Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas-based MainStreet Joins the ISU Network
Oct 4 2011 // MainStreet, an insurance agency in Montgomery, Texas, has joined the ISU Network, the San Francisco-based organization reported. ISU MainStreet was established and is currently owned by President and CEO Dee Vanschoick Jr....
2011 Sets New Record for Federal Disaster Declarations
Oct 3 2011 // The year 2011 will go down as a record-setting year when it comes to federal disaster declarations, industry analysts say. With another three months left in 2011, and hurricane season continues until November 30, the...
Work-Related Fatalities Decreased in Texas in 2010
Oct 3 2011 // Texas recorded a preliminary total of 456 work-related fatalities in 2010, a 5 percent decrease compared to the revised 2009 total of 482 fatalities, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’...
Texas AG: Roofing Contractor to Pay Restitution for Misleading Homeowners
Oct 3 2011 // A Rosenberg, Texas-based roofing contractor has agreed to reimburse all homeowners who improperly paid the company’s “liquidated damages” contracts, the Texas Attorney General’s Office reports. In...
The Woodlands Financial Group Announces 6 New Locations
Oct 3 2011 // Texas-based The Woodlands Financial Group Inc. (TWFG) has opened six new branch locations in three states. Desiree Garza has opened a new branch location in San Antonio, Texas. Garza has 13 years of experience in the...
How Can Insurance Agents Help Texas Fire Victims?
Oct 3 2011 // Many businesses and homeowners are struggling to determine the extent of their damages from what is shaping up to be the worst year in Texas history for fire losses. In handling the crisis, policyholders must quickly...
People
Oct 3 2011 // State Auto Insurance’s previously announced Austin, Texas, claims facility is now operational, the company reported. The following individuals serve on the claims team at the Austin facility: Sandra Robinson, claims...
Business Moves
Oct 3 2011 // U.S. Risk, American Special Risk Dallas-based managing general agency and surplus line wholesaler U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. has acquired American Special Risk Insurance Services, headquartered in Woodland Hills,...
Power Line Sparks Likely Caused Bastrop, Texas, Blaze
Oct 3 2011 // Sparks from electric power lines likely started the blaze that became the most destructive wildfire in Texas history, fire officials said. The Sept. 4 blaze began near Bastrop about 25 miles east of Austin, destroying more...
Fire-ravaged Texas Land May Lose Half Its Value
Oct 3 2011 // Texas property blackened by wildfires may suffer reductions in value by as much as 50 to 60 percent and a full recovery could take years, according to Lewis Realty Advisors, a Texas-based real estate appraisal and...
Fraud Roundup
Oct 3 2011 // Former Controller for Texas Insurer Sentenced for Wire Fraud Scheme The former controller for a Houston-based property/casualty insurance company has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for her conviction of...
Agriculture Losses from Texas Wildfires Adding Up
Sep 30 2011 // In addition to the $5.2 billion in agricultural losses as a result of the drought in Texas this year, an additional $150 million in losses can be attributed to wildfires, according to state agriculture experts. Dr. Andy...
Texas Man Sentenced to 60 Years for $100M Insurance Fraud
Sep 30 2011 // After hearing tearful testimony from several people whose life savings were stolen, a federal judge in Virginia sentenced a former Texas businessman to 60 years in prison for his role in a $100 million life insurance scam...
Power Utility Sued After Massive Texas Wildfire
Sep 29 2011 // A utility knew about wildfire dangers amid Texas’ severe drought but failed to remove dead trees and branches near power lines that sparked the most destructive wildfire in state history, an attorney said after...
Feds Sue Texas Firm for Firing 600-Pound Employee
Sep 29 2011 // The federal government has filed suit against BAE Systems alleging the company has violated disability laws by firing a morbidly obese employee at its Houston-area plant. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s...
Iowa Won’t File Criminal Charges Against Texas Firm
Sep 27 2011 // Iowa won’t pursue criminal charges against a Texas company that’s accused of exploiting developmentally disabled workers at a turkey plant in eastern Iowa. According to the Des Moines Register, the Iowa...
Insured Losses in Bastrop County Fire to Reach $250M
Sep 27 2011 // Insured damages from what has become the costliest wildfire in Texas history will climb to $250 million, an insurer trade group says. The Bastrop County Complex fire is now 98 percent contained, according to the Texas Fire...
Texas Denies State Farm’s Catastrophe Petition
Sep 26 2011 // The Texas Department of Insurance has denied a catastrophe determination petition submitted by State Farm Insurance Cos. in response to wildfires that have plagued the state in September. The department said it denied the...
Texas Car Dealer Convicted in Title Washing Scheme
Sep 23 2011 // A federal jury in Texas has convicted a car dealer from Rowlett for ‘title washing,’ a fraudulent process through which a vehicle’s title is corruptly altered to conceal information that should normally...
$97M Worth of Timber Destroyed in Texas Wildfires
Sep 23 2011 // East Texas is deeply rooted in the timber industry — and during the last 10 months, wildfires have wiped out more than $97 million worth of the region’s trees, the Texas Forest Service reports. Since wildfire...
