Latest Texas Headlines

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

Top 10 hail cities

Feb 12 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...

Mike Geeslin, Texas, Texas Insurance Commissioner

Feb 11 2007 // It could be said the first year of Mike Geeslin’s term as Texas Insurance Commissioner was one of “trial by fire.” Gov. Rick Perry appointed Geeslin to the post in June 2005, just months before Hurricanes...

Business Moves

Feb 11 2007 // Watkins Insurance Group, AIC-Sun Belt Watkins Insurance Group, based in Austin, Texas, purchased local insurance agency AIC-Sun Belt Group Inc. for an undisclosed amount. All current employees of AIC-Sun Belt, including...

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...

News Currents

Feb 11 2007 // Study shows Texas economy vulnerable to Cat 3-sized coastal storm 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...

It Figures

Feb 11 2007 // 122 The number of levees nationwide that are at risk for failing, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had threatened levees, but only two had more than a...

People

Feb 11 2007 // Privately owned insurance and risk management firm, McQueary Henry Bowles Troy L.L.P., has named Mike Rutledge a partner. Rutledge is a vice president in MHBT’s Fort Worth, Texas, office. Rutledge’s career in...

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...