Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
3 Hurt At Texas Chemical Plant Hit By Two Massive Explosions
Dec 2 2019 // Two massive explosions 13 hours apart tore through a Texas chemical plant last week, and one left three workers injured. The blasts blew out windows and doors of nearby homes and prompted a mandatory evacuation of a 4-mile...
Texas Mutual Distributes $3.5M in Early Qualifier Dividends
Dec 2 2019 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. recently paid $3.5 million in early qualifier dividends to approximately 3,200 newer policyholder owners across the state. This payout is the final component of the company’s $330 million...
5% Rate Hike Recommended for Texas Windstorm Insurer
Dec 2 2019 // When the board of directors of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast meets in December, its members will be considering a recommendation by the organization’s actuarial...
More Storms. Less Damage. But 2019’s Slow Hurricanes Leave Sense of Foreboding.
Nov 30 2019 // The Atlantic Ocean has spawned lots of storms this season while doing much less damage than prior years. But warming waters promise trouble ahead. The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30, has been the eighth...
Texas Chemical Plant Fire Brought Under Control
Nov 29 2019 // AUSTIN, Texas , NOV. 29 —Officials lifted evacuation orders Friday for around 50,000 people on the Texas Gulf Coast, determining a massive fire was finally under control at a chemical plant rocked by two major explosions...
Texas Orthopedic Surgeon to Pay $300K to Settle False Claims, Kickback Case
Nov 27 2019 // The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma reported that a Texas surgeon has agreed to resolve False Claims Act allegations that he accepted illegal kickback payments from OK Compounding LLC for...
AM Best Upgrades Rating of Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange
Nov 26 2019 // AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb+” from “bbb” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) of Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange...
Texas McDonald’s Franchisee Settles Sex Harassment Lawsuit for $340K
Nov 26 2019 // A McDonald’s franchise owner with locations in Texas pay $340,000 and furnish other relief to settle a federal sexual harassment lawsuit. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in its lawsuit...
Texas Agency RHSB Adds Ausmus as Account Manager, Personal Client Services
Nov 26 2019 // Dallas-based independent insurance brokerage firm RHSB (Roach Howard Smith & Barton) has hired Cindy Ausmus as account manager in its Personal Client Services department. Ausmus replaced long time employee Liz...
Texas-Based Sales and Marketing Company to Settle Disability Lawsuit for $2.65M
Nov 25 2019 // A Plano, Texas-based international sales and marketing company that provides food demonstrators to major American retailers and warehouse stores, will pay $2.65 million and furnish other relief to settle a federal...
EPA Eases Safety Requirements Enacted after Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Nov 22 2019 // Days before President Barack Obama left office in 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule aimed at preventing tragedies like the 2013 explosion and fire in the tiny Central Texas town of West that...
Next Level Insurance Agency’s O’Connell Elected President-Elect of NAIFA-Texas
Nov 22 2019 // Next Level Insurance Agency CEO Danny O’Connell has been elected president-elect of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors – Texas (NAIFA-TX) for 2020. He will continue to lead the...
One Critically Injured in Fire at Texas Oilfield Site
Nov 22 2019 // One person was seriously injured in a Midland, Texas, explosion and fire on Thursday involving several storage tanks and a truck used in oilfield operations, city and hospital officials said. The fire was contained at the...
Arthur J. Gallagher Subsidiary, Artex Risk, Acquires Texas’ EWI Re
Nov 21 2019 // Artex Risk Solutions Inc., a captive and alternative risk transfer specialist subsidiary of Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, Arthur J. Gallagher...
Mexicans Sue Walmart Over Deadly Texas Shooting
Nov 21 2019 // Ten Mexican citizens have sued Walmart over the shooting at a store in the U.S. border town of El Paso, Texas, that killed eight Mexicans and left eight more injured, saying that Walmart did not do enough to protect its...
Texas Windstorm Insurer’s Actuarial Committee Recommends 5% Rate Hike
Nov 20 2019 // When the board of directors of Texas’ property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast meets in December, its members will be considering a 5% rate increase recommended by the...
Outlooks Revised to Negative for Members of Texas’ Slavonic Mutual Group
Nov 20 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” of Slavonic Mutual Fire Insurance...
Texas On-Demand Delivery Service Now Providing Commercial Auto Insurance to Drivers
Nov 19 2019 // Favor, the Texas-based on-demand delivery service, is now providing its entire Runner community of over 80,000 contract delivery drivers with commercial automobile liability insurance coverage during every active delivery...
Fire Damages, Destroys Buildings at Famous Texas Wurstfest Venue
Nov 19 2019 // Fire destroyed one building and damaged another last week on the grounds for an annual festival celebrating German culture in the Texas city of New Braunfels. While fire officials work to determine the cause, Wurstfest...
People & Places
Nov 18 2019 // National W. R. Berkley Corp. has appointed Marlo M. Edwards as president of Verus Underwriting Managers. Edwards succeeds Dale H. Pilkington, who is retiring. Edwards joins Verus with 20 years of experience in the property...
