Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Cliff-Hanging House Set on Fire
Jun 17 2014 // Charred debris from a luxury cliff-side home in Texas fell 75 feet into a lake below after fire crews set the $700,000 retreat ablaze rather than wait for it to crumble into the water as the land faltered around it. It...
Insurance Capacity for Oil & Gas Is Plentiful but Contract Wording May Be Tricky
Jun 16 2014 // The insurance capacity is there to cover the risks associated with the current oil and gas boom in Texas and the nation, experts say, but agents and their customers should be vigilant in their efforts to understand the...
All in the Family: Father and Daughter Honored by Texas Agents
Jun 16 2014 // A father/daughter team of insurance professionals recently were awarded two of the highest honors bestowed upon independent agents in Texas at the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas annual conference and trade show in...
Tornado Confirmed in Central Texas
Jun 16 2014 // Severe weather late on June 12 spawned a Central Texas tornado that damaged several homes and floodwaters that washed away a car and left its driver missing. The National Weather Service says a tornado packing winds of up...
TWIA Financials Improved as Hurricane Season Starts
Jun 16 2014 // Low catastrophe activity and claims experience so far this year have helped to put Texas’ insurer of last resort for properties along the Gulf Coast in a better position to face the 2014 hurricane season than it has...
Texas Insurance Regulators Remind Roofers, Adjusters: You Can’t Do Both
Jun 16 2014 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has issued a bulletin to insurance companies, insurance adjusters and roofers, reminding them that a roofing contractor who is also an insurance adjuster cannot perform both duties...
IIAT Names Young Agent of the Year, Young Associate of the Year
Jun 13 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) named James Russell of Texas Associates Insurors/NewFirst Insurors in El Campo as the André P. Juneau Young Agent of the Year. In addition, the association honored Jason...
Abilene, Texas, Hammered by Hailstorm
Jun 13 2014 // Up to a dozen people were treated for injuries last night in Abilene, Texas, after a large hailstorm struck the city during a children’s parade and art walk, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. The Taylor County...
On the Road: Are America’s Guardrails Dangerous?
Jun 13 2014 // Before dawn on Feb. 23, Darius Williams ran his Nissan Sentra off a North Carolina interstate at 80 miles per hour. A length of guardrail pierced his door, according to the police report, driving the 24-year-old’s...
Hits to TrustedChoice.com Growing, Big ‘I’ Chair-Elect Tells Texas Agents
Jun 12 2014 // Insurance consumer interest in Trusted Choice, the national brand created for the members of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or Big “I”), is growing, according the...
TWFG Adds 10 Branch Agencies in Texas
Jun 12 2014 // The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG) has added 10 more branch agencies in its home state of Texas. TWFG now operates with more than 200 branch offices in Texas along with its headquarters in The Woodlands, just north of...
Eroding Cliff Leaves Luxury Home Teetering 75 Feet Over Texas Lake
Jun 12 2014 // A luxury house has been left teetering about 75 feet above a Central Texas lake since the cliff the home is built on began collapsing. WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the house has been condemned and the owners...
MHBT’s Arthur to Serve as Chair of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas
Jun 12 2014 // Pat Arthur The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) elected Pat Arthur, shareholder at MHBT in Dallas, to serve as chairman for 2014-2015 during IIAT’s 117th Annual Conference and Trade Show in San...
Texas Doctor Convicted Again on Workers’ Comp Fraud Charges
Jun 10 2014 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County jury convicted Howard T. Douglas III, M.D. of Frisco, Texas, on felony workers’ compensation fraud-related charges for overbilling Texas Mutual for functional...
Washington Commissioner Disciplines Producers for Violations
Jun 10 2014 // Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines to several insurance companies, agents and brokers who violated state insurance regulations during May. The fines totaled $12,250. They are: Insurance companies Benefit...
Texas Moves Forward in Becoming an NCCI State
Jun 10 2014 // In late March 2014, Texas Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathegeber approved a staff petition to adopt the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) Basic Manual, with Texas exceptions, and the national and...
GM Looks to Settle Ignition Lawsuits, Avoid Punitive Damages
Jun 10 2014 // General Motors Co.’s lawyers have said the carmaker will face punitive damages over ignition switch defects if its customers go to trial, creating an urgent need to settle lawsuits. The automaker, which has said it...
Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner to Resign Aug. 1
Jun 9 2014 // Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Rod Bordelon plans to resign from his post effective Aug. 1, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. Bordelon has served as Commissioner for the past six years. Insurance...
Terrell Joins Schinnerer in Texas as Regional Sales Manager
Jun 5 2014 // Underwriting manager Victor O. Schinnerer & Company Inc. announced that Jake Terrell joined the firm as vice president and sales manager for the Southeast and South Central United States. Terrell is based in Dallas and...
Opting Out of Texas Workers’ Comp Doesn’t Have to Mean Going Bare
Jun 5 2014 // While Oklahoma recently adopted legislation under which employers may choose an alternative to the statutory workers’ compensation system in certain circumstances, Texas still the only state in which participation in...
