Latest Texas Headlines

All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.

HUB International Acquires Louisiana-Based Brokerage Benefit Concepts

Jan 9 2013 // Insurance broker Hub International Limited (Hub) has acquired the assets of Benefit Concepts Inc. (BCI), a Shreveport, La.-based employee benefits brokerage firm. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. BCI will...

HIIG Reorganizes Domestic Underwriting Operations

Jan 8 2013 // Houston International Insurance Group (HIIG) has reorganized ts domestic underwriting operations, which going forward will be re-branded under the symbol HIIG. The following divisions have been created: HIIG Construction...

Texas Weather Catastrophes Cause $2.3 Billion Losses in 2012

Jan 7 2013 // Texas recorded seven catastrophic weather events in 2012 that resulted in $2.3 billion in insured losses, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. The Dallas/Fort Worth area received the brunt of the damage from tornadoes...

Texas Surplus Lines Premium Exceeded $4 Billion in 2012

Jan 3 2013 // Premium on policies reported to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas in 2012 totaled more than $4 billion, a record volume SLSOT reported. This represented an increase of $767 million over 2011, a rise of nearly 24...

Texas’ Expected Surplus Won’t Lessen 2013 Budget Fight

Jan 2 2013 // Shortfall and sacrifice: that’s how the Texas Legislature two years ago defended gutting $5.4 billion from public education, laying off thousands of public workers with slashed spending and stripping Medicaid to the...

Texas Residents File Harassment Suit Against City

Jan 2 2013 // Nine people have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Bovina, Texas accusing a former police chief and other city officials of a pattern of harassment and extortion. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in...

Texas Builds ‘Hurricane Domes’ For Double-Duty

Dec 31 2012 // Most of the time, the windowless building with the dome-shaped roof will be a typical high school gymnasium filled with cheering fans watching basketball and volleyball games. But come hurricane season, the structure that...

4th Fire Raises Fear Of Arsonist In Texas

Dec 27 2012 // A fire that quickly gutted an abandoned home in Brownsville, Texas is the fourth in a week on the Rio Grande Valley city’s west side, raising fears an arsonist may be at work. Deputy Fire Chief David Hinojasa told...

Tornadoes Strike in Texas

Dec 26 2012 // Christmas Day along the Gulf Coast was filled with severe thunderstorms that brought drenching rains, high winds and damaging tornadoes while the nation’s midsection dealt with freezing rain, sleet and snow that made...

Texas Windstorm Insurer: Rates to Increase Jan. 1

Dec 26 2012 // Texas’ property insurer of last resort in coastal counties has issued a reminder to agents that while the maximum limits of liability for residential and commercial properties will remain the same in 2013 as they...

Texas Homeowners Pay Highest US Insurance Premiums

Dec 21 2012 // An industry group says Texas homeowners are paying the highest insurance premiums in the country. The report was released Tuesday by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Dallas Morning News reported the...

Marsh & McLennan Agency Acquires Independent Insurance Group Benefits in Texas

Dec 20 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., acquired Independent Insurance Group Benefits Inc., the employee benefits division of Dallas, Texas-based Independent Insurance Group. Terms of...

56 Insurance Carriers Deemed High Performers in Texas Work Comp System

Dec 20 2012 // Texas workers’ compensation system regulators report that 56 insurance carriers have been deemed high performers in the system. Announcing the results of the fourth Insurance Carrier Performance Based Oversight...

78 Texas School Districts Without Safety Plan

Dec 19 2012 // Seventy-eight Texas school districts either have failed to submit state-mandated safety plans in the event of a mass shooting or have filed ones that are too incomplete to be useful, Attorney General Greg Abbott said on...

Louisiana Levies More Fines Against Texas Brine over Sinkhole

Dec 19 2012 // The Louisiana Office of Conservation has levied an additional $160,000 fine against Texas Brine Co. LLC. over a massive sinkhole. Commissioner James Welsh said the fine levied Dec. 17 is for continued failure to comply...

Oklahoma Lawmaker, Texas Governor Want Teachers to Be Armed

Dec 19 2012 // Teachers and school administrators who receive proper training would be authorized to carry firearms on school campuses and at school events under a bill being drafted by an Oklahoma lawmaker. Republican Rep. Mark...

Texas Food Processing Companies Fined $134K for Alleged Safety Violations

Dec 18 2012 // Two Fort Worth, Texas-based companies have been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for multiple serious safety and health violations. Penalties total $134,000...

Allstate: Texas Car Crashes Spike More than 20% Around the Holidays

Dec 18 2012 // More Texans crash their cars during the holiday season than any other time of the year, according to an Allstate Insurance Co. review of its claims data over the five year period between 2006 and 2010. The number of auto...

Texas Wind Insurer: Agent Login Will Change Dec. 13

Dec 7 2012 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association is advising agents that the web address for its E-Quote login will change on Dec. 13, 2012. The old login address, https://quote.twia.org/twia/do/login, for use prior to Dec. 13,...

Texas Legislator: Extend Tax Break for Small Businesses

Dec 7 2012 // Texas state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, of Kerrville, has filed legislation to promote small business development in Texas by permanently extending a tax exemption for companies that earn less than $1 million a year. In 2009,...