Latest Texas Headlines

All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Insurers, Agents Urge Coastal Wind Policy from Texas to Maine

Aug 4 2008 // Travelers, Nationwide Mutual and two leading national insurance producer organizations are supporting a plan they say will make private windstorm insurance more affordable and available in coastal areas. Federal...

Speak Up if You Care …

Aug 4 2008 // The Case for Risk Management and Insurance Education If you’re like most insurance firms, your workforce is aging. Or, as a friend of mine recently put it, “There’s a lot of gray hair in the room.”...

Damage Costs from Hurricane Dolly May Reach $750M

Aug 4 2008 // Catastrophe risk specialist RMS says the insurance bill for damage from Hurricane Dolly, which hit Southwest Texas on July 23, may go as high as $750 million, while Boston-based AIR World-wide estimates damages between...

Funding for Texas Wind Pool a Top Issue for Insurance Industry

Aug 4 2008 // Funding, funding, funding. Those are three most important issues for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association in advance of the 2009 legislative session, according to one industry lobbyist and advisor. There are other...

Case Watch

Aug 4 2008 // Exclusions Yates Carpet Inc. v. The Travelers Lloyds Insurance Co. Texas Appeals 7th Circuit, June 19, 2008 Breach of contract exclusion precludes coverage for all claims bearing even an incidental relationship to alleged...

People

Aug 4 2008 // Richard “Dick” Reynolds, former chairman and executive director of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission, was presented the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award at the Insurance Council of Texas’ 16th...

Verification Test Finds Many Drivers Not Insured

Aug 4 2008 // The Texas Department of Insurance has estimated that between 15 percent and 20 percent of drivers in Texas are uninsured, but a pilot program testing a new auto insurance verification system — TexasSure — found that...

Agents Weigh Independence, Commissions, Markets When Choosing Agency Networks

Aug 4 2008 // Rising Costs, Soft Market Cause Agents to Consider Network Options Maintaining their independence while gaining access to resources and markets are what independent agents consider when deciding whether to join an...

The Case for Risk Management and Insurance Education

Aug 1 2008 // If you’re like most insurance firms, your workforce is aging. Or, as a friend of mine recently put it, “There’s a lot of gray hair in the room.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind...

Texas Independent Agents Group Names Young Governmental Affairs Manager

Jul 30 2008 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) has named Rebecca Young governmental affairs manager to help serve as a liaison between association members and legislators. With more than 15 years’ experience...

Combined Group, North American Capacity Offer CEI Program in Texas

Jul 30 2008 // Dallas-based The Combined Group announced a partnership with Swiss Re’s North American Capacity Insurance Company to offer a Comprehensive Employers Indemnity (CEI) program. The CEI program is designed for employers...

OSHA Issues 3rd Largest Fine Ever Against Texas-Based Imperial Sugar

Jul 29 2008 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on July 25 announced it has proposed penalties totaling $8,777,500 against Houston-based Imperial Sugar Co. and its two affiliates alleging violations at their...

Damages from Hurricane Dolly May Reach $750 Million

Jul 28 2008 // Catastrophe risk specialist RMS says the insurance bill for damage from Hurricane Dolly, which hit Southwest Texas on July 23, may go as high as $750 million, while Boston-based AIR Worldwide estimates damages to come in...

Texas Mutual Pays $150M in Dividends

Jul 28 2008 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company recently began returning $150 million in policyholder dividends. About 38,000 policyholders will receive a dividend based on their premium size, loss ratio and history with Texas Mutual. The...

Threat of Flooding Persists After Dolly Downgrades to Tropical Storm

Jul 25 2008 // Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, July 23 lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph (161 kph) and dumping heavy rain that flooded some low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated...

Coastal Texas Begins Clean-up After Hurricane Dolly

Jul 25 2008 // Residents in south Texas on the coast have begun the tough job of cleaning up at Hurricane Dolly slammed into the coast on Wednesday, July 23. On Thursday power lines were still down, but according to news reports, many...

Flooding Feared Along U.S.-Texas Border from Hurricane Dolly

Jul 24 2008 // After Hurricane Dolly unleashed a fury of damaging winds and wicked rain on the U.S.-Mexico coastline and diminished to a tropical storm, widespread flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley became the top concern...

Texas-based Grocery Chain Issues Jalapeno Recall

Jul 24 2008 // Grocery chain H-E-B has announced a voluntary recall of products containing fresh jalapenos after government inspectors found a strain of salmonella on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas. The recall...

Texas, Mexico Prepare for Dolly, Residents Board Up, Some Evacuate

Jul 23 2008 // Residents along the Texas-Mexico border kept a watchful eye on Tropical Storm Dolly, stocking up on plywood, generators and flashlights as forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen into a hurricane by later...

Texas Windstorm Pool: No Policies Issued With Hurricane in the Gulf

Jul 22 2008 // With Tropical Storm Dolly roiling it’s way into probable hurricane status, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association issued a reminder to agents that once a “hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico or is within the...