Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A&M Study: Texas’ Future Depends on Climate Preparedness
Mar 6 2020 // Texans should expect warmer weather, more wildfires and urban flooding, and increased impact from hurricanes through 2036 thanks to climate change, according to a new study from the Office of the Texas State Climatologist...
Brandon Named Executive Director of Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office
Mar 6 2020 // Greg Brandon has been appointed executive director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). His appointment is effective March 9, 2020. Brandon succeeds Don Meyer, who has served as interim executive director...
Fire Departments in Texas’ Border Zone Awarded $1M in Grants
Mar 4 2020 // Professional fire departments along the Texas-Mexico border region will be sharing $1 million in grant funding through the Border Zone Fire Department (BZFD) program, according to the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The...
Texas Industrial Painting Services Firm Settles Federal Disability Discrimination Suit
Mar 3 2020 // An industrial painting company in Beaumont, Texas, has settled a federal lawsuit that alleged it unlawfully fired a worker because of his medically prescribed methadone. Steel Painters LLC, an industrial sandblasting and...
Texas Insurer Hallmark Financial Exiting Binding Primary Commercial Auto Business
Mar 3 2020 // Citing loss development for prior underwriting years, Dallas-based specialty property/casualty insurer Hallmark Financial Services Inc., is exiting its Binding Primary Auto business. The commercial auto product the company...
Texas Auto Body Shop Owner Get 2 Years for Insurance Fraud
Mar 1 2020 // The owner of an auto body shop in San Antonio, Texas has been sentenced to two years in jail for cashing insurance claim checks without fixing the car he was being paid to repair. The Texas Department of Insurance said...
Arkema, Executives Accused of Failures in Chemical Fire at Texas Plant
Feb 28 2020 // Jurors in the criminal case against the U.S. arm of a French company on Feb. 27 heard it routinely stored combustible chemicals where floodwaters could reach them and failed to alert emergency workers as toxic fires...
Davis Named President of Texas’ Service Insurance Holdings
Feb 28 2020 // Service Insurance Holdings, based in Austin, Texas, has made changes to its executive leadership team, completing a long-planned transition to provide executive leadership for all insurance operations. The company provides...
FEMA to Texans with Post-Harvey Group Flood Insurance: Plan for Standard Coverage
Feb 27 2020 // Following Hurricane Harvey in late August 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued three-year group flood insurance policies (GFIPs) to nearly 7,000 households in Texas that were impacted by the storm. FEMA...
Windhaven Insurance Ceasing Operations, Assets to be Auctioned Off
Feb 27 2020 // Auto and home insurer Windhaven Insurance has alerted its agents and employees in Florida that it is winding down the insurance operations of its entities, including Windhaven National Insurance Co., ClutchAnalytics and...
Distinguished Programs Adds Schmitt as Sales Executive for Oklahoma, Texas
Feb 26 2020 // Distinguished Programs, a national insurance program manager, has hired Erick Schmitt as regional sales executive for Texas and Oklahoma. He is based in Dallas. Schmitt brings nearly 16 years of industry experience to his...
Texas Sues TPC Group, Owner of Port Neches Chemical Plant That Exploded
Feb 25 2020 // Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued TPC Group over environmental violations associated with the Nov. 27 explosion at the company’s Port Neches chemical plant, a blast that prompted widespread mandatory...
USI Insurance Services Acquires Forté Benefits in Texas
Feb 25 2020 // USI Insurance Services has acquired Fort Worth, Texas-based Forté Benefits, a full-service employee benefit broker-consulting firm. All of the agency’s employees and four partners — Logan Dickinson, Jeff Farmer,...
New Rules Open Doors for Licensing Military Spouses as Surplus Lines Agents in Texas
Feb 24 2020 // Texas has increased the eligibility of military spouses to be licensed as a surplus lines agent in the state, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). Under new rules adopted by the Texas Department...
Refinery Fire Doused in South Texas, No Injuries
Feb 19 2020 // A fire at a Citgo refinery in in Corpus Christi, Texas, has been extinguished with no injuries, according to the petroleum company. The fire began in a pipeline owned by a third party shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Monday and...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Sets Funding at $4.2 Billion for 2020 Cat Year
Feb 19 2020 // The wind and hail insurance carrier of last resort for counties along the Texas coast has determined that its 1-in-100 probable maximum loss (1:100 PML) for the 2020 catastrophe year is $4.2 billion. At a quarterly meeting...
Trial Over Arkema Chemical Plant Fire During Harvey Set to Begin
Feb 18 2020 // Hurricane Harvey’s historic flooding in 2017 overwhelmed power systems at Arkema Inc.’s chemical plant in suburban Houston, eventually causing organic peroxides made at the facility to catch fire and explode,...
In Houston, a City with No Zoning, Warehouse Blast Prompts Safety Debate
Feb 18 2020 // Houston’s lack of zoning restrictions has left many residents with neighbors they don’t want: petrochemical facilities and businesses that handle hazardous materials. That unease was laid bare again last month...
HCI Approved by Florida Regulator to Replace Anchor P&C Coverage for 43K Insureds
Feb 18 2020 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved a plan for Homeowners Choice Property and Casualty Insurance Company, a subsidiary of HCI Group, to provide replacement policies for Anchor Property and Casualty...
SLTX: Texas Adopts Updated Surplus Lines License Rules for Military Spouses
Feb 14 2020 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) reported that new rules for surplus lines agents in Texas who are military spouses have been adopted by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) and became effective Feb. 6,...
