Latest Texas Headlines

Farmers ask U.S. Senate panel for disaster relief program in next farm bill

Sep 25 2006 // Agriculture groups told a U.S. Senate panel in Texas this month that they want the next farm bill to include disaster relief for farmers and ranchers reeling from billions of dollars lost to the drought. They shared their...

The Fiess decision: Mold is out and more

Sep 25 2006 // In early 2005, the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals “certified” a very controversial state law question to the Texas Supreme Court. Certifying a question simply means that the Federal Appellate Court asks...

Insurer to drop Texas medical liability rates again

Sep 25 2006 // Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) recently declared a 20 percent dividend amounting to approximately $35 million for 2006 effective Jan. 1, 2007, for renewing TMLT policyholders. In addition, it plans to reduce rates...

Insurer to drop Texas medical liability rates again

Sep 25 2006 // Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) recently declared a 20 percent dividend amounting to approximately $35 million for 2006 effective Jan. 1, 2007, for renewing TMLT policyholders. In addition, it plans to reduce rates...

Texas agents urge legislators to address windstorm problems

Sep 25 2006 // The Texas Legislature’s Texas Joint Committee on Wind-storm Coverage and Budgetary Impact held a public hearing in Corpus Christi in late August, and two of the state’s agent associations–the Independent...

Creating more capacity on the Texas coastline

Sep 25 2006 // Writing property insurance in Texas can be a difficult proposition, especially in a time when the frequency and severity of catastrophic coastal storms is increasing. To address this problem, the Texas Joint Committee on...

Sep 25 2006 // People San Antonio, Texas-based Southwest Business Corporation announced that Nick Grant has joined SWBC as the chief executive officer of the Property and Casualty Division in the San Antonio office. Grant is responsible...

The Fiess decision: Mold is out and more

Sep 25 2006 // In early 2005, the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals “certified” a very controversial state law question to the Texas Supreme Court. Certifying a question simply means that the Federal Appellate Court asks...

News Currents

Sep 25 2006 // Texas agents urge legislators to address windstorm problems The Texas Legislature’s Texas Joint Committee on Wind-storm Coverage and Budgetary Impact held a public hearing in Corpus Christi in late August, and two of...

One Year After Hurricane Rita Texas Insurers Offer Advice

Sep 22 2006 // As we approach the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Rita’s visit to Texas, residents along the Gulf Coast of Texas can and have learned a lot about the devastating effects of a hurricane, an insurance industry...

Texas Work Comp Reform: A Lot Done, More to Go

Sep 21 2006 // Speaker after speaker at the Sept. 20 workers’ compensation conference presented by the Insurance Council of Texas recognized that while reform of Texas’ workers’ compensation system has come a long way,...

Texas Work Comp Commissioner Betts Approves 17 Companies to Self-Insure

Sep 20 2006 // Seventeen companies with approximately 82,000 employees in Texas recently were approved to self-insure for workers’ compensation claims for a one-year period under the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of...

Houston Social Services Business Owner Sentenced in Medicaid Fraud Scheme

Sep 20 2006 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced a four-year sentence handed down recently against Vincent C. Agu, 55, the owner of a Spring family services counseling clinic located at his residence known as Innovations...

CompGroup AGC Earns Largest Group Dividend in Texas Mutual History

Sep 19 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company recently announced a $2,672,136 dividend to the CompGroup AGC purchasing group. The insurer said it was the largest single group dividend payout in its history. The Texas Department of...

Texas Mutual Pays $773K Dividend to Lone Star Auto Dealers

Sep 18 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a group dividend of $773,720 to the Lone Star Auto Dealers Association (LSA) purchasing group. LSA has earned over $1.2 million in group dividends since 2002. Group dividends are...

State Farm Dropping Some Coastal Policies in Texas

Sep 18 2006 // State Farm has announced that it will not renew coverage for 6,000 personal and commercial policyholders along the Texas coast starting next year. The state’s largest insurer said Sept. 14 that it will not renew...

Texas Physicians Ask Court to Ban Chiropractors from Certain Procedures

Sep 15 2006 // A chiropractor is not a medical doctor, and a state agency has no legal authority to blur the line between them, the Texas Medical Association contends in a lawsuit challenging recent decisions by the Texas Board of...

Four Texas Cities to Receive Smoke Alarms

Sep 15 2006 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), the State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO), Travelers Insurance Company and First Alert have joined together to place smoke alarms into the homes of limited income and elderly...

Registration Open for Annual Texas Workers’ Comp Conference

Sep 14 2006 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation is holding registration for its annual Workers’ Compensation Conference on December 4-5, 2006, in Austin. Participants can register for the...

MHBT Adds Utay to Personal Insurance Professionals Group

Sep 13 2006 // McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP (MHBT) announced that Hoyt Utay has joined the firm’s Dallas, Texas, office as sales professional in Personal Insurance Professionals, a division of MHBT that was formed to provide the...