Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
State Farm Owes $310M in Refunds, Texas Regulators Say
Nov 17 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance has ordered State Farm Lloyd’s (SFL) to refund a total of $310 million to policyholders after finding that the insurer had overcharged customers beginning in 2003. It’s a...
Unicare to Exit Group, Individual Healthcare Market in Illinois, Texas
Nov 17 2009 // Healthcare provider UniCare will effectively no longer be providing healthcare coverage to commercial groups and individuals in Illinois and Texas as of the end of the year. UniCare’s parent company, Wellpoint Inc.,...
Business Moves
Nov 15 2009 // Aon, Carpenter Moore Global insurance broker Aon Corp. has agreed to acquire Carpenter Moore Insurance Services, Inc., a provider of executive liability risk management services and a wholly owned subsidiary of The NASDAQ...
It Figures
Nov 15 2009 // $1 Billion The Army Corps of Engineers is launching a $1 billion project to protect the suburban West Bank of New Orleans from devastating floods. Some critics say the project may have the potential dangerous consequence...
People
Nov 15 2009 // Arthur Seifert has joined Southwest Insurance Partners Inc. (SWIP) as chief executive officer of Houston-based Bunker Hill Insurance Agency (BHIA), SWIP’s wholly owned underwriting agency subsidiary. Seifert has been...
New Markets
Nov 15 2009 // The following markets were selected from the MyNewMarkets database of 25,000 coverages and programs. To find additional markets, or to submit markets, go to www.MyNewMarkets.com. Commercial Construction Liability Market...
2009 Top Personal Lines Agencies
Nov 15 2009 // The following list is taken from the Insurance Journal Top 100 P/C/ Independent Insurance Agencies report published in Insurance Journal on Aug. 3. These agencies represent the leaders in total personal lines premium...
Marsh & McLennan Agency Acquires Insurance Alliance of Texas
Nov 12 2009 // New York-based Marsh & McLennan Agency, a subsidiary of insurance mega-broker Marsh Inc., has acquired Insurance Alliance, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in Texas. Terms of the deal were not...
Colorado Man Accused of Ponzi Scheme
Nov 12 2009 // A Denver man allegedly defrauded people in a national Ponzi scheme involving more than $12 million that was supposed to go real estate investments, the Colorado securities commissioner said Tuesday. Investigators contend...
Dean & Draper Insurance Acquires Two Texas Agencies
Nov 12 2009 // Houston’s Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP announced it has acquired Wilco Insurance Agency Inc. and Always Safe Insurance Agency Inc. as part of an ongoing growth strategy for the Texas-based insurance...
Sparks to Lead Texas Fire and Casualty Insurers Association
Nov 12 2009 // Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Group in Irving, Texas, has been elected president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT). Sparks, whose term as AFACT president runs for two...
New Policyholders Split $1M Texas Mutual Dividend Payout
Nov 11 2009 // Workers’ compensation insurance provider, Texas Mutual Insurance Company, has begun distributing approximately $1 million in dividends among nearly 2,600 first-year policyholders across the state. In total, Texas...
Rate of Workplace Nonfatal Injuries, Illnesses Down in Texas for 2008
Nov 10 2009 // Private industry workplaces in Texas reported a total of 234,559 nonfatal injuries and illnesses during 2008. The incidence rate of 3.1 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers marks the sixth consecutive year that the...
Browning, Cole and Vishnevetsky Join Thompson Coe
Nov 5 2009 // Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons LLP announced the addition of John G. Browning as partner, Ryan Cole as senior associate and Edward L. Vishnevetsky as associate to its commercial litigation team. The trio joined...
FEMA Publishes New Flood Risk Maps for Caldwell County, Texas
Nov 4 2009 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published draft flood risk maps of communities in Caldwell County, Texas. The maps will help county officials and local residents identify known flood risks and will be...
2010 Agricultural Payroll Amount for Texas Workers’ Comp Set at $49K
Nov 4 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation has set the adjusted annual payroll requirement for the coverage of seasonal workers at $49,127. The TDI-DWI said the established gross payroll...
BP Refinery in Texas Hit with Record $87 Million Fine for Safety Violations
Nov 2 2009 // U.S. safety regulators on Friday hit oil giant BP with a record $87.4- million fine for failing to fix safety violations at its Texas City, Texas, refinery after a deadly 2005 explosion. In announcing the fines, U.S. Labor...
El Niño to Influence Winter, Or Not, Say Forecasters
Nov 1 2009 // It will be a tale of two winters in the United States – warmer and drier than average in the North and wetter and cooler in the South – thanks to El Niño, according to government forecasters. In its winter...
Study: Workers’ Compensation Public Options Outperform Private Industry
Nov 1 2009 // State funds blunt the impact of bigger losses through concerted loss prevention efforts. An insurance industry think tank has concluded that 25 public and quasi-public workers’ compensation insurance plans perform...
Business Moves
Nov 1 2009 // Combined Agents, First Texas, Lake Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), based in Austin, Texas, has added two new members: First Texas Insurance Services LC of Arlington, Texas; and Lake Insurance Agency Inc. of Laverne,...
