Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Prison Bus Strikes Train in West Texas, Leaving at Least 10 Dead
Jan 15 2015 // A county sheriff says at least 10 people are dead after a bus carrying state prisoners skidded off an icy highway overpass in West Texas, slid down an embankment and collided with a train. Ector County Sheriff Mark...
Former Deputy AG Mattax Named Texas Insurance Commissioner
Jan 14 2015 // A former top deputy of Republican Gov.-elect Greg Abbott is taking over the Texas Department of Insurance. David Mattax was named commissioner on Jan. 12. He is currently a deputy attorney general who took the lead...
Texas Plant with Fatal Gas Leak Had Been Cited for Infractions
Jan 14 2015 // A DuPont and Co pesticide plant where four people died in a gas leak in November had been cited for emissions violations by a state agency on several occasions before the accident, the Houston Chronicle reported. The...
Atlas General Insurance Services, LLC, Announces Expansion of its Republic Group Program to Texas
Jan 14 2015 // San Diego, CA, January 14, 2015: Atlas General Insurance Services, LLC (Atlas General), a national multi-line program manager, is pleased to announce the opening of its workers’ compensation office in Texas to...
Texas Bill Would Protect P/C Agent Ownership of Expiration Rights
Jan 13 2015 // A bill filed in the Texas Legislature for the 2015 session would clarify that insurance agents in the state have exclusive ownership of the expiration rights to property/casualty insurance policies they sell and place. HB...
Texas Auto Injury, Fatality Crashes Rise Again in 2014
Jan 13 2015 // Contrary to a nationwide trend, Texas automobile crashes resulting in injuries and fatalities have risen for the past three years, the Insurance Council of Texas reports. Nationally, roadway crashes involving injuries and...
Texas Sees Record $5B in Surplus Lines Premium in 2014
Jan 12 2015 // For the first time, premium on policies reported to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT) totaled more than $5 billion last year. This record volume in 2014 was $336.5 million over 2013, representing an...
Seismologists Expand Texas Earthquake Study
Jan 12 2015 // Southern Methodist University seismologists are installing more measuring equipment in a Dallas suburb as earthquakes continue to rattle North Texas. More localized seismometers in Irving are “the first step in...
Austin, San Antonio Enact Behind-the-Wheel Phone Bans
Jan 12 2015 // Police in Austin and San Antonio won’t start issuing fines until February but both cities’ bans on the use of handheld devices while driving are now in effect. Talking on a handheld phone while driving is...
People – South Central
Jan 12 2015 // Arkansas Gov.-Elect Asa Hutchinson named state Rep. Allen Kerr to replace current Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford. Kerr has been an insurance agent for more than 30 years and along with his wife owns the Allen Kerr...
2015 Insurance Industry Meetings & Conventions Directory
Jan 12 2015 // Welcome to Insurance Journal‘s 2015 Insurance Industry Meetings and Conventions Directory. The information in this directory is taken from a larger database containing additional information on these and other...
Texas Officials Want Drug Database Moved from DPS
Jan 9 2015 // Some Texas lawmakers say prescription drugs can be bettered monitored by moving the state’s database out of the Department of Public Safety. House and Senate committees that studied the issue recommend that the State...
Texas Lowers Workers’ Comp Maintenance Tax Rate
Jan 9 2015 // The maintenance tax rate is being reduced to 1.533 percent of gross premiums collected by Texas workers’ compensation insurance carriers from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, Texas Workers’ Compensation...
Ballinger on Growth, Professionalism in Texas Surplus Lines Market
Jan 8 2015 // Phil Ballinger retired at the end of December 2014 as executive director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT), a post he’s held for more than two decades. During his tenure at SLSOT, the organization...
Lawsuit Filed Against Texas Senior-Living Complex After Deadly Fire
Jan 8 2015 // More than 20 residents at a senior-living complex where a deadly fire occurred have jointly filed a negligence lawsuit in Bexar County against the management company and its owners. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $1...
10 Quakes Recorded in North Texas over 2-Day Period
Jan 8 2015 // A cluster of small earthquakes has rattled a Dallas-area city over a two-day period. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the temblors in the Irving area, including two in the morning on Jan. 7. No major damage or injuries...
Texas Staged Accident Scam Leads to 9 Years in Prison
Jan 7 2015 // A Dallas-area man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for running a staged traffic accident insurance scam since 2005. Leroy Nelson of DeSoto must also repay nearly $5 million as part of sentencing announced...
North Texas Doctor Gets 12 Years for Insurance Fraud
Jan 7 2015 // A North Texas chiropractor has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for billing health care providers for services that were never rendered. Dr. Abbas Zahedi of Carrollton was sentenced in federal court and...
Peters Named President, Exec. Director of Texas Independent Agents Group
Jan 7 2015 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) has selected Marit Peters as its president and executive director. She will replace David VanDelinder, who is retiring from the leadership role. Marit Peters Peters has...
Delta General Agency Adds Blaser in North Texas High Net Worth Unit
Jan 6 2015 // Insurance wholesaler, Delta General Agency Corp., has hired Lesa Blaser as the high net worth business development leader in its North Texas office. Blaser will expand Delta’s high net worth presence in North Texas....
