Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Multi-Year Trend of Reduced Natural Hazard Activity Continues in 2015
Feb 1 2016 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Low-Level Hazard Activity Results in Decreased Damage and Loss Totals Looking at the big picture, 2015 was a quiet year in terms of natural hazard activity. Overall,...
Texas Company Fined $86K for Trenching Hazards
Jan 31 2016 // Federal safety officials have cited a Texas construction company for exposing workers to trenching hazards at a site in Katy. Proposed penalties total $86,240. Five citations were issued by the federal Occupational Safety...
Dozens of Dangerous Texas Chemical Plants Operate near Public Centers: Report
Jan 29 2016 // Dozens of Texas plants similar to a fertilizer facility that exploded in the town of West in 2013, one of Texas’ worst industrial accidents, are still operating near schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods,...
Record Western Wildfires a Contrast in Otherwise Quiet Year for U.S. Natural Disasters
Jan 28 2016 // It was a relatively quiet year for natural disasters – except for those living in the Western U.S. Property data provider CoreLogic today released its annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis. The report shows...
Frozen Seafood Distributor Faces $115K for Safety Violations in Texas
Jan 28 2016 // Named a “severe violator” by federal safety officials, a frozen seafood distributor operating a plant in Brownsville, Texas, has been hit with $155,000 in fines over workplace safety hazards. The federal...
Texas Governor Seeks Federal Disaster Help after Tornadoes
Jan 28 2016 // Gov. Greg Abbott has requested a federal disaster declaration for some Texas counties after deadly late-December blizzards and tornadoes. Abbott on Jan. 26 announced the request for individual assistance for people in...
Texas Led Nation in Catastrophic Losses in 2015
Jan 26 2016 // Tornadoes, hailstorms and fires took their toll on Texas last year with insured losses well over $3 billion, according to an insurer trade group The state had over three times as many claims and almost three times the...
Texas Flooring Company Fined Nearly $67K After Worker Falls
Jan 26 2016 // Federal safety regulators cited a Texas flooring company for workplace hazards after a worker required hospitalization due to workplace injuries. Subfloor Systems Inc. of Hurst, Texas, was fined $66,990 by the U.S....
Texas Stamping Office: Growth in U.S. Surplus Lines Continued in 2015
Jan 25 2016 // Collectively, the surplus lines insurance service/stamping offices across the country processed a record-breaking $25 billion in premium in 2015, exhibiting 3.6 percent growth over the $24.2 billion in premium processed...
Texas Stamping Fee Rises, the First Change Since 2007
Jan 25 2016 // The surplus lines stamping fee rate in Texas increased at the beginning of year to 0.15 percent of the gross premium amount of surplus lines insurance policies. It’s the first change in the stamping fee for many...
People – South Central
Jan 25 2016 // Dallas-based risk management consulting and insurance agency, Dexter & Company, has promoted Royce DeRouen and David Rambie to executive roles. In his new role as senior vice president, DeRouen oversees the Risk...
Business Moves
Jan 25 2016 // Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, IHC Risk Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has agreed to buy IHC Risk Solutions and its direct employer stop loss (ESL) business from Independence Holding Co. for $152.5 million in cash. The...
Texas Man Gets Life for 10th Drunk Driving Conviction
Jan 24 2016 // A judge concerned about public safety sentenced a 62-year-old North Texas man to life in prison for his 10th drunken driving conviction since the 1980s. Ivy Ray Eberhardt, of Weatherford, Texas, would be eligible for...
Experts Doubt Involuntary Flight Claim Would Help Texas ‘Affluenza’ Teen
Jan 22 2016 // An argument raised by lawyers for a Texas teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck — that he may have been taken to Mexico against his will — is unlikely to help his...
Texas Supreme Court: Loss-of-Use Damages Allowed in Total Loss Cases
Jan 21 2016 // Are loss-of-use damages, such as lost profits, allowed in Texas when an insured has recovered fair market value on a commercial vehicle that is deemed a total loss after an accident? The Texas Supreme Court thinks so,...
Lloyd’s Appoints Regional Director for South Central U.S.
Jan 21 2016 // Specialist (re)insurer, Lloyd’s, has appointed Enya He as regional director for its newly-established South Central United States region. She will be based in Dallas and be responsible for market development...
1 Worker Dead, 3 Hurt in Explosion at Texas Chemical Plant
Jan 19 2016 // Officials say an explosion at a Houston-area chemical plant has left one worker dead and three hurt. Pasadena police say the tank accident happened Saturday afternoon at the PeroxyChem Bayport Plant. A statement from...
Texas-Based American Underwriting Managers Acquired by U.S. Risk
Jan 15 2016 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., has acquired Southlake, Texas-based managing general agency and wholesale insurance broker, American Underwriting Managers (AUM). For 17 years AUM has served the needs of retail insurance...
Miller Joins Centauri Insurance as Sales Manager in Texas
Jan 14 2016 // Joseph Miller has joined Centauri Insurance as a regional sales manager in Texas. Miller brings more than 17 years of insurance industry experience to Centauri and is charged with helping to expand the company’s...
Workers’ Comp Maintenance Tax Reduced in Texas
Jan 13 2016 // Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Ryan Brannan is lowering the maintenance tax rate paid on premiums collected by workers’ compensation insurance carriers for the third straight year, the Texas...
