Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Oilfield Services Firms to Pay $1.2M to Settle Federal Race Discrimination Suit
Nov 14 2019 // Two Houston-based oil field services companies have agreed to pay a total of $1,225,000 to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by federal officials. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Environmental Impact of Texas Petrochemical Plant Fire Unclear
Nov 13 2019 // Researchers are uncertain about the environmental impact of toxic chemicals used to extinguish a three-day blaze at a Houston-area petrochemical storage facility after some leaked into a busy commercial waterway. The fire...
Rate Increases Approved for Texas Auto Insurer for Residual Market
Nov 12 2019 // Proposed rate increases for both private passenger and commercial auto insurance rates have been approved for the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA). The Texas Department of Insurance granted TAIPA’s...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Actuarial Committee to Meet Again for Rate Review
Nov 12 2019 // The Actuarial & Underwriting Committee of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) will meet Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 1:30 pm for review and possible action regarding development of recommendations to the...
Vertus to Offer Hurricane Deductible Buy-Back Insurance in Texas
Nov 12 2019 // Vertus Insurance Partners, a Florida-based managing general agent and provider of specialized catastrophic risk protection insurance products is entering the Texas marketplace with its homeowners’ hurricane...
Herrera Appointed Director of Operations at Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office
Nov 8 2019 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has named Cheyenne Herrera director of Operations. Herrera originally joined SLTX in 1998 as a data entry clerk. She oversaw the implementation of the Electronic Filing...
Texas Insurance Industry, Local Police Team Up for Vehicle Crime Prevention
Nov 8 2019 // Auto burglaries and thefts affect over 250,000 motorists each year in Texas resulting in more than $1 billion in losses according to the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority (MVPCA). Now through a program sponsored by...
UT/TT Poll: It’s a Highly Partisan Issue but Texans Say Climate Change Is Happening
Nov 7 2019 // Two-thirds of Texas registered voters believe climate change is happening, but their urgency about it varies considerably, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Less than a quarter of voters —...
UT Study: Earthquakes in West Texas Have Dramatically Increased
Nov 5 2019 // West Texas has seen a dramatic increase in earthquakes, jumping from 19 in 2009 to 1,600 in 2017 alone, according to a new study published on Nov. 4 by the University of Texas at Austin. The study, which was published in...
Texas Mutual Donates $100K to Community Foundation for Dallas Tornado Recovery
Nov 4 2019 // Workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co. has donated $100,000 to Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), the state’s largest community foundation. The donation, which will go toward CFT’s...
Insurer Group: Dallas Tornado Outbreak Costliest in Texas History
Nov 4 2019 // The nine confirmed tornadoes that hit the Dallas, Texas-area late on Sunday, Oct. 20 have caused an estimated $2 billion in damage, an insurer trade group says, making it the costliest tornado loss in Texas history. The...
Nearly Half of Traffic Deaths in Texas Occur in Energy Producing Areas
Nov 4 2019 // The number of roadway fatalities has risen in Texas’ oil and gas production areas, state transportation officials say. Nearly half of all traffic deaths in the state now occur in energy producing locales, according...
Survey Shows Gaps in Building Codes Put Texas Coastal Residents at Risk
Nov 4 2019 // More than 7 million Texans live in Texas coastal areas that are vulnerable to hurricanes, according to an insurance industry-backed research and communications organization. A survey of cities and counties along the Texas...
San Antonio Spa/Resort to Pay $2.6M to Settle National Origin Discrimination Suit
Nov 1 2019 // The former operators of a spa and resort in San Antonio, Texas, to pay $2,625,000 to settle a national origin discrimination lawsuit brought by a federal agency. The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Higher Limits of Liability for 2020 Disapproved for Texas Windstorm Insurer
Nov 1 2019 // In mid-October, Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan denied a request by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) to raise its maximum liability limits for new and renewal policies with an effective date of...
U.S. Safety Board: No Alert System at Texas Petrochemical Facility Damaged by Fire
Nov 1 2019 // A company that owns a Houston-area petrochemical storage facility which burned for days in March didn’t have an alert system in place to warn of releases from its tanks, a federal agency investigating the blaze said...
Texas Warns of Insurance Deductibles Scam Following Dallas Storms
Oct 30 2019 // Texans with property in locations that were hit by the severe weather that swept through Dallas and North Texas on Sunday, Oct. 20 are now targets of a scam involving insurance deductibles, insurance regulators say. The...
Womack Named Vice Chair, Morrison Secretary-Treasurer at Texas Windstorm Insurer
Oct 30 2019 // The board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) have elected two individuals to fill the recently vacated executive positions of vice chair and secretary-treasurer. TWIA public representative...
Texas Oilfield Worker Killed by Poisonous Gas; Wife Dies Checking on Him
Oct 30 2019 // A 44-year-old Texas oil company worker died after being overcome by poisonous gas at a pump house, and his 37-year-old wife also was killed by the fumes when she went to check on him. The Ector County Sheriff’s...
Insurer Group: Dallas Tornado Outbreak Costliest in Texas History
Oct 25 2019 // The nine tornadoes that hit the Dallas, Texas-area over the weekend have caused an estimated $2 billion in damage, an insurer trade group says, making it the costliest tornado loss in Texas history. The Insurance Council...
