Latest Texas Headlines

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

Texas Mutual Distributing $1M in Safety Education Grants to 10 Colleges

May 8 2018 // Austin-based workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., is awarding $1 million in grants to 10 colleges across Texas to fund workplace safety courses for employers, workers and the general...

Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Sees Drop in Late Filings

May 7 2018 // The Surplus Lines Stamp-ing Office of Texas (SLTX) says the number of surplus lines policies filed after the filing deadline has decreased since the start of the SLTX late filers outreach program last year. In 2017, 993...

People

May 7 2018 // Kristi Koncaba, president and chief operating officer at Texan Bank, has been appointed to the board of directors for workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co. Koncaba has 15 years of experience in...

Its IPO Complete, Goosehead Insurance Looks Toward Expansion

May 7 2018 // A North Texas-based insurance agency that operates nationally via a dual corporate/franchise model is planning on expanding following its April 27 initial public offering (IPO). Goosehead Insurance, headquartered in...

Texas Attorney Sentenced in $26.5M Workers’ Comp Fraud Scheme

May 7 2018 // An attorney in Grand Prairie, Texas, has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $26,572,458.93 in restitution for his role in a workers’ compensation fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors say...

Still No Arrest 5 Years After Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion

May 7 2018 // As of April 17, the fifth anniversary of the fertilizer plant explosion that claimed 15 lives in the town of West, Texas, no one had been arrested and charged with setting the fire that led to the blast, the Insurance...

Deadline Extended for TWIA Damage Appraisal Demands; Depopulation Program Begins

May 7 2018 // The deadlines for a Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) policyholder to demand appraisal of a claim for damages caused by Hurricane Harvey have been extended, the Texas Department of Insurance reports. The new...

ICT’s Documentary Shows Hurricane Harvey’s Catastrophic Damage

May 4 2018 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) announced it premiered a new documentary on Hurricane Harvey this week before 1,000 first responders at this year’s Coastal Bend Hurricane Conference in Robstown. The video...

Frakes, Texas Mutual’s Third Employee, Retires

May 4 2018 // Terry Frakes has retired from Austin-based workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., after more than 25 years of service to the company. Frakes was Texas Mutual’s third employee after it was...

Texas Mutual to Distribute $280M in Dividends to Employers

May 3 2018 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company, which provides workers’ compensation coverage to more than 70,000 business owners and 1.4 million employees, announced it will distribute $280 million in dividends in 2018. Nearly 75...

Texas-Based Karolyis, Others Sued by Gymnast Over Team Doctor’s Abuse

May 3 2018 // A former member of the U.S. national team on became the latest gymnast to file suit over sexual abuse by imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar’s, alleging USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the...

Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Sees Drop in Late Filings

May 2 2018 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) reported that the number of surplus lines policies filed with SLTX after the filing deadline has decreased since the start of the SLTX late filers outreach program. In...

Texas’ ePayPolicy to Open Applications for Agency Insurtech Award

May 1 2018 // Austin-based electronic insurance payment processing firm, ePayPolicy, on May 2 will begin accepting applications for its ePayPolicy InsurTech Award which aims to recognize the insurance agency that has best leveraged...

Texas Crash Spurs Approval of Balloon Pilot Medical Exams in U.S. House

Apr 30 2018 // The U.S. House has approved a measure requiring medical checks for commercial hot air balloon pilots in an effort to avoid a re-occurrence of a 2016 crash that killed 16 people in Texas. The House voted Friday on a...

Lubbock’s Butler Carson Tate Insurance Merges with Higginbotham

Apr 30 2018 // Higginbotham and Butler Carson Tate Insurance have merged operations in Lubbock, Texas. This is Higginbotham’s second office in Lubbock, having entered the market in 2015 when it merged with another locally managed...

Retired Engineer Questions Plans to Relieve Houston-Area Bayou Flooding

Apr 27 2018 // Hurricane Harvey’s epic rain in August 2017 convinced many residents and elected officials in Southeast Texas that the drastic flooding required drastic drainage solutions. The Galveston County Daily News reports one...

Texas-Based Goosehead Insurance Going Public With IPO

Apr 27 2018 // A North Texas-based insurance agency that operates nationally via a franchise model will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange when its expected initial public offering (IPO) goes through on April 27. Goosehead Insurance,...

Valero Refinery Fire in Texas Released Air Contaminants, Report Finds

Apr 26 2018 // A report found that a recent explosion and fire at a refinery along Texas’ Gulf Coast released four types of unauthorized contaminants into the air. The Daily News reports that Valero Energy estimates its Texas City...

Texas Attorney Gets 10-Year Sentence for Role in $26M Work Comp Fraud

Apr 25 2018 // An attorney in Grand Prairie, Texas, has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $26,572,458.93 in restitution for his role in a workers’ compensation fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors say...

Texas Windstorm Policy Assumption Program to Begin Soon

Apr 24 2018 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will soon begin its annual program designed to move policies out of the residual market for wind and hail along the Texas coast. This will be the third round for the Assumption...