Latest Virginia Headlines

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

Business Moves

Mar 23 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. wants to expand into Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Illinois. President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Burton says...

West Virginia Lawmakers Delay Drunk Driver Lock Expansion

Mar 18 2009 // A proposal to put interlocks in the vehicles of every West Virginian convicted of drunken driving appears to be on hold this year while lawmakers await the results of an earlier expansion of the program. But a West...

West Virginia’s BrickStreet Mutual Names Allstate’s Laska as CIO

Mar 16 2009 // Tony Laska has joined workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. as its senior vice president and chief information officer. Laska comes to West Virginia from the Chicago area, where he had been...

Virginia Court Voids Malpractice Policy Due to Material Misrepresentation

Mar 12 2009 // In an unusual case, a federal court in Virginia has found that a law firm’s malpractice policy can be voided because a partner failed to disclose to the firm’s insurance company that he had embezzled money from...

UK’s Admiral Auto Insurance to Open Virginia Operations Center

Mar 9 2009 // The American subsidiary of a United Kingdom-based auto insurer says it’s going to open an operations center and bring 40 to 50 jobs to the Richmond area. Admiral Americas and the Greater Richmond Partnership...

Bankruptcy Won’t Help West Virginia Doctor Avoid Malpractice Payments

Mar 9 2009 // A former West Virginia doctor will not be able to use his Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in Birmingham to block payments in scores of malpractice cases after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled he was hiding assets. The order...

West Va. Insurance Authority Eyed

Mar 9 2009 // West Virginia gives its insurance department a lot of leeway in regulating workers’ compensation. But a new House bill would require the department to get legislative approval for workers’ compensation...

West Virginia’s Workers’ Comp Writer BrickStreet to Expand Into Other States

Mar 3 2009 // Workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. wants to expand into Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Illinois. President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Burton says the West...

Insurance Fraud Arrests and Convictions on the Rise in Virginia

Mar 3 2009 // The Insurance Fraud Program (IFP) of the Virginia State Police said it made 307 arrests for insurance fraud last year — a 47 percent increase over the previous year. In addition, convictions for insurance fraud in...

Texting While Driving Ban Passes Virginia Senate

Feb 26 2009 // OMG! Texting your BFF while driving could soon cost you. The Senate voted 33-6 Tuesday to pass Del. John Cosgrove’s bill to ban sending or reading text messages or e-mail while driving. The House passed the...

$160 Million West Virginia Flood Control Project Nears Approval

Feb 24 2009 // A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official says a proposed $160 million flood-control project along the Greenbrier River in West Virginia’s Pocahontas County could be approved soon. Talk of the project started more than...

The Hartford Sues Virginia Firm to Limit Salmonella Claims

Feb 22 2009 // The Hartford has filed a lawsuit to determine whether it must pay claims filed by victims of a nationwide salmonella outbreak traced to the Virginia peanut butter maker it insures. Hartford, Conn.-based Hartford Casualty...

Lawmakers Propose Reining in West Virginia Insurance Agency

Feb 19 2009 // West Virginia gives its insurance commission a lot of leeway when it comes to regulating workers’ compensation coverage. But pending legislation could change that. The House majority whip and judiciary chairwoman are...

The Hartford Sues Virginia Firm to Limit Salmonella Claims

Feb 9 2009 // The Hartford has filed a lawsuit to determine whether it must pay claims filed by victims of a nationwide salmonella outbreak traced to the Virginia peanut butter maker it insures. Hartford, Conn.-based Hartford Casualty...

Business Moves

Feb 8 2009 // Liberty Mutual, Wausau Liberty Mutual Group, which sells insurance both direct and through independent agents, is discontinuing direct distribution to mid-sized businesses and now plans to distribute its commercial...

Kentucky Reeling from Ice Storm; Slow FEMA Response Hit

Feb 2 2009 // In some parts of rural Kentucky, they’re getting water the old-fashioned way — with pails from a creek. There’s not room for one more sleeping bag on the shelter floor. The creative are flushing their...

2 More West Virginia Families Reach Sago Mine Settlements

Jan 28 2009 // Court records show that families of two more workers who died in the Sago Mine disaster have settled their lawsuits with the mine’s operator. Details of the settlement with International Coal Group were not made...

BrickStreet Writes Outside West Virginia; Drops Worst In-State Accounts

Jan 25 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance has written its first out-of-state policy. The policy, which went into effect Jan. 1, covers the employees of a West Virginia-based pipeline company working in the Commonwealth of...

West Virginia Mutual Insurance Pays Off $24 Million State Loan

Jan 21 2009 // West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co. (WVMIC), formerly known as the West Virginia Physician’s Mutual Insurance Co., has paid off the $24 million surplus loan it received in 2004 from the State of West Virginia. WVMIC...

West Virginia Insurer BrickStreet Mutual Elects Flaherty Chairman

Jan 20 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.’s board of directors has elected Charleston attorney Thomas V. Flaherty to serve as its new chairman. In addition, BrickStreet Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas J....