Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Austin Attorney Receives ‘Insurance Legend’ Award
Apr 22 2011 // As part of its Advanced Insurance Law Seminar, the Insurance Law Section of the State Bar of Texas honored Austin-lawyer Joe K. Longley as the recipient of its 2011 Insurance Legend Award. This Award is given annually by...
Wildfires Continue in Texas; More than 1.8M Acres Burned This Year
Apr 21 2011 // Wildfire approaching McDonald Observatory near Ft. Davis, Texas. Photo by: Frank Cianciolo / McDonald Observatory As wildfires continue to rage in almost every region of the state, the Texas Forest Service reports that...
Third Hailstorm in Two Weeks Pounds North Texas Area
Apr 21 2011 // A severe line of thunderstorms extending 100 miles pounded portions of north central Texas this week producing hail as large as tennis balls. The line extended from Denton to Hillsboro. The communities of Itasca and...
Texas Science Panel Adopts Arson Recommendations
Apr 20 2011 // A state panel in Texas has recommended more education and training for fire investigators following its review of a case involving a Texas inmate executed after a fire labeled arson killed his three daughters. The Texas...
Austin, Texas, Fire Contained; 18 Homes Damaged
Apr 19 2011 // A wildfire in Austin, Texas, believed to have been sparked by a homeless man’s campfire, has burned 100 acres and damaged at least 18 homes. Austin Fire Department spokesman Chayer Smith said he expected the damage...
South Central States Assess Damage from Recent Storms
Apr 18 2011 // Tornadoes, violent thunderstorms, high wind and hail struck large swaths of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas last week and now those states are beginning the process of assessing the damage. In Arkansas, storms...
252 Texas Counties in Fire Danger; Gov. Requests Disaster Declaration
Apr 18 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has requested a federal Major Disaster Declaration for his state as a result of widespread wildfires and continuing fire danger across the state. Perry identified 252 out of 254 Texas counties that...
Texas Sees Rise in Workers’ Comp Medical Cost per Claim
Apr 18 2011 // Medical costs per claim in Texas rose 8 percent in 2008, after a period of declining costs following reforms enacted in 2001 and 2005, and increased payor focus on managing medical care, according to a study by the Workers...
HMO Ordered to Cover Claims in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma
Apr 18 2011 // The Louisiana Supreme Court on April 1 ordered health maintenance organization Health Net Inc. to cover more than $180 million in claims by consumers, health care providers and creditors in Louisiana, Oklahoma and...
Insurance Council of Texas Scholarships Have Honored 201 Students
Apr 15 2011 // More than 200 students in Texas have benefited from scholarships provided by the insurance industry since 2002, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Education Foundation announced. The group has awarded academic...
Texas Wind Insurance Pool Selects Polak as Interim General Manager
Apr 14 2011 // The board of the insurer of last resort for property along the Texas coast has selected John Polak as the association’s interim general manager. Polak succeeds Randy Wipf, who was named acting general manager of the...
Texas Lawmaker Cancels State Farm Policy Over Refund Issue
Apr 14 2011 // Texas State Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio has announced he is terminating his policyholder relationship with State Farm Insurance Co. because of the company’s persistent refusal to pay back customers that have...
A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of National Lloyds, American Summit
Apr 14 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a+” of Texas-based National Lloyds Insurance Company (National Lloyds) as well as the FSR of A...
National Weather Service Confirms 4 Tornadoes Hit North Texas
Apr 13 2011 // A National Weather Service storm survey team has confirmed that at least four tornadoes struck rural areas south and east of Dallas and Fort Worth on April 11. A line of savage thunderstorms packing damaging winds and...
Texas Approves 10 Companies to Self-Insure for Workers’ Comp
Apr 13 2011 // Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) approved one initial application and nine renewals of the Certificates of Authority for companies to self-insure their workers’...
State Farm Again Ordered to Refund Texas Policyholders
Apr 12 2011 // A judge in Austin, Texas, has ruled that State Farm Insurance Co. must comply with a state insurance department directive to repay policyholders in a long running dispute between the insurer and Texas insurance regulators...
North Texas Residents Assessing Storm Damage
Apr 12 2011 // The Dallas/Fort Worth area is cleaning up after storms rocked the area with major wind and hail damage. The National Weather Service Regional Office in Fort Worth said there were four general areas of damage with the...
Fires Remain Out of Control in Texas; McDonald Observatory Threatened
Apr 11 2011 // Two huge range fires remained out of control on April 11, burning thousands of acres in far west Texas and northwest Texas. Together the fires have consumed more than 150,000 acres. The Rock House Fire in far west Texas...
Parts of Ft. Davis, Thousands of Acres Burn in Texas
Apr 11 2011 // Firefighters struggled on April 10 to bring a massive wildfire in the Fort Davis, Texas-area under control. The fire has burned more than 25,600 acres and destroyed an estimated 50 homes. The Fort Davis fire spread from...
Texas’ February Enforcements Bring Nearly $1M in Fines, Restitution
Apr 8 2011 // Enforcement actions taken by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during February 2011 resulted in fines and restitution totaling $920,170. The Texas Department of Insurance announced that the...
