Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Mutual Distributes $3M in Early Qualifier Dividends
Dec 1 2015 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. has paid more than $3 million in early qualifier dividends to approximately 4,000 newer workers’ compensation insurance policyholder owners across the state. This payout is the final...
Best, Worst States for Insurance Regulation
Dec 1 2015 // Vermont, Utah, Iowa, Virginia and Kentucky get an “A” and North Carolina an “F” in one think tank’s annual grading of states on how they regulate the property/casualty insurance industry. The...
Former Texas Agent Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Faces 20 Years in Prison
Nov 30 2015 // A 64-year-old former Texas insurance agent has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, federal prosecutors say, and faces up to 20 years in prison for what amounted to a Ponzi scheme. U.S. Attorney John M. Bales...
Texas Insurance Group Says to Lock, Take, Hide on Black Friday
Nov 25 2015 // The Insurance Council of Texas is warning shoppers about possible vehicle break-ins on the Black Friday shopping holiday. Criminals will be intent on burglarizing vehicles that may have been left unlocked or simply have...
15 Texas Counties Receive Disaster Declarations from October Storms
Nov 25 2015 // Fifteen Texas counties have been declared state disaster areas after October storms and flooding left seven people dead. Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration covers Bastrop, Brazoria, Caldwell, Comal, Galveston,...
Texas Sees Continued Increase in Vehicle Crashes, Fatalities
Nov 23 2015 // For the fourth year in a row, the numbers of vehicle crashes in Texas involving both injuries and fatalities have risen, an insurance trade group reported. Both numbers began rising dramatically in 2012, when Texas highway...
Liberty Insurance Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees in Gulf Oil Spill Case
Nov 23 2015 // A federal appeals court has ruled against an insurer in its quest to avoid paying attorneys’ fees in litigation stemming from 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in...
States Graded ‘A’ to ‘F’ for Extreme Weather Preparedness
Nov 20 2015 // Many states across the country are unprepared to face the risks posed extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to a new report card. Only a small...
Texas Agent CE Requirements Changed with Passage of SB876
Nov 19 2015 // Senate Bill 876, passed during the 2015 Texas legislative session, reduced the required credit hours for continuing education (CE) for agent and adjuster license renewals to 24 hours for each two-year renewal period and...
Texas Surplus Lines Group Honors Members with Awards, Scholarships
Nov 19 2015 // The Texas Surplus Lines Association has presented its “Joe Howse President’s Award” to both Susan Gropp, Arcana Insurance Services, chairperson, 2014 & 2015 Conference Committee and PAC Committee, and...
Texas Insurance Trade Group Awards Scholarships to 17 Students
Nov 19 2015 // Seventeen students at three Texas universities were recently awarded a total of $34,000 in academic scholarships from the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Education Foundation. The students attend St. Mary’s...
Report: Texas Failing in Assessing, Preparing for Climate Threats
Nov 18 2015 // Texas is failing in assessing and preparing for environmental threats posed by climate change, according to a new report. A recently released study by Climate Central and ICF International, States At Risk: America’s...
Tornadoes in North Texas Damage Homes, Businesses
Nov 18 2015 // Multiple tornadoes hit North Texas late on Nov. 16 and early on Nov. 17, causing property damage. The National Weather Service says at least five tornadoes touched down in the Pampa, Texas, area Monday night. Forecasters...
Fabors Elected President of Texas Surplus Lines Association
Nov 18 2015 // The Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. elected new officers and directors at its 60th annual meeting held Nov. 9 in Austin. The new officers are: President Shawn Fabors, managing director, AmWINS Program Underwriters...
Trucker in Fatal Oklahoma Crash Had History of Synthetic Drug Use
Nov 17 2015 // The truck that killed four members of a college women’s softball team in Oklahoma last year was driven by a Texas man with a history of using synthetic marijuana, U.S. safety investigators found. Russell Staley...
Business Moves
Nov 16 2015 // Odyssey, Integro New York private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners has completed its acquisition of specialty insurance brokerage Integro Ltd. Financial details of the transaction, first announced in August, were...
Hundreds of Texas Homes Damaged by Heavy Rains in October
Nov 16 2015 // Authorities say heavy October rains damaged hundreds of homes extending from the Austin area down into South Texas. Travis County emergency officials said more than 330 properties were damaged in flooding at the end of...
Texas Regulator OKs Wastewater Injection Permits Despite Quakes
Nov 16 2015 // The regulatory agency overseeing the oil and gas industry in Texas has voted to maintain the wastewater injection permits for two companies whose North Texas wells are have been linked to a series of small earthquakes. The...
Texas Leads States in Deaths from Deer Collisions
Nov 16 2015 // For the majority of Texas hunters November is the start of deer hunting season – a dangerous time for deer and drivers, alike. More than 100 people are killed nationally each year from collisions with animals and among...
Central Texas to Get Souped-Up Flood Forecasting System
Nov 15 2015 // Come May 2016, turbocharged forecasts capable of faster updates as conditions change will be used to predict flooding on Central Texas rivers, an innovation expected to give emergency managers more lead time to prepare for...
