Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Colorado Man Accused of Ponzi Scheme
Nov 12 2009 // A Denver man allegedly defrauded people in a national Ponzi scheme involving more than $12 million that was supposed to go real estate investments, the Colorado securities commissioner said Tuesday. Investigators contend...
Dean & Draper Insurance Acquires Two Texas Agencies
Nov 12 2009 // Houston’s Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP announced it has acquired Wilco Insurance Agency Inc. and Always Safe Insurance Agency Inc. as part of an ongoing growth strategy for the Texas-based insurance...
Sparks to Lead Texas Fire and Casualty Insurers Association
Nov 12 2009 // Craig Sparks, president of Union Standard Insurance Group in Irving, Texas, has been elected president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT). Sparks, whose term as AFACT president runs for two...
New Policyholders Split $1M Texas Mutual Dividend Payout
Nov 11 2009 // Workers’ compensation insurance provider, Texas Mutual Insurance Company, has begun distributing approximately $1 million in dividends among nearly 2,600 first-year policyholders across the state. In total, Texas...
Rate of Workplace Nonfatal Injuries, Illnesses Down in Texas for 2008
Nov 10 2009 // Private industry workplaces in Texas reported a total of 234,559 nonfatal injuries and illnesses during 2008. The incidence rate of 3.1 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers marks the sixth consecutive year that the...
Browning, Cole and Vishnevetsky Join Thompson Coe
Nov 5 2009 // Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons LLP announced the addition of John G. Browning as partner, Ryan Cole as senior associate and Edward L. Vishnevetsky as associate to its commercial litigation team. The trio joined...
FEMA Publishes New Flood Risk Maps for Caldwell County, Texas
Nov 4 2009 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has published draft flood risk maps of communities in Caldwell County, Texas. The maps will help county officials and local residents identify known flood risks and will be...
2010 Agricultural Payroll Amount for Texas Workers’ Comp Set at $49K
Nov 4 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation has set the adjusted annual payroll requirement for the coverage of seasonal workers at $49,127. The TDI-DWI said the established gross payroll...
BP Refinery in Texas Hit with Record $87 Million Fine for Safety Violations
Nov 2 2009 // U.S. safety regulators on Friday hit oil giant BP with a record $87.4- million fine for failing to fix safety violations at its Texas City, Texas, refinery after a deadly 2005 explosion. In announcing the fines, U.S. Labor...
El Niño to Influence Winter, Or Not, Say Forecasters
Nov 1 2009 // It will be a tale of two winters in the United States – warmer and drier than average in the North and wetter and cooler in the South – thanks to El Niño, according to government forecasters. In its winter...
Study: Workers’ Compensation Public Options Outperform Private Industry
Nov 1 2009 // State funds blunt the impact of bigger losses through concerted loss prevention efforts. An insurance industry think tank has concluded that 25 public and quasi-public workers’ compensation insurance plans perform...
Business Moves
Nov 1 2009 // Combined Agents, First Texas, Lake Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), based in Austin, Texas, has added two new members: First Texas Insurance Services LC of Arlington, Texas; and Lake Insurance Agency Inc. of Laverne,...
Texas Windstorm Insurance Proposed Rate Hike Rejected
Nov 1 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance has rejected a request from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association for a 10 percent rate increase for both residential and commercial risks. But regulators left open the possibility...
People
Nov 1 2009 // Eagan Insurance Agency, based in Metairie, La., has added six insurance professionals to its staff. Joining the family business are Andrew Eagan and David Strassel, both members of the fifth generation of the Eagan family...
Agents’ E&O Marked By Stability, Satisfaction
Nov 1 2009 // As Agency Revenues Fell, At Least E&O Previums Didn’t Rise Independent insurance agents have had plenty to fret about the past year, including falling revenues. Thus stability in the market and pricing for their...
NTSB: Tire Puncture Caused August 2008 Texas Bus Crash
Oct 30 2009 // An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board has determined that a tire puncture caused a bus crash in August 2008 that killed 17 members of Houston’s Vietnamese Catholic community. The finding was...
Watch Out for Boo! Texas Pedestrian Accidents Jump 23% at Halloween
Oct 30 2009 // On average, the number of Texans hit by cars spikes 23.3 percent during Halloween week, according to Allstate Insurance Company. The insurer recently looked at its Texas auto insurance claims involving pedestrians over the...
Texas May Drop Phone Numbers from Vehicle Accident Reports
Oct 29 2009 // In a blow to businesses that contact drivers after car wrecks, Texas’ law enforcement and transportation agencies have agreed to drop telephone numbers from crash reports. The move is supported by the insurance...
Texas Mutual Hires Dileo as Head of Claims Operations
Oct 29 2009 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company has hired Mike Dileo as senior vice president claims. Dileo has 15 years’ experience managing claim, underwriting, loss prevention and premium audit operations. He comes to Texas Mutual...
Alabama Attorney’s Suit Against Scruggs Assigned to Judge in Texas
Oct 28 2009 // A federal judge in Texas has been assigned to preside over an Alabama attorney’s lawsuit that alleges imprisoned attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs and several others conspired to defraud him of millions...
