Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Independent Agents Urge Adequate Windstorm Funding
Mar 27 2009 // Since funding for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has become a top priority for the Texas Legislature, statewide lawmakers have debated several solutions that will impact policyholders in Texas, according...
Texas Work Comp Penalties for February Reach More Than $152K
Mar 26 2009 // Final disciplinary actions taken by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) in February 2009 include administrative penalties totaling $152,500. Disciplinary orders are subject...
New Bridge Insurance Partners Paying Off for Texas Agents
Mar 25 2009 // Jeff Turner had long harbored ideas on how to operate an independent insurance agency so when he and his business partners Tommy Saxon and Ryan Perry opened Bridge Insurance Partners in Dallas a little more than a year...
Spring Weather Warnings: Midwest Floods; Droughts in South, West
Mar 24 2009 // Flooding in the upper Midwest, which could rival the high water levels experienced in 2006 and possibly 1997, and continued drought in the South and West are among the warnings contained in the national outlook for this...
Texas Homeowners’ Combined Loss & Expense Ratio Estimated at 165.0
Mar 24 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance released the “Texas Homeowners Insurance Loss Data 1992-2008” report, which shows an estimated incurred loss ratio for 2008 at a record high of 127.0, and a combined loss and...
States Gear Up for Stimulus Package
Mar 23 2009 // Impact on Insurance Industry May be Minimal, Experts Say The $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress looms as the largest mountain on the country’s newly changed economic landscape. But despite hope that the...
Lawmakers Aim to Roll Back Texas’ 2003 Insurance Reforms
Mar 23 2009 // Reforms to the Texas insurance regulatory system put in place by Senate Bill 14 in 2003 are under attack by a coalition of state lawmakers who have filed bills to, among other things, return the rate setting process for...
It Figures
Mar 23 2009 // 0.08 Legislation that would lower the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for the offense of boating under the influence from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent has been approved by the Oklahoma Senate. The measure also...
People
Mar 23 2009 // Luke Proctor has been named president of Signature Select LLC, a new retail insurance subsidiary of Wichita, Kan.-based IMA. Proctor joined The IMA Financial Group in 2003 in the management development program, eventually...
Business Moves
Mar 23 2009 // CAA, Ed Berrong Insurance Agency, Bridges Group Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) has expanded outside of Texas with two new members, Ed Berrong Insurance Agency, headquartered in Oklahoma, and...
Declarations
Mar 23 2009 // Impact of Natural Disasters “I have witnessed first hand the impact natural disasters can have on a community and this state.” —Texas Rep. Craig Eiland, whose Galveston district was severely damaged Sept. 13,...
Texas Senate Committee Considers DWI Breath Test Bill
Mar 18 2009 // Drunk driving suspects in Texas would no longer be allowed to refuse a breath or blood test under certain circumstances, under a bill being considered by the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Texas already allows...
Texas Lawmakers Try to Undo Drivers License Identification Rules
Mar 18 2009 // Some Democratic lawmakers joined by Texas residents who have had trouble getting drivers’ licenses under new Department of Public Safety rules are pushing for legislation that would undo a policy they say harms U.S....
Ohio Windstorm Losses in Feb. Reach Nearly $89M; Ike Losses Rise
Mar 16 2009 // Ohio’s Feb. 11-12 windstorm caused at least $88.9 million in damages, based on preliminary insured loss estimates from the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), an insurance industry trade group. Widespread losses were...
Bills Filed to Roll Back Texas 2003 Insurance Reforms
Mar 16 2009 // Reforms to the Texas insurance regulatory system put in place by Senate Bill 14 in 2003 are under attack by a coalition of state lawmakers who have filed bills to, among other things, return the rate setting process for...
Texas Court Finds Asbestosis Exclusion in Insurance Policies Limited
Mar 13 2009 // Policyholders facing liability because of asbestos claims will benefit from a March 11 Texas state court ruling, according to the law firm Anderson Kill & Olick. Judge J. Manuel Bañales of the 105th Judicial District...
Insurance Fraud by Telemarketers Targeted in Texas
Mar 12 2009 // The chairman of the Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud says telemarketers continue to harass the victims of auto accidents whether they have been injured or not. The group is endorsing a bill being introduced in the Texas...
New Orleans-Based Insurance Agency Opens Houston Office
Mar 12 2009 // Independent insurance agency Gillis, Ellis & Baker Inc., headquartered in New Orleans, has opened a new office in Houston under the name of Gillis, Ellis & Baker of Texas PLLC. “We have clients with...
Texas Mutual Fraud Investigations Recover $4.1M in 2008
Mar 11 2009 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that it saved or recovered $4.1 million through its workers’ compensation fraud investigations in 2008. According to the company, the $4.1 million includes: claimant fraud...
Mississippi’s Rep. Taylor Renews Push for Federal Wind Insurance Policy
Mar 10 2009 // Rep. Gene Taylor, D.-Miss., isn’t letting opposition by major insurance companies keep him from pushing his plan to make wind coverage for properties available through the federal flood insurance...
