Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Firms Say Too Many Low-Skill Workers Are Failing Drug Tests
Oct 21 2019 // Employers in Texas say too many low-skill workers are failing to pass drug tests needed to get hired. Forty-eight percent of Texas firms who had difficulty finding low-skill workers cited their inability to pass a drug...
IBHS Survey Highlights Building Code Gaps in Texas Coastal Counties
Oct 21 2019 // A detailed review of coastal Texas building codes revealed gaps that could leave homeowners at risk if mitigation efforts are not sought as nearly one-third of Texans live in the coastal counties. The Insurance Institute...
Texas Surplus Lines Premium Up Again
Oct 21 2019 // Texas surplus lines premium reported through the first three quarters of 2019 reached $5.35 billion, a 16.15% increase over the same period in 2018, according to the Surplus Line Stamping Office of Texas...
People & Places
Oct 21 2019 // National Reid French has stepped down as CEO of the insurance agency technology firm Applied Systems, and Cloud Technology Executive Taylor Rhodes has joined Applied as the new CEO. French, who served as CEO for eight...
Officials: Nearly Half of all Texas Traffic Deaths Occur in Energy-Producing Areas
Oct 18 2019 // Texas continues to lead the nation in oil and gas production, creating jobs and prosperity statewide, but communities in the state’s main energy production areas have also seen a rise in deaths on the road accounting...
Feds Say Retailer Broke Law by Selling Rifle Used in Texas Church Attack
Oct 18 2019 // Federal prosecutors say a sporting goods retailer violated the law by selling an AR-15-style rifle and large capacity magazine to a man who used them to kill more than two dozen worshippers at a Texas church. The...
Texas Insurance Department Issues Warning About Imelda-Soaked Vehicles
Oct 17 2019 // The Texas Department of Insurance has issued a warning to consumers to be on the lookout for flood-damaged vehicles hitting the resale market, one month after Tropical Storm Imelda drenched Southeast Texas with historic...
Formosa Plastics Agrees to Pay $50M to Settle Texas Water Pollution Suit
Oct 16 2019 // Petrochemical manufacturer Formosa Plastics has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit in which a judge ruled the company illegally dumped billions of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other...
Credit Rating of Texas’ Pinnacle National Insurance Co. Upgraded
Oct 16 2019 // AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a+” from “a” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) of Pinnacle National Insurance Co. (Pinnacle National, formerly...
Texas Company Faces $301K in Fines After Employee Fatality
Oct 15 2019 // A Texas company has been cited for workplace safety hazards and fined more than $301,000 after an employee fatality at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in April 2019. The U.S. Department of Labor’s...
Texas RV Dealer Insurance Practice Merges with Higginbotham
Oct 11 2019 // Fort Worth, Texas-based Higginbotham reports a merger with Diversified Insurance Management an independent property/casualty insurance agency in Plano, Texas. Diversified has a specialty practice serving recreational...
1st Death Linked to E-Cigarette Use Recorded in Texas
Oct 11 2019 // Health officials in Texas say the state has recorded its first death associated with vaping-related lung illnesses. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Wednesday that an older woman in north Texas died...
George P. Bush Tapped to Oversee $4B Texas Disaster Mitigation Plan
Oct 10 2019 // Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office have been appointed to lead a comprehensive resiliency and disaster mitigation program, funded by more than $4 billion in U.S. Department of Housing...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Seeks Input for Actuarial & Underwriting Committee
Oct 10 2019 // Texas insurer of last resort for properties along the state’s coast is seeking input from the public in advance of a meeting of its Actuarial & Underwriting Committee. The Texas Windstorm Insurance...
More Charges Filed in Texas Against Louisiana Cattle Theft Suspect
Oct 10 2019 // A man previously accused of involvement in a Louisiana cattle theft ring has been indicted in Texas on charges he also stole cows from a rancher there. The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association said in a news...
Texas Regulators Warn of Auto Insurance Phone Scam
Oct 9 2019 // The Texas Department of Insurance is alerting consumers about a phone calling scam being perpetrated by a group claiming to be the Consumer Insurance Association. The calls offer to lower the recipient’s auto...
Texas Man Convicted of $6K Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Oct 9 2019 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. reported that a Travis County district court has sentenced Joe D. Lozano, Sr. of Midland, Texas, on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. Lozano reported a job-related injury while...
AM Best: Outlooks Revised to Positive for Texas’ Columbia Lloyds Companies
Oct 8 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable, and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” of Columbia Lloyds Insurance Co. and MDOW...
Comments Sought on Proposed Claim Rules for Texas Windstorm Insurer
Oct 7 2019 // Texas insurance regulators are seeking input on proposed changes to claims-related rules for the state’s property insurer of last resort along the Texas coast. The Texas Department of Insurance has proposed changes...
Federal Disaster Declared for 6 Imelda-Impacted Texas Counties
Oct 7 2019 // Texas officials say a federal disaster declaration has been granted for six Southeast Texas counties that sustained severe flooding caused last month by the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda. Gov. Greg Abbott says the...
