Homeowners insurance rates have risen by average of 8 percent nationwide in 2002 due to an extraordinary number of catastrophes, the high cost of home repairs and excessive jury awards in mold cases, according to a new report by the …
A federal bankruptcy court ruled that Dallas businessman Aharon Chen and A.C. Painting Inc., his now-bankrupt company, defrauded more than $3 million from Texas Mutual Insurance Co., a workers’ compensation provider. Chen was ordered to pay $1.3 million and attorney’s …
Indicating it is seeking a 16 percent rate increase for auto policies in Louisiana, State Farm Insurance Co. has stopped writing new auto policies in that state. The company estimates that the rate increase would generate over $150 million to …
District Court Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced Houston attorney Bernardo Eureste to three years probation for workers’ compensation fraud-related charges, according to Texas Mutual Insurance Company. Eureste, a former member of the San Antonio City Council, must also pay $108,486 …
Professionals seeking to attain Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation now have a new option. A Certified Risk Managers (CRM) course will now be accepted in place of one of the five CIC institutes and examinations that are currently required. The …
Following an investigation by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, seven Houston homeowners were arrested in connection with an alleged insurance fraud scheme. TDI says the homeowners intentionally …
For the past 25 years, our Directory of Excess, Surplus and Specialty Markets has been published each January and July. Beginning in 1998, we put that directory online at www.insurancejournal.com. Agents and brokers can access the online directory 7 days …
Insureds and cedants have sued their insurance agents, insurance brokers, reinsurance intermediaries or reinsurance brokers when their insurance carrier or reinsurer faced financial difficulty and could not respond to a meritorious claim. From my perspective, the various legal precedents and …
On May 23, 2002, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Mid-Century Insurance Company of Texas v. Boyte, a case that arose out of an underinsured motorist claim. The Court addressed the issue of whether the common law and …
Swett & Crawford chairman David Hartoch has seen a number of changes in the excess and surplus industry during his decades in the business. As he approaches retirement in December, Hartoch took time out to talk with Insurance Journal and …
