Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
5th Circuit: Texas Carrier Must Defend Against Claim Despite Policy Exclusion
Aug 3 2020 // Texas law requires an insurer to defend the grandparents of a 10-year-old boy who was killed while driving their all-terrain vehicle against a negligence lawsuit, even though the carrier says neither the boy nor the crash...
Texas Gas Pipeline Erupts After Being Cut by Contractor
Jul 31 2020 // A natural gas pipeline erupted in flames near Houston after it was accidentally cut Wednesday afternoon by a contractor, officials said. The accident happened about 4:45 p.m. in the town of Mont Belvieu, about 30 miles...
Megadroughts Brought by Climate Change a Challenge for Texas Ranchers
Jul 31 2020 // Arthur Uhl III has been ranching for 30 years and routinely has the same lament: “It doesn’t rain enough.” Uhl, who works on his family’s San Angelo-area ranches, needs the rain to grow the grass...
Schools, not Local Health Officials, Decide on Class Start, Texas AG Says
Jul 31 2020 // Local health officials in Texas do not have the authority to close schools to prevent spread of the coronavirus, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said July 28, pushing that decision solely into the hands of school...
RMS Estimate: Insured Losses from Hurricane Hanna Won’t Exceed $400M
Jul 30 2020 // Catastrophe risk products and services company, Risk Management Solutions Inc. (RMS), has estimated that insurance losses in the U.S. from Hurricane Hanna will not exceed $400 million. This estimate represents insured...
COVID-19 Surge in Texas Sparks Worry Amid Hurricane Hanna Cleanup
Jul 28 2020 // As recovery and cleanup efforts got underway on July 27 in South Texas in the wake of a downgraded Hurricane Hanna, worried residents confronted the prospect of undertaking the effort amid a surge in coronavirus cases that...
Texas Issues Price Comparison Data Call to Auto/Residential Insurers
Jul 28 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has issued a data call to insurance companies writing personal automobile and residential property policies in the state. The department said the information is needed for price...
Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Recommends Fee Decrease
Jul 28 2020 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has filed a recommendation for a decrease in the stamping fee rate with the Texas Department of Insurance. In a letter to Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan, SLTX said...
Karen Clark & Co. Estimates $350M Insured Loss from Hurricane Hanna
Jul 28 2020 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm, Karen Clark & Company (KCC) has estimated the insured loss from Hurricane Hanna, which made landfall on Padre Island, Texas, on July 26, will be close to $350 million, excluding National...
Pathfinder/LL&D Insurance Group Joins Texas’ Insurors Group
Jul 27 2020 // Insurors Group LLC, an alliance of independent insurance agents in Texas, has added Pathfinder/LL&D Insurance Group LLC located in Houston, as a member agency. Led by CEO Scott West, Pathfinder/LL&D Insurance Group...
Hanna Pounds South Texas Coast Already Dealing With COVID Surge
Jul 26 2020 // Hurricane Hanna pummeled the south Texas coast on Saturday night with howling winds and a surging sea that threatened a broad area already contending with an intense spike in coronavirus deaths. Hanna is the first...
Update: Tropical Storm Hanna Headed Toward South Texas
Jul 24 2020 // A storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico that yesterday was a tropical depression is now Tropical Storm Hanna, the National Hurricane Center has reported. TS Hanna’s center is currently located south of the...
Lawsuit Claims UT-Austin Unfairly Denied Admission to White Students
Jul 24 2020 // A national organization has filed a lawsuit against the University of Texas at Austin on behalf of two white students who were denied admission, marking the third time the school has been sued by this group over an...
Tropical Depression 8 Stirs Up the Gulf with TS Gonzalo on the Approach
Jul 23 2020 // A tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana could become a tropical storm within the next 24 hours, the National Hurricane Center has warned. At 10 am Atlantic Standard Time on July 23, the NHC...
Committee Recommends No Rate Hike for Texas Windstorm Insurer
Jul 23 2020 // The Actuarial and Underwriting Committee of Texas’ insurer of last resort for wind and hail coverage for properties in the state’s coastal counties voted on July 21 to recommend a 0% rate increase to its board...
Texas Agencies Higginbotham and Borden Insurance Merge
Jul 22 2020 // Fort Worth, Texas-based Higginbotham and Borden Insurance, an independent insurance agency located in Corpus Christi, Texas, have joined forces. Led by President and CEO David Erwin Borden, Borden Insurance was previously...
Texas Windstorm Rate Filing Consideration Process Now Underway
Jul 20 2020 // July 17 was the last day the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s (TWIA) Actuarial & Underwriting Committee accepted comments on its annual rate filing process, which officially begins on July 21 when the...
Jargon-Filled Insurance Policies Lead to Confusion, Costly Lawsuits
Jul 20 2020 // As COVID-19 began forcing shutdowns across the nation, small-business owners looked to their insurance policies. Were they covered? Not surprisingly, the policy language caused more than a little confusion. The debate over...
AM Best Removes from Under Review, Affirms Ratings of Texas’ National Lloyds Group
Jul 17 2020 // AM Best has removed from under review with developing implications and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a” of Dallas-based National Lloyds...
Insurers Score a Win in Texas Air Ambulance Fee Dispute
Jul 16 2020 // State law prevails in disputes between insurers and an air ambulance service over reimbursements under the Texas workers’ compensation system, the state’s highest court recently ruled. In Texas Mutual Insurance...
