency members in Texas. A native Texan, Villegas has more than 20...
Court Rules BP Not Covered by Transocean’s $750M Insurance
Feb 17 2015 // BP Plc isn’t covered under Transocean Ltd.’s insurance policies for the undersea well blowout that caused the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the Texas Supreme Court said, blocking the oil company’s access...
Armstrong Hit with $10M Sanction in Dispute with Texas Promotions Insurer
Feb 16 2015 // Dallas-based SCA Promotions Inc., a specialist in insuring prizes, promotions and contests, announced that Lance Armstrong has been hit with a $10 million sanctions award by an arbitration panel hearing his dispute with...
Palomar Specialty, Wellington to Launch Wind Insurance Product in Texas
Feb 13 2015 // Palomar Specialty Insurance Co., based in La Jolla, Calif., has partnered with Fort Worth-based Wellington Risk Insurance Agency Inc. (Wellington), to offer wind-exposed residential property insurance in Tier II counties...
Essary Named Exec. Director of Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas
Feb 13 2015 // Norma Carabajal Essary has been appointed as executive director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT), effective March 1, 2015. She succeeds Philip R. Ballinger, who retired Jan. 2, 2015, after 22 years of...
Medical Chain Pleads Guilty to Work Comp Fraud, Repays Texas Mutual $6.5M
Feb 11 2015 // Nova Healthcare Management, headquartered in Houston, Texas, entered a plea of guilty to felony workers’ compensation fraud related charges, according to an announcement by Texas Mutual Insurance Co. and the Travis...
Bills Aimed at Property Claims Litigation Expected in Texas Legislative Session
Feb 11 2015 // Texas lawmakers are expected to file legislation this year aimed at stemming the tide of property claims litigation in the wake of catastrophic weather events, such as hailstorms. Proponents of such legislation would like...
Confie Seguros Acquires Texas-Based Baja Auto Insurance
Feb 10 2015 // Confie Seguros, a national provider of personal lines insurance based in Huntington Beach, Calif., announced it has acquired Baja Auto Insurance, which provides auto insurance throughout Texas. Founded in 2006 with one...
Texas Insurance Wholesalers Wary of Retail Agent Association MGA
Feb 9 2015 // In mid-November 2014, Texas’ largest association of independent retail insurance agents took the unprecedented step of acquiring a managing general agency as a way of providing its members greater access to...
10 Fingerprints No Longer Collected for Texas Driver’s Licenses
Feb 9 2015 // Under pressure from state lawmakers, the Texas Department of Public Safety will stop collecting electronic images of an applicant’s 10 fingerprints before issuing a driver’s license. DPS said it still plans to...
Legislation Addressing Property Claims Litigation Likely to Crop Up in Texas
Feb 9 2015 // By the end of 2008, the Texas residual market for insuring seacoast properties for wind and hail figured it had enough resources available to pay claims for both Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Dolly that hit the Texas coast...
People – South Central
Feb 9 2015 // Keleigh Buchanan was promoted to assistant vice president at Dallas-based independent insurance broker Roach Howard Smith & Barton. Buchanan has 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. She specializes in...
Texas Bill Would Modify ‘Claimant’ Definition in Medical Liability Cases
Feb 9 2015 // Texas Rep. Chris Turner, House District 101- Grand Prairie, has filed a measure that would clarify the definition of “claimant” in respect to a healthcare liability claim. HB 956 was crafted in response to a...
