Latest Texas Headlines

Texas Windstorm Pool Seeks to Increase Reinsurance Level for 2008

Apr 17 2008 // Citing increased exposure along the Texas coast, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has requested Commissioner of Insurance Mike Geeslin to authorize the purchase of $1.5 billion in reinsurance for the windstorm...

Texas Workers’ Comp Division Assesses $63K in Penalties

Apr 17 2008 // Disciplinary actions taken by Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation Albert Betts in February and March 2008 totaled $63,800 for violations of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, the Texas Department of...

Texas Regulators Explain State Farm Homeowners Rate Hike

Apr 14 2008 // In its “Straight Talk About Insurance” column on its Web site, the Texas Department of Insurance has updated information on the decision to approve an increase in State Farm Insurance Company’s homeowners...

Excess Workers’ Comp Program for Non-subscribers Launched in Texas

Apr 11 2008 // Safety National Casualty Corp., a Missouri-based provider of excess workers’ compensation insurance, has launched a new program for non-subscriber employers in Texas. This new program, TExcess, provides excess...

Texas Attorney General Acts to Halt Sale of Fake Driver’s Licenses

Apr 11 2008 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged a Houston company with selling fake driver’s licenses to immigrants. An enforcement action filed by the Attorney General asked the court to stop the defendants, Centro...

Ark., Okla., Texas Hammered with Storms; Damage Estimates Mount

Apr 10 2008 // An insurance industry trade organization estimates that preliminary damage from an April 8 Oklahoma hail storm has risen to $15 million and cautioned losses could increase significantly. Meanwhile, Northern Texas, Oklahoma...

Merger of Energy Risk Associates and PWIB Texas Creates Towerstone

Apr 9 2008 // IMA Financial Group Inc. announced the recent formation of Towerstone Inc., a wholesale insurance broker and managing general agency with extensive experience in a broad spectrum of industries, with expertise in energy and...

Lee Joins Higginbotham & Associates’ Risk Management Team

Apr 8 2008 // Vance Lee has joined the Dallas office of Fort Worth-based Higginbotham & Associates as a vice president in its Risk Management Department. Lee will complement the agency’s loss control and claims customer...

Texas Insurance Agent Accused of Bribery in Rio Grande Valley

Apr 7 2008 // A Harlingen, Texas, insurance agent is accused in a federal indictment of providing cash, plane tickets and condo rentals to some Edcouch-Elsa school district officials in exchange for public contracts. Arnulfo Olivarez...

Texas Supreme Court to Rehear Entergy Workers’ Comp Case

Apr 7 2008 // The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to rehear a case from Jefferson County dealing with the scope of the state workers’ compensation law. The court has not yet set the date for new arguments but said April 5 it will...

Fraud Fighting Texas Prosecutor Honored for Successes

Apr 7 2008 // Kyson Johnson, a special assistant in the specialized crime division of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, has been named Prosecutor of the Year by A Texas Advisory Council on Arson (ATAC). Johnson was...

A Passion for Protecting Directors of Companies

Apr 7 2008 // Process involves more than simply procuring insurance, NIP founder says Bill Pollock is passionate about protecting directors of companies. The Dartmouth College and University of Virginia law school graduate has been a...

It Figures

Apr 7 2008 // 39 Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe in late March declared 39 counties disaster areas due to damage from heavy rains and floods. The counties declared disaster areas are: Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Conway, Crawford,...

Recession? In South Central States it Depends Upon Where You Are

Apr 7 2008 // With some notable exceptions — southern Louisiana for one — the economies of the South Central states seem to be holding steady against the looming prospect of a nationwide recession. Populations are growing in...

Texas High Court: Insurers Can Use Defense Staff Attorneys in Some Cases

Apr 7 2008 // In a long awaited ruling, the Texas Supreme Court on March 28 handed down a 7-2 decision in Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee v. American Home Assurance Company Inc. and The Travelers Indemnity Company, approving the...

Apr 7 2008 // People Rob Arnold has been named president of Houston-based insurance wholesaler Myron Steves. Arnold has been a member of the Myron Steves management team since 1995 and has also served as director of Business...

Texas’ Minimum Auto Liability Limits Increase April 1

Apr 7 2008 // The minimum amount of automobile liability insurance Texas drivers are required to carry for bodily injury/property damage will increase on April 1 from $20,000/$40,000/$15,000 (20/40/15) coverage to 25/50/25 coverage,...

Ratings Recap: RSUI Group, Covington, AMERISAFE, Combined, UNAIC

Apr 4 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of RSUI Group and its members. Best also affirmed the ICR of...

New Texas Crash Reports Sans Victims’ Numbers Aim to Curb Scams

Apr 4 2008 // Police officers in Texas will have one less blank to fill out while investigating traffic accidents this year, the Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud reported. The form will no longer contain phone numbers for crash...

Texas Produce Association Earns Dividend from Texas Mutual

Apr 3 2008 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced that members of the Texas Produce Association (TPA) workers’ compensation purchasing group will share in a $53,732 dividend. The dividend is based largely on the group’s...