Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Prosecutors: Trying to Hide Healthcare Fraud, Texas Woman Burned $1.6M Home
Jun 29 2020 // A woman burned down her $1.6 million suburban Fort Worth mansion while trying to destroy documents from her husband’s health care clinic as authorities were investigating the couple for fraud, prosecutors allege. A...
TexCap’s Brown Named Chair-Elect of Texas Independent Insurance Agents Group
Jun 26 2020 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) has installed Gaylon Brown of TexCap Insurance in Dallas as the group’s chair-elect for 2020-2021. Brown was named to the post during IIAT’s annual business...
Texas Bars Ordered to Close Again, Restaurants Reduced to 50% Occupancy as Virus Spreads
Jun 26 2020 // Gov. Greg Abbott has taken his most drastic action yet to respond to the post-reopening coronavirus surge in Texas, shutting bars back down and scaling back restaurant capacity to 50%. He also shut down river-rafting...
Texas’ Online Surplus Lines Filing System Now Partially Operational
Jun 25 2020 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) says some elements of its new online filing system, SMART, were released on June 12. Surplus lines agents and brokers who file policies with SLTX using automated filing now...
Outlook for Texas’ MGA Insurance Issuer Credit Rating Revised to Positive
Jun 25 2020 // AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICR of “bbb” of...
Oil Firms Slam Brakes on Return-to-Work as Texas Virus Cases Soar
Jun 25 2020 // U.S. energy companies slammed the brakes on returning staff to their Houston offices as COVID-19 cases soared and top hospitals warned they could soon run out of beds for the most severely ill patients. A record number of...
Texas Governor Urges Masks as Virus Cases Rise
Jun 24 2020 // Texas’ surging coronavirus numbers will not slow the state’s reopening, according to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has prescribed an emphasis on face coverings and social distancing to curtail sobering...
Texas Insurance Department Extends Telemedicine Coverage Rule
Jun 24 2020 // An emergency rule requiring insurers in Texas to cover telemedicine services has been extended into September, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) said. Covered telemedicine services include mental health visits at the...
U.S. Economic Losses from Severe Weather During May Topped $4 Billion: Aon
Jun 24 2020 // Severe weather outbreaks across the United States, with a lot of hailstorm damage, resulted in another costly month for insurers as a significant proportion of the US$4 billion economic cost was covered by insurance,...
BenefitMall in Texas Partners with Benefits and Security Provider, CyberScout
Jun 23 2020 // Dallas-based employee benefits provider, BenefitMall, has partnered with CyberScout, a provider cybersecurity, identity theft resolution and employee benefits services. BenefitMall brokers will now be able to offer...
Millions of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Pose Environmental, Health Risks
Jun 23 2020 // In May 2012, Hanson and Michael Rowe noticed an overpowering smell, like rotten eggs, seeping from an abandoned gas well on their land in Kentucky. The fumes made the retired couple feel nauseous, dizzy, and short of...
Allstate: May 2020 Catastrophe Losses Mostly in Midwest, Texas
Jun 22 2020 // Allstate says severe weather events in Texas and the Midwest account for the majority of its $350 million in catastrophe losses in May 2020. Northbrook, Illinois-based Allstate Corp. has estimated catastrophe losses for...
Nitsche Named Chair of Independent Insurance Agents of Texas’ Board
Jun 19 2020 // Robert Nitsche, CEO of the Giddings, Texas-based independent insurance agency The Nitsche Group, has been appointed chair of the board of directors for the 2020-2021 year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas...
Texas’ Bexar County Orders Face Mask Use to Fight COVID-19; Fines Possible
Jun 18 2020 // Officials in the San Antonio area have ordered people to wear face masks in public when social distancing isn’t possible and warned that businesses could face fines of up to $1,000 for failing to comply with county...
Texas Man Sentenced to 78 Years in Prison for Arson, Insurance Fraud
Jun 16 2020 // A 52-year-old Groves, Texas, man has been sentenced to 78 years in federal prison for violations related to an arson and insurance fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of...
Texas Returning to Normal Temporary Agent License Process on Aug. 15
Jun 16 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance will return to normal processing for temporary agent licenses beginning on Aug. 15. Anyone with a temporary license issued August 15 or earlier will have until Nov. 13 to get a regular...
Business Moves
Jun 15 2020 // East Alera Group, Georgetown Insurance Services Alera Group, a national employee benefits, property/casualty, retirement services and wealth management firm, has acquired Georgetown Insurance Service Inc. The Georgetown...
People & Places
Jun 15 2020 // National Everest Insurance announced changes to the Commercial Casualty leadership team. Four underwriters across the country have been appointed leaders for the Northeast, South, Midwest and Southwest regions. Frank Engle...
Lexington Insurance Wins Texas Battle of Hurricane Harvey Deductibles
Jun 15 2020 // In a case of competing deductibles, a federal appeals court has sided with an insurer and against the owner of two Houston office buildings, holding that a larger windstorm deductible applied to flood damage caused by...
Analysis: Casting Nervous Looks at COVID-19 Numbers as Texas Opens Up
Jun 12 2020 // Texas Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t predict that the number of COVID-19 cases would fall as the state allowed businesses and cultural centers to reopen. In fact, he said allowing more people back into public places could...
