Latest Tennessee Headlines

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

A Year Later: Tennessee Flood that Killed 20 Challenges Community

Jun 22 2022 // When a flash flood tore through Waverly, Tennessee, 17-year-old Zoe Turner ran to safety on the top floor of her family’s home. The rushing water would claim the lives of 20 of her neighbors, damage more than 700...

Tennessee Regulators Tout Insurance Industry Growth in the State

Jun 7 2022 // Tennessee regulators are crowing about the considerable growth in the insurance industry the state has seen in the last two years.Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence said in a bulletin posted Tuesday that the 294,000...

Tennessee Supreme Court Hears Coal-Ash Workers’ Arguments

Jun 3 2022 // Tennessee Supreme Court justices fired numerous questions Wednesday at a company that is challenging lawsuits alleging its workers were sickened or died after cleaning up the nation’s worst coal ash spill, which...

Sovereign Immunity No Defense in $3B Tenn. Coal-Ash Lawsuit, 6th Circuit Rules

May 23 2022 // Sovereign immunity does not protect a federal contractor against a lawsuit filed by some 60 former employees seeking $3 billion in punitive damages for illnesses suffered after exposure to toxic coal ash during a clean-up...

Agency Promotes Shulz to Expand Tennessee as Captive Domicile

May 16 2022 // The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance has named Michael Shulz to be director of business development for the insurance division, promoting the growth of Tennessee-based captive insurance companies. Tennessee...

People: Keystone Names Nalley Tennessee VP

May 13 2022 // Keystone Insurers Group, which calls itself the fourth largest participant-owned insurance agency network in the country, has named Carolyn Nalley as new Tennessee state vice president. Nalley was previously at The...

Case of COVID Same as Vaccine, Tennessee Law Says

May 2 2022 // Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined to sign off on a new law requiring governments and businesses to treat immunity from a previous COVID-19 infection as equal to getting vaccinated in their policies.The legislation became...

Families Blame CSX for Tennessee Flooding that Killed 20 in August

Apr 11 2022 // Ten families are suing CSX Transportation for up to $450 million over flooding that killed 20 people in Tennessee last year, claiming a clog underneath the railroad giant’s bridge in rural Waverly allowed a...

Former Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Homicide in Medication Error

Mar 28 2022 // A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication, a jury said Friday. She was also found...

People: Clements to Tenn. Captive Section, Allen to Franklin Street

Mar 24 2022 // Tennessee Hires New Captive Assistant DirectorThe Tennessee Department of Commerce and Industry announced it has named Daniel Clements as assistant director of the Captive Insurance Section. Clements is a licensed,...

Online Exams a Hit with Tennessee Insurance Agent Candidates

Mar 11 2022 // The proportion of prospective Tennessee insurance agents taking exams online has doubled in the last year, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Industry reported.The department said that almost 40% of insurance...

Tennessee Insurance Department Uses Mediation to Settle Claims Disputes, Returns $8M

Mar 4 2022 // The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance returned more than $8 million to policyholders in 2021 through mediation between consumers and insurance companies, the department announced this week. The department...

Business Moves

Feb 21 2022 // Truist Insurance, Kensington VanguardCharlotte, North Carolina-based Insurance broker Truist Insurance Holdings Inc. agreed to acquire the national title insurance agency Kensington Vanguard National Land Services. The...

Parts of Mississippi Valley, Mid-South Under Tornado Watch

Feb 17 2022 // A tornado watch is in effect for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee until 6:00 p.m. CST, Thursday Feb. 16, according to the National Weather Service.The NWS said to expect “Severe thunderstorms...

Business Moves

Feb 7 2022 // Marsh McLennan, Affinity AgencyAssociation Member Benefits Advisors, a national affinity-based membership and marketing insurance agency, has agreed to acquire the associations business of Mercer, a business of Marsh...

Higginbotham Acquires J.M. Insurance in Tennessee

Jan 31 2022 // Higginbotham Insurance has added J.M. Insurance Agency to its family in Tennessee. J.M. is an independent broker of commercial and personal P&C insurance, bonds and employee benefits. The broker, which has grown...

Alera Group Acquires Cate-Russell Agency in Tennessee

Jan 28 2022 // Alera Group has acquired six agencies around the country, including Cate-Russell Insurance, an independent insurance agency in Maryville. Tennessee. Cates-Russell, which offers business, personal and benefits products, is...

Tennessee Doc Pleads Guilty Then Sues Insurer After Clinic Burns Down

Jan 26 2022 // A Tennessee doctor who pleaded guilty to running a pill mill has now filed suit against his property insurance carrier for failing to pay after a suspicious fire destroyed his clinic.Dr. David Bruce Coffey of Oneida, in...

Tennessee Jury Awards $9 Million to Man Who Sipped Cleaning Fluid at Restaurant

Jan 20 2022 // A Tennessee jury has awarded damages far above what the plaintiff asked for, after finding the Cracker Barrell restaurant company at fault for allowing a customer to accidentally drink a cleaning compound.The customer,...

$1 million Available for Tennessee Volunteer Fire Department Equipment

Jan 19 2022 // The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is reminding residents that the state has $1 million available for firefighting equipment for the state’s more than 500 volunteer fire departments.The department and...