Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Reform Legislation Approved by Texas Legislature
Jun 3 2003 // On the last day of the regular session, Texas lawmakers passed insurance reform legislation, but according to the National Association of Independent Insurers consumers and insurers alike will have to wait to see if the...
Heartland Unveils Homeowners Product for Texas, Nearby States
Jun 3 2003 // Heartland Marketing Group Inc., a provider of standard markets to independent agents, announced that a new Surplus Lines Homeowner Product will soon be available in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. Heartland...
Workers’ Comp Bills Sent to Texas Governor
Jun 2 2003 // The Alliance of American Insurers praised the passage of two bills in both houses the Texas Legislature that it believes will achieve meaningful reform of the troubled Texas workers’ compensation system. The bills...
NAII Urges Texas to Implement Reforms to Ensure Affordability, Competition
May 29 2003 // The Texas insurance market may continue to experience serious affordability and availability issues if lawmakers cannot find an answer to the state’s insurance crisis that encourages competition and more choices for...
Texas House Bans Credit Scoring in Regulation Bill
May 28 2003 // The Texas House of Representatives passed its version of Senate Bill 14, legislation that addresses regulation of residential property and commercial and personal automobile insurance. According to the Alliance of American...
Mold Claims Hit $4 Billion in Texas
May 27 2003 // Texas insurance companies have paid out just under $4 billion for mold claims in the past three years. According to the Insurance Council of Texas, an insurance trade association, mold claims have represented a larger...
Texas’ Farmers Settlement Gains Preliminary Approval
May 23 2003 // State District Judge Scott Jenkins in Austin gave a nod to the $117.5 million settlement between the state of Texas and Farmers Insurance Group. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the preliminary approval ends a...
Texas Senate Passes Tort Reform Bill
May 20 2003 // The Texas Senate announced it approved Senate Committee Substitute to House Bill (CSHB) 4, which is aimed at ending what some Senators call lawsuit abuse. Mount Pleasant Senator Bill Ratliff said the bill strikes a fair...
Court Finds So. Texas Well Service Guilty of Fraud
May 20 2003 // Travis County District Judge Brenda Kennedy recently found South Texas Well Service Inc., a Rockport-based company owned by Michael W. Harvey, guilty of insurance fraud. The company was ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution...
SAFECO Introduces New Motorcycle Product in Texas
May 19 2003 // Nuts & Bolts: Safeco announced a new motorcycle coverage designed to compete in a market that’s growing steadily at an estimated 10 percent a year. The company said the average motorcycle owner is 38 years old...
TDI HALTS APARTMENT SCHEME:
May 19 2003 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor issued an emergency cease and desist order against an alleged unauthorized insurance scheme that may have cost apartment owners and condominium associations millions of dollars...
Texas Medical Liability Reform Bill Signed into Law
May 19 2003 // Senate Bill 339, which addresses the medical liability crisis in Texas was signed into law by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The bill allows flexible insurance policies to be written by the Joint Underwriting Authority, the...
RE/MAX, USI Develop Liability Cover for Texas Real Estate Professionals
May 14 2003 // RE/MAX of Texas announced it partnered with USI to develop a partial self-insurance fund for real estate professional liability insurance, exclusively for RE/MAX of Texas franchisees. The USI program is underwritten by...
Republic to be Acquired by Private Investor Group
May 13 2003 // The Republic Group of Insurance Companies (Republic), of Dallas, announced that a private investor group has agreed to purchase Republic from Winterthur U.S. Holdings Inc. and certain other subsidiaries of Credit Suisse...
Unruly Texas House Puts Bill Containing Tax on Commissions in Jeopardy
May 13 2003 // The Texas House of Representatives rejected amendments to a school funding bill passed by the Senate and backed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst that would increase and expand the state sales tax in exchange for lower local...
Texas Court Upholds Workers’ Comp Medical Fee Schedule
May 12 2003 // A recently released Texas trial court ruling will help control workers compensation medical costs by setting reasonable medical fees within the state’s workers compensation system, according to the Alliance of...
Net Income Up for Hallmark Financial Services
May 9 2003 // Dallas-based Hallmark Financial Services Inc. reported operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003, noting its net income rose to $8.6 million, or $0.75 on a diluted per share basis, compared to a net loss...
Reform Advances to House Floor in Texas
May 8 2003 // Insurance reform in Texas is a step closer as the House Insurance Committee approved legislation that will address some of the root causes of the homeowners insurance crisis, however it is reportedly not likely to lead to...
Mold: The Fungus Among Us Is Difficult to Evict
May 5 2003 // Through the use of new policy forms, insurers are trying to evict mold from the insurance landscape. Departments of insurance in 39 states have now approved exclusions for coverage of mold. Will the pesky mold problem...
Tort Reform Advocates Strike While Iron is Hot
May 5 2003 // Only weeks ago it seemed that a series of well-publicized doctor walkouts across the nation had led not only to political pressure to enact malpractice award caps in crisis states but action at the national level as well....
