Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Sets Workers’ Comp Weekly Benefit Rates for Coming Year
Sep 19 2014 // The Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the workers’ compensation state average weekly wage for dates of injury from Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015 has...
Texas Man Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Sep 18 2014 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County district court sentenced Rodney Williams of Seabrook, Texas, for workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The court sentenced Williams to deferred...
Outlook for Texas-Based Columbia Lloyds Insurance Revised to Stable
Sep 18 2014 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (Good) and the issuer credit ratings of “bbb” of the members of Houston, Texas-based Columbia Lloyds...
$3M Auto Insurance Fraud Scheme in Texas Leads to Prison Time
Sep 17 2014 // Two Bryan, Texas, men have been sentenced for their roles in a scheme that authorities say defrauded insurance companies of more than $3 million. Earlie Dickerson, a former office manager, was sentenced in Houston federal...
University of North Texas Scholarship Program to Honor McLendon
Sep 17 2014 // A scholarship program for students majoring in risk management, insurance, or financial services at the University of North Texas has been established in honor of Maureen C. McLendon. McLendon, a Dallas-area insurance...
Texas-Based CAA Welcomes New Agency Member in Kansas
Sep 17 2014 // Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), based in Austin, Texas, added Strong’s Insurance Inc. in Nashville, Kan., as its 52nd member. Specializing in agriculture and oil, the agency was established in 1921 by Earl W....
Texas’ Oil Boom Counties See Rise in Traffic Deaths
Sep 16 2014 // Vehicle crash deaths are significantly up in parts of Texas where oil and gas production is booming the most. The Houston Chronicle reports that deaths rose more than 50 percent in the West Texas counties located on the...
Texas Pickup Trucks Stolen the Most: NICB Report
Sep 16 2014 // Pickup trucks have become a favorite target by vehicle thieves according to a new report released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2013, 9,441 pickup trucks were reported...
BP Hopes Missing Comma Triggers $750 Million Transocean Spill Insurance
Sep 16 2014 // BP Plc, which already has paid more than $28 billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, seeks to get a $750 million chunk of that back by convincing a Texas court that a missing comma may give the oil company access to...
Homeowner Insurance Rate Hikes not Challenged by Texas Commissioner
Sep 15 2014 // The Texas insurance commissioner has allowed the three largest home insurers to impose significant rate hikes on many policyholders despite the objections of a state consumer advocate. Insurance Commissioner Julia...
Texas Windstorm Insurer to Offer $500M of Unrated Debt: Muni Deals
Sep 15 2014 // Texas Windstorm Insurance Association this week is offering $500 million in unrated municipal debt as the Austin-based group girds for the hurricane season through November. The association, created by the Texas...
Houston Nurse Ordered to Return Nearly $40K to Texas Mutual
Sep 11 2014 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County district court sentenced Raj Dhingra of Houston for workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Dhingra was sentenced to deferred adjudication and ordered to...
Texas Sees Decrease in Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2013
Sep 11 2014 // In 2013, there were 493 fatal occupational injuries in Texas, an 8 percent decrease from 536 in 2012, the Texas Department of Insurance reported. The figures are based on preliminary data released release by the U.S....
Dewhurst to Lawmakers: How About Shutting Down Texas Windstorm Insurer?
Sep 11 2014 // Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has asked state lawmakers to consider shutting down a windstorm insurance provider for coastal Texans. Dewhurst asked a state Senate committee to look at phasing out the Texas Windstorm...
Supreme Court May Get ‘Disparate Impact’ Housing Case
Sep 8 2014 // It’s not easy to prevent the Supreme Court from deciding an issue once the justices have agreed to hear a case. But over the past two years, civil rights advocates have managed to do just that by coaxing settlements...
Fertilizer Makers Place Blame on City in West, Texas, Explosion
Sep 8 2014 // Two fertilizer companies that sued following a deadly Texas explosion have cited the Texas State Fire Marshal’s report on the West, Texas, explosion in an effort to place blame on the city for failing to properly...
People – South Central
Sep 8 2014 // The board of directors of the Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) announced that David VanDelinder, president and executive director, is retiring from the association effective Dec. 31. VanDelinder has been with IIAT for 32...
Texas Woman Pleads Guilty in Crash Staging Case
Sep 8 2014 // A 32-year-old Port Arthur, Texas, woman entered a guilty plea in a case involving staged auto crashes and fraudulent insurance claims, according to U.S. Attorney John M. Bales for the Eastern District of Texas. Shawnta...
Texas Bugatti Owner Destroys Vehicle in Insurance Fraud Scheme
Sep 8 2014 // A Lufkin, Texas, man has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney John M. Bales. According to information presented in court, in October 2009,...
Prevention, Improved Response Stressed in West Explosion Report
Sep 8 2014 // Improvements in the response to large, complex fires was just one of the suggestions in a state fire marshal report on the fire and deadly explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, early in the evening on April 17,...
