Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Central Texas MGA Adds New Carriers for Various Product Lines
Aug 20 2009 // Tejas American General Agency (TAGA), an independent privately-owned managing general agency based in the Austin, Texas, area, has recently added three new markets – Insurors Indemnity, Gotham Insurance Company and...
Galveston Firefighters Receive Fireman’s Fund, Texas Agent Grant
Aug 19 2009 // The Galveston (Texas) Fire Department is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ike, and in addition to flood damage to various firehouses, several of the department’s portable radios were damaged or...
USAA to Lower Homeowners Rates for Most Policyholders in Texas
Aug 14 2009 // San Antonio, Texas-based USAA has announced it has filed a plan with the Texas Department of Insurance to reduce its homeowners insurance rates in the state by an average of 6 percent. The reduction will equate to an...
Texas’ Specialty Insurance Managers Names New Vice Presidents
Aug 13 2009 // Texas-based Specialty Insurance Managers Inc. recently appointed several new vice presidents. Karen Ashton was named vice president of the Arlington, Texas, branch. Bonnie Stalkfleet is now vice president of the Granbury...
Damaged Southeast Texas Apartments Evacuated 11 Months After Ike
Aug 12 2009 // An evacuation in Southeast Texas nearly 11 months after Hurricane Ike is being linked to the storm. An engineer determined three apartment buildings in La Marque appear to be twisting on their foundations and risk...
Seatbelts, Cellphones, Handguns Addressed in New Texas Traffic Laws
Aug 12 2009 // The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has issued a summary of new traffic laws passed by the Texas Legislature that are set to become effective Sept. 1, 2009. Among those laws that may affect the property casualty...
Texas Windstorm Pool Reports Waiver Surcharge Commission Change
Aug 11 2009 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reported that HB 4409 passed by the 81st Legislature, requires several changes for TWIA policies. TWIA issued a bulletin to agents as a reminder that the first of these...
Agents, Meteorologists Gear Up for Annual Texas Hurricane Tour
Aug 10 2009 // For the fourth year in a row insurance spokesmen will team with meteorologists from the National Weather Service and independent insurance agents to warn Texas coastal residents of the potential dangers of hurricanes. This...
Texas’ June Enforcement Actions Result in $441K in Fines, Restitution
Aug 10 2009 // Enforcement actions taken by Texas Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during June included 18 license revocations, five license denials and fines and restitution totaling $441,318, the Texas Department of...
Texas Agency Spending Some Hurricane Recovery Money
Aug 10 2009 // A Texas agency that was questioned for not spending much of the money it received to help 2005 hurricane victims has improved but still has spent only 31 percent of the funds, a state auditor’s report found. The...
Unsafe Truck, Bus Operators Told to Shut Down Are Still on Roads
Aug 3 2009 // Hundreds of tractor-trailer and bus companies ordered to shut down because of federal safety violations ranging from suspended licenses to possible drug use have stayed on the road by using different names, investigators...
The Trouble With the ‘Acts of God’ Defense in Texas
Aug 3 2009 // The phrase “act of God” has a rich pedigree and interesting etymological history. Under Roman law, mercantile obligations arose from duties and contracts. If someone had a legal or contractual duty to do...
Why Bankruptcy Rates Vary By State
Aug 3 2009 // State Policies, More Than Differences Among People, Tend to Influence Bankruptcy Rates In a previous edition of Insurance Journal (July 20, 2009, “Tackling Client Bankruptcy: How to Help Clients Work Through the...
States Give a ‘Thumbs Up’ to Fingerprinting Insurance Producers
Aug 3 2009 // Regulators Say Fingerprinting Keeps Criminals Out of the Business Don’t be alarmed, but there are convicted criminals roaming around the country acting as insurance producers. They could be robbers, forgers, possibly...
Business Moves
Aug 3 2009 // Met Life MetLife Inc. is combining its institutional and individual businesses, as well as its auto and home insurance unit, into a single U.S. business organization. William J. Mullaney, who has served as president of...
A New Landscape: Notice and Prejudice in Texas
Aug 3 2009 // In the past few years, the Texas Supreme Court has repeatedly addressed the meaning and operation of policy conditions. Perhaps nothing has received as much attention as the conditions relating to notice of an occurrence,...
Why Bankruptcy Rates Vary By State
Aug 3 2009 // State Policies, More Than Differences Among People, Tend to Influence Bankruptcy Rates In a previous edition of Insurance Journal (July 20, 2009, “Tackling Client Bankruptcy: How to Help Clients Work Through the...
People
Aug 3 2009 // The Insurance Council of Texas recently presented William H. “Bill” Huff, vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Affirmative Insurance, with the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award. Huff is the 12th recipient of...
FPIC Insurance Group Buys Texas Med Mal Insurer Advocate, MD
Jul 31 2009 // Jacksonville, Florida-based medical liability insurer FPIC Insurance Group Inc. will acquire Advocate, MD Financial Group Inc. of Austin, Texas for $33.6 million. The deal includes additional considerations of up to $12...
HRH Acquisition Helps Boost Willis’ Revenues by 19% in Q2
Jul 30 2009 // Willis Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: WSH) reported the company’s total second quarter revenues were up by 19 percent, an increase due primarily to the HRH acquisition. Total reported revenues for the quarter ended...
