Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Va. Gov. Kaine Signs Small Business Insurance Purchasing Bill
Jun 20 2006 // Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine has signed a General Assembly bill that allows small businesses to collectively purchase health insurance, which supportershope will help address health care concerns within the...
W.Va. Workers’ Comp Loss Costs Decrease 10 Percent
Jun 13 2006 // West Virginia Insurance Commissioner, Jane L. Cline has announced that the Offices of the Insurance Commissioner have approved an overall 10 percent decrease in loss costs for workers’ compensation rates. Loss cost...
Two W.Va. Arrests for Insurance Fraud, Workers’ Comp Forgery
Jun 7 2006 // Insurance agent Brenda Valentine of the Mountain State Insurance Agency Inc. has been indicted on six felony counts of insurance fraud; and Scott Saul of Pipeline Services has pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation...
Virginia Trucker Honored for Logging 6 Million Accident-Free Miles
Jun 1 2006 // It was a bitter cold night in New York city some 40 years ago. Trucker Robert C. Wrenn pulled his rig to a halt at a red light and suddenly, there was a sharp rap on the metal door next to his elbow. Wrenn looked out,...
People and Places
May 22 2006 // Phyllis R. Austin has been named Crawford & Co. senior vice president of human resources, according to Tom Crawford, president and CEO. Austin assumed the position April 24 when Bill Beach, former head of human...
Main Street Group Contributes to Virginia Big ‘I’ Building Fund
May 16 2006 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia (IIAV) is thanking The Main Street America Group for contributing $50,000 to the building fund for development of the new IIAV Insurance Career Institute in Richmond. “As...
Fairmont, W. Va. Agent Pleads Guilty to One Embezzlement Count
May 13 2006 // Shawn Edwin Linger, of Fairmont, W.Va. has pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement, according to Insurance Commissioner Jane L. Cline. Linger admitted to taking more than $18,000 in premium payments made to his...
W.Va. Spouses Ask High Court for Assurance of Lifetime Benefits
May 13 2006 // West Virginia lawyers for spouses of people who died from work-related injuries and illnesses, including four victims of January’s Sago mine disaster, have asked the state Supreme Court in Charleston, W.Va. to ensure...
W.Va. Nonprofit’s Reimbursements 11 Times Higher Than Premiums
May 13 2006 // A Fairmont, W.Va. nonprofit group paid $47,334 in premiums to a state-run insurance agency over two years and was reimbursed more than 11 times that amount for three claims, state documents show. The bulk of the...
W.Va. Officials, Cline, McGraw Oppose Federal Insurance Proposal
May 5 2006 // Two state officials in Charleston, W.Va. say state insurance requirements would be undermined by federal legislation that would give small businesses greater flexibility in offering health insurance to employees. The...
Enrollment in W.Va.’s High-Risk Health Insurance Plan Growing
May 2 2006 // More than 200 West Virginians who have had difficulty obtaining health insurance in the regular market are now insured through AccessWV, the state’s high-risk health insurance plan, according to Insurance...
Virginia Schedules First ‘Distracted Driver Awareness Day’ for May 3
May 1 2006 // The Virginia Department of Transportation, Drive Smart Virginia and GEICO are partnering to take action to help “reduce the use” of cell phones and other driver distractions by creating the first annual...
Virginia Court Rules Against City in Polluted Water Insurance Claim
Apr 23 2006 // The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the city of Chesapeake cannot recoup from its insurer $2.4 million in legal costs stemming from lawsuits over allegedly contaminated tap water. The court unanimously ruled that the...
W.Va.’s Reversal of Workers’ Comp Policy Could Increase Rates
Apr 17 2006 // The sole workers’ compensation insurer in West Virginia says it will seek a rate increase as a result of Gov. Joe Manchin’s reversal of a state policy that limited benefits to widows and widowers of people who...
Southeast states lagging in legal system fairness rankings by Chamber of Commerce
Apr 17 2006 // Southeast states didn’t fare well in the latest U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking of states’ civil justice systems. North Carolina came in as number 10 in the top 10 favorites; while West Virginia was at the...
W.Va. Schedules April Workers’ Comp Informational Meetings
Apr 5 2006 // Informational meetings describing West Virginia’s transition to the National Council on Compensation Insurance system of workers’ compensation have been scheduled in eight locations from April 10 to 20,...
Public Entity Business Product Introduced in S.E.
Apr 5 2006 // A new public entity business product to provide workers’ compensation for cities, towns, counties, and water and sewer districts has been announced by Key Risk Insurance Company. Coverage is available in North...
Workers’ Comp Widow’s Issue Going to W.Va. Supreme Court
Apr 4 2006 // The West Virginia Supreme Court will decide next month whether the state’s workers’ compensation insurer can cut off benefits to widows and widowers when their deceased spouses would have reached retirement...
Case Law Watch
Apr 3 2006 // Auto-Liability Fields v. American Central Insurance Co. (La. App., 2nd Dist., March 8, 2006) Undated named driver exclusion endorsement sufficient to defeat coverage: Lensing was involved in a June 18, 2003, auto accident...
U.S. to Virginia: Don’t Count on Feds If Flu Pandemic Hits
Mar 28 2006 // The federal government cannot be relied upon to protect Virginia from a potential flu pandemic, and no state is fully prepared to handle such an outbreak, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told Virginia...
