Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Why a regional carrier might be an agent’s best friend
Feb 11 2007 // The old saying “all politics is local” is born of the realization that the things that most directly affect us are local issues. In that respect, one could say that insurance is a local business. Risk...
Texas – Mike Geeslin
Feb 11 2007 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin presides over one of the largest insurance markets in the nation. He began his term as commissioner in 2005, just months before Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, sending hundreds...
Top 10 hail cities
Feb 11 2007 // Hail events remain a constant threat to property and casualty insurers. In 2005 alone, there were over 13,000 hail storms in the United States. According to Swiss RE, four out of the top 20 most costly insurance losses of...
Prime Authorized to Write Surplus Lines in La., Texas
Feb 9 2007 // Prime Holdings Insurance Services Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Prime Insurance Company has received approval to write surplus lines business in Louisiana as of Jan. 24, 2007, and Texas effective Feb. 1. Prime,...
Prime Authorized to Write Surplus Lines in Texas
Feb 8 2007 // Chicago, Illinois and Salt Lake City, Utah – Prime Holdings Insurance Services, Inc. (“Prime Holdings”) announced that its subsidiary, Prime Insurance Company (“Prime”), received approval to...
Texas Harvester Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Feb 8 2007 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that Patricia Chavez of Sabinal, Texas pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The Travis County 390th Judicial District Court sentenced Chavez to three...
Texas State Senator Files Bill to Provide Tax Relief to Small Businesses
Feb 6 2007 // State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (Kerrville) has filed House Bill 1022 and House Joint Resolution 54 which clarify that personal vehicles used for the production of income are exempt from ad valorem taxation. “Most small...
Fight Shaping Up in Texas Over Proposed Indoor Smoking Ban
Feb 5 2007 // A proposed ban on smoking in all bars, restaurants and work sites across Texas is igniting a big-money fight at the state Capitol. Anti-smoking forces are lining up against the tobacco industry and some restaurant owners,...
MedAlert Convicted of Workers’ Comp Fraud
Feb 5 2007 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that MedAlert Inc. pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The Travis County 331st District Court ordered MedAlert to pay $2,842 in restitution to Texas...
Texas Governor Proposes $50 Million Disaster Contingency Fund
Feb 1 2007 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has proposed the creation of a $50 million Disaster Contingency Fund to help state and local governments respond to public emergencies. “As we have learned from disasters like hurricanes Katrina...
U.S. Risk Brokers Promotes Way
Feb 1 2007 // U.S. Risk Brokers, a subsidiary of U.S. Risk Insurance Group, announced that Tiffany Way has been promoted from associate broker to broker. She is located at U.S. Risk Brokers’ Austin, Texas, office. Way is...
Study Shows Texas Economy Vulnerable to Cat-Sized Coastal Storm
Jan 31 2007 // A study commissioned by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) shows that the economy of the entire state of Texas would be severely impacted if a Category 3-type hurricane were to hit heavily populated areas of...
Washington Commissioner Issues Multiple Fines, Enforcement Actions
Jan 31 2007 // Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner has ordered UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. of Minneapolis to pay a $59,000 fine following an agency investigation into the company’s use of unapproved contracts...
Austin, Texas, Agent Appointed to Encompass Advisory Panel
Jan 31 2007 // Austin, Texas, independent insurance agent Vicky Lindsey has been named to the national board of NorthStar, the agent advisory panel for Encompass Insurance. Her appointment was effective Jan. 1, 2007. NorthStar provides a...
American Physicians Service Group Merger Approved by Texas Regulators
Jan 31 2007 // American Physicians Service Group Inc. announced that the Texas Department of Insurance has approved the merger of American Physicians Insurance Exchange with APS. The merger, announced in June 2006, has been progressing...
Slip slidin’ away: The deterioration of the late notice defense
Jan 29 2007 // Through a series of opinions, courts seem to be gradually chipping away at insurer’s policy defenses based on late notice of claim or suit, or failure to forward suit papers. The new trend started when the Supreme...
TDI Offers Resources on Insurance Careers
Jan 29 2007 // The Texas Department of Insurance announced it has a new interactive resource on the agency’s Web site, http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/careers.html, describing careers available in the insurance industry: from...
Fla. Homeowner Rates may now Edge Texas, Insurer Group Says
Jan 29 2007 // Texas may no longer have the highest homeowner insurance rates in the country, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. For the second year in a row, both homeowners and automobile insurance premiums in Texas have...
People and Places
Jan 29 2007 // Argonaut Group Inc., based in San Antonio, reported that Gregory M. Vezzosi has joined the organization as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Vezzosi will report to Mark E. Watson III, president and...
Windstorm expected to be major insurance issue for Texas lawmakers
Jan 29 2007 // Funding for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Asso-ciation (TWIA) may not be the only insurance issue on lawmakers’ plates during the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature, but it will likely be the most high profile...
