Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas’ Hochheim Prairie Farm Mutual Ratings on CreditWatch; Harvey Cited
Nov 29 2017 // S&P Global Ratings has placed its ‘B+’ financial strength ratings for Hochheim Prairie Farm Mutual Insurance Assoc. (HPFMIA) and its subsidiary, Hochheim Prairie Casualty Insurance Co. (HPCIC; collectively...
Day Laborers Being Exploited in Texas after Harvey, Advocates Say
Nov 28 2017 // Guillermo Miranda Vazquez starts his day in a parking lot near the Home Depot where he easily finds work alongside other day laborers who are cleaning up Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Some days, he clears rotted drywall...
2017 Hurricane Season Ranks as Costliest Ever for U.S.
Nov 28 2017 // This year’s U.S. Atlantic hurricane season is officially the most expensive ever, racking up $202.6 billion in damages since the formal start on June 1. The costs tallied by disaster modelers Chuck Watson and Mark...
Texas Officials: At Least 1 Traffic Death per Day Since 2000
Nov 27 2017 // At least one person has died on Texas roadways every day since November 2000, state traffic safety officials say. The Texas Department of Transportation said that since Nov. 7, 2000, fatalities resulting from motor vehicle...
How Much Harm Did Harvey Do to Texas Homes?
Nov 27 2017 // Note: This story originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. As the state undertakes what could be the biggest housing recovery in American history after Hurricane Harvey, potentially thousands of Texas renters and...
Best Agencies to Work For South Central: Garrett Insurance Agency – Bronze
Nov 22 2017 // A Century Young and Still Going Strong A family-owned insurance agency doesn’t make it to 100 years and counting without doing a lot of things right, and the fact that Garrett Insurance Agency (GIA) in Kerrville,...
Some Businesses in Dickinson, Texas, Still Recovering from Harvey
Nov 22 2017 // Some Dickinson business owners are getting back on their feet — or trying — after flooding from Hurricane Harvey swamped more than 80 shops, restaurants and offices. The Galveston County Daily News reports Keith...
Texas Governor Calls White House Disaster Aid Bill ‘Inadequate’
Nov 20 2017 // Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Nov. 17 criticized as “completely inadequate” the Trump administration’s $44 billion request to Congress for disaster relief in his hurricane-ravaged state and other...
A Storm of Claims Likely Following 2017 Hurricane Season
Nov 20 2017 // The aftermath of this year’s hurricanes includes massive reconstruction across the impacted areas, which in turn creates an increased possibility for construction defect claims that would affect the liability...
Business Moves
Nov 20 2017 // AmWINS, Willis Towers Watson Specialty insurance broker AmWINS Group reported that it has completed the previously-announced acquisition of 15 insurance programs from Willis Towers Watson. Terms were not disclosed. The...
Hurricane Harvey Caused More than $200M in Crop, Livestock Losses in Texas
Nov 20 2017 // Hurricane Harvey caused more than $200 million in crop and livestock losses, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Hurricane losses by agricultural commodity include: livestock – $93 million; cotton...
People
Nov 20 2017 // Tricia Wilson has joined insurance broker Holmes Murphy as an account executive, specializing in property/casualty for the Dallas market. Wilson comes to Holmes Murphy with more than 18 years of industry experience. Over...
Texas Surplus Lines Premium Up 6% for the Year
Nov 17 2017 // Texas has recorded $4.6 billion in surplus lines premium through the end of October 2017, a 6 percent increase over 2016, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). Providing an update at the annual...
Rate Increases Approved for Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association
Nov 17 2017 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan has approved changes in the rates for private passenger and commercial automobile insurance provided through the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA), which is the...
Texas Weather Forensics Company Unveils Hail Intensity Assessment Product
Nov 16 2017 // Plano, Texas-based weather forensics company, Dynamic Weather Solutions (DWS) dba HailStrike, announced the launch of a product that indicates the intensity of hail within an area of a storm. The value of this specified...
Sprowls Elected President of Texas Surplus Lines Association
Nov 15 2017 // Garrett Sprowls, general counsel and managing broker of Austin-based Professional Lines Underwriting Specialists Inc. (PLUS Inc.), has been elected president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. (TSLA). Other newly...
Texas Division of Workers’ Comp: Employees Stepped Up to Help After Hurricane
Nov 15 2017 // When Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area two months ago, Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation employees around the state responded rapidly. DWC increased staffing on the customer...
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Has 100s of Substandard Dams in Populated Areas
Nov 14 2017 // The earthen dam on the outskirts of Georgetown in Texas’ Williamson County certainly does not look flimsy. The Austin American-Statesman reports at 35 feet high and nearly a third of a mile long, it has done a...
Insurance Council of Texas Scholarships Top $1 Million Mark
Nov 14 2017 // On November 15, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Education Foundation will join the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton to celebrate the Education Foundation’s surpassing $1 million dollars in scholarships...
Fitzpatrick Elected Chair of Insurance Council of Texas Board
Nov 13 2017 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has elected Thomas Fitzpatrick as chair of the ICT board of directors, beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Fitzpatrick has served on the ICT board since 2008 and most recently served as vice-chair...
