Latest Virginia Headlines

All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Missouri Insurance Department Settles with Company over Travel Insurance

Feb 19 2013 // The Missouri Department of Insurance announced that Missouri consumers who bought travel insurance from Virginia Surety Co. or through Cheap Caribbean, one of its contracted agencies, may be entitled to a refund. A joint...

West Virginia Still Weighing Health Exchange, Medicaid Options

Feb 13 2013 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has yet to decide whether to open the Medicaid program to more lower-income residents, or how individuals and small businesses will seek coverage through the federal health care...

Virginia’s Hilb Group Acquires Pennoyer Group in Maryland

Feb 11 2013 // The Hilb Group, a Richmond, Va.-based insurance broker, announced the acquisition of The Pennoyer Group from its shareholders. The transaction was effective Jan. 31, 2013. Pennoyer was founded in 1978 by Paul Pennoyer and...

West Virginia Revises Penalties for Mine Safety Violations

Feb 8 2013 // West Virginia regulators have revised a proposed rule that would increase fines for mine safety and health violations. The original proposal would have raised the civil penalties across the board. The revised rule filed...

West Virginia Court Rules Negligent Mine Inspectors Can Be Sued

Feb 7 2013 // Private and federal mine safety inspectors can be held liable and sued when a negligent inspection results in the wrongful death of a coal miner, the state Supreme Court ruled in handing a victory to the widows of two men...

West Virginia Not Enforcing Mine Coal Dust Standards: Report

Feb 5 2013 // State standards aimed at reducing buildups of explosive coal dust in underground mines but regulators haven’t been enforced in West Virginia. More than a fifth of the more than 5,500 dust samples taken from mines by...

Safety Rule on Methane in West Virginia Mines Stalled

Feb 4 2013 // A rule that could toughen the limits on methane gas levels in West Virginia coal mines remains stalled as state officials debate both definitions and a timetable for implementation. The State Journal said last week’s...

Hearing Reviews West Virginia Gas Pipeline Explosion

Jan 30 2013 // To Sue Bonham, it was as if the world were coming to an end: A wall of flame had suddenly engulfed her West Virginia neighborhood. Amid a deafening roar, objects began crashing through her ceiling. Her home began melting...

Monsanto $93 Million Settlement with West Virginia Residents Approved

Jan 29 2013 // A judge has given final approval to a settlement between chemical manufacturer Monsanto Co. and thousands of West Virginia residents over pollution claims. Circuit Judge Derek Swope in Putnam County approved the settlement...

Virginia OKs Changes to Workers’ Comp Premium Levels

Jan 28 2013 // Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) announced on Jan. 8 that the commission approved revisions to the premium levels charged for the state’s workers’ comp insurance. The National Council on...

West Virginia Municipal Insurer Balks at Defending Sheriff

Jan 25 2013 // The insurance pool for West Virginia county governments asked a judge Thursday to declare that it has no obligation to defend a Jefferson County sheriff who resigned in disgrace and pleaded guilty in the beating of a bank...

Federal Watchdog Issues Report on Gas Pipeline Safety

Jan 25 2013 // Federal regulators must account for response times in the data they collect from transmission operators on natural gas pipeline incidents, a congressional watchdog agency said this week. The U.S. Government Accountability...

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Va. Plans $30M Expansion

Jan 23 2013 // The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is planning a $30 million expansion at its Ruckersville campus. Chief administrative officer Joe Nolan tells The Daily Progress that the project includes a new, larger outdoor...

2013 Insurance Industry Meetings & Conventions Directory

Jan 14 2013 // JANUARY P/C Insurance Joint Industry Forum Jan 15 Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, NY Insurance Information Institute www.iii.org 2013 Big ‘I’ Winter Meeting Jan 16-20 The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa,...

Virginia Approves Changes to Workers’ Comp Premium Levels

Jan 9 2013 // Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) announced on Jan. 8 that the commission has approved revisions to the premium levels charged for the state’s workers’ compensation insurance. The National...

Consumers Posting Negative Reviews Could Face Legal Issues

Jan 7 2013 // If you are mad as hell about a consumer experience you’ve had, you may want to exercise your right of free speech to express your dismay in a public forum – these days, by posting a negative review on a site...

GEICO Recruiting College Grads for Leadership Program in Virginia Office

Jan 4 2013 // GEICO, a Chevy Chase, Md.-headquartered auto insurance unit of Berkshire Hathaway, said its Fredericksburg, Va., regional office is recruiting college graduates for its “Supervisor Leadership Program.” The...

Veteran Inspector White Named West Virginia Mine Safety Chief

Jan 2 2013 // A longtime mine inspector and safety official will now head such efforts in West Virginia, after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Eugene White as director for the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. White...

West Virginia Judge Stops Insurer’s Use of Old Parts on New Cars

Dec 31 2012 // A Kanawha County judge has granted Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s request for a permanent injunction against an insurance company and a St. Albans body shop owner accused of illegally installing junkyard parts on...

U. of Virginia Researchers Study ‘Virtual Reality’ Driving Tests

Dec 27 2012 // On-road driving tests, a rite of passage for high school students, could soon join eight-track tape players and bench seats in automotive obsolescence. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are...