Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Purging Texas Water System of Brain-Eating Microbe to Take 60 Days
Sep 30 2020 // A Houston-area official says it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that doctors believed killed a boy and that led to warnings for others not to drink tap...
The State of Surplus Lines Insurance: Busy Solving Risk Puzzles in a Complex World
Sep 30 2020 // Insurance professionals in the surplus lines sector are busy. Busy adapting to a changing business world during COVID-19. Busy adapting to a changing property/casualty market where standard lines insurers are steadfastly...
Texas Records $717.76M in Surplus Lines Premium in August
Sep 30 2020 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) recorded $717.76M in Texas surplus lines premium during the month of August. SLTX said the premium recorded year to date through August represents an 11.1% increase over...
Agents Warned of ‘Creative’ Attorneys, Virus Lawsuits
Sep 30 2020 // Agents and brokers should be on alert that plaintiffs’ attorneys in COVID-19 related business interruption claims lawsuits may be eyeing them as more cases against insurance companies begin to fail and claimants...
Texas Commissioner Sullivan: Thanks for Making My Time at TDI Memorable
Sep 29 2020 // Shortly after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas coast in 2017, Governor Abbott asked me to lead TDI. It was a challenging time, but it was an honor to serve. As I look back, I’m a bit surprised that my short-term...
Deadly Microbe Water Warning Lifted for Final Texas City
Sep 29 2020 // Environmental officials in Texas have lifted a warning for a final Houston-area community to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe, but with a warning that the water should be...
Close Call with Laura Renewed Debate over Houston Storm Surge Barrier
Sep 29 2020 // Houston, a Gulf Coast city that barely rises above sea level, has long worried about a worst-case weather scenario — a direct hit from a powerful storm that sends a wall of water barreling into the region’s...
NFP Acquires Hutch Hubby & Associates in Austin
Sep 29 2020 // National insurance broker NFP has acquired the Austin, Texas-based employee benefits firm, Hutch Hubby & Associates. The acquisition is NFP’s third in central Texas in 2020. The firm’s principal, L. Hutch...
Warning for Deadly Microbes in Water Lifted for All But 1 Texas City
Sep 28 2020 // Texas officials have lifted a warning for all but one Houston-area community to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality warned the...
Texas Agency, A-MAX Auto, Expands in Houston Area
Sep 28 2020 // Dallas-based A-MAX Auto Insurance has opened two new locations opening in the Houston, Texas, area. With the two new locations — one in Houston and one in nearby Tomball, Texas, the company now has 193 offices...
Texas Software Provider to Local Governments Reports Data Breach
Sep 25 2020 // A Texas-based provider of software services to local governments and schools across the United States, Tyler Technologies, told customers on Sept. 23 that an unknown intruder broke into its phone and information technology...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Seeks More Data on Rate Adequacy, Hurricane Modeling
Sep 24 2020 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s actuarial and underwriting committee is seeking more data from TWIA staff and an actuarial consulting firm on rate adequacy and catastrophe modeling for potential hurricane...
NTSB: Loose Joint Caused Train Derailment that Killed Man in Texas
Sep 24 2020 // A loose, improperly fastened rail joint led to a 2017 derailment in a North Texas rail switching yard that killed a worker, the National Transportation Safety Board has found. A misaligned rail joint allowed the flange of...
Texas Staffing Firm Sued for Disability Discrimination
Sep 24 2020 // Federal officials have sued a Houston-based staffing firm over allegations of workplace disability discrimination. Swift Technical Services LLC, doing business as Airswift, a Houston-based staffing firm focused on the oil...
Texas’ Blue Bell Creameries to Pay $17.25M in Penalties for Listeria Contamination
Sep 23 2020 // Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries L.P. has been ordered to pay $17.25 million in criminal penalties for shipments of contaminated ice cream products linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak, according to the U.S. Justice...
Texas Auto Insurance Plan Association Requests 4.8% Commercial Rate Hike
Sep 23 2020 // The Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA) has filed a request with the Texas Department of Insurance to charge new insurance rates for commercial automobiles. The filed rates represent a 4.8% increase in...
On Inland Crawl, Beta Dumps Heavy Rains, Floods Streets on Texas Coast
Sep 22 2020 // Beta weakened to a tropical depression on Sept. 22 as it crawled inland along the Texas coast south of Houston, unleashing heavy rains, flooding streets, and forcing emergency workers to rescue dozens of people. Rain...
Rainy Beta Lands on Texas Coast as Tropical Storm
Sep 22 2020 // Slow-moving Tropical Storm Beta made landfall on the Texas coast on Sept. 21 at around 10 pm near the Matagorda Peninsula, packing heavy rains and sustained winds of around 45 mph. Beta is the ninth named storm to hit the...
5th Circuit Reasserts Bad Faith Not Necessary to Win Interest Penalty Against Texas Insurers
Sep 22 2020 // A Houston plaintiff’s attorney defeated State Farm Lloyd’s for the fourth time on the same issue, this time coming away with a federal appellate court ruling that policyholders don’t have to prove that...
AmRisc Wholesale in Texas Is Now Waypoint Wholesale
Sep 21 2020 // AmRisc Group, a Houston, Texas-based managing general underwriter for catastrophe and special property insurance, has rebranded its AmRisc Wholesale division to Waypoint Wholesale. In addition to the new brand, there is a...
