Latest Texas Headlines

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

Texas Lawmakers Named to Coastal Insurance Study Committee

Dec 12 2011 // A joint committee of state lawmakers over the next year will be looking in to alternatives for providing property insurance along the Texas coast.Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has announced Texas House...

Insured Losses from Bastrop, Texas, Wildfire Rise to $325M

Dec 8 2011 // More than half of the homeowner insurance claims have been settled in the Bastrop (Texas) Complex Wildfire that occurred over the Labor Day weekend. The final tally for insured losses from the wildfire is projected to hit...

Texas Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Receives National Award

Dec 7 2011 // Kyson Johnson, Texas’ only dedicated insurance fraud prosecutor, has been named 2011 Prosecutor of the Year by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.Johnson was honored for his successful record in prosecuting...

Great American Insurance Acquires 2 Texas Workers’ Comp Firms

Dec 6 2011 // Great American Insurance Group, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, announced it is acquiring Dallas, Texas-based Employers Comp Associates Inc. (ECA) and Freeman Administrative Solutions Inc. (FAS). ECA and FAS were...

People

Dec 5 2011 // Susan Gropp has been elected president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. Gropp is executive vice president of Arcana Insurance Services in Dallas.Other newly elected officers include: Vice President Kathy van...

Haigood to Head Texas Fire and Casualty Insurer Association

Dec 5 2011 // Lyndell Haigood, regional vice president of State Auto Insurance Co., has been elected president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT). Haigood was elected during AFACT’s annual meeting...

Land O’Lakes Gives $10K to Texas Volunteer Fire Departments

Dec 5 2011 // Land O’Lakes Inc. Foundation has donated $10,000 to Texas Forest Service’s Volunteer Fire Department assistance fund.Volunteer fire departments served as the first line of defense against wildfires that...

Leading By Creating

Dec 5 2011 // Top 100 Agency Profile Agency Name: Confie Seguros, trading under Freeway Insurance Headquarters: New York, N.Y. Year Founded: 2008 Additional Locations: California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Texas, New York, New...

State Farm Hikes Homeowner Policy Rates, Deductibles in Texas

Dec 2 2011 // A new insurance commissioner has allowed State Farm to charge higher rates and deductibles in Texas.State Farm Insurance on Dec. 1 was authorized to switch many of its 1.2 million homeowner policies to a higher deductible....

Texas Man Accused of Drowning $1.2M Sports Car for Insurance

Dec 2 2011 // The insurer of a $1.2 million sports car that plunged into a Galveston Bay lagoon two years ago says the owner deliberately drove into the marsh to collect on a $2.2 million insurance policy.No trial date has been set in...

Broadspire Launches Workers’ Comp Health Care Network in Texas

Dec 2 2011 // Broadspire, a third party administrator (TPA) and medical management services provider, announced it has launched its workers’ compensation health care network (HCN) in Texas.The Broadspire workers’...

2 Texas Businesses Cited for Safety Violations

Nov 30 2011 // In separate actions federal workplace regulators have cited two Texas-based companies for employee safety violations.The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Congress...

Texas Regulator Abstains from MLR Vote; Says State Requested Waiver

Nov 29 2011 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has adopted a resolution urging Congress to amend the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to ensure...

Land O’Lakes Gives $10K to Texas Volunteer Fire Departments

Nov 28 2011 // Land O’Lakes Inc. Foundation has donated $10,000 to Texas Forest Service’s Volunteer Fire Department assistance fund.Volunteer fire departments served as the first line of defense against wildfires that...

Two North Texas Men Sentenced in Arson for Insurance Case

Nov 23 2011 // Two men in Texas have been sentenced to prison for conspiring to commit arson in order to obtain insurance proceeds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced.Blaise Hancock, of...

Texas Mutual Promotes Lentz to VP of Underwriting

Nov 23 2011 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. has promoted Jeff Lentz from senior manager of underwriting and marketing to vice president of underwriting. In his new role, Lentz will be responsible for directing underwriting policies and...

Texas DPS: More than 66K Unsafe Commercial Vehicles Sidelined This Year

Nov 21 2011 // Since the beginning of the year, Texas public safety officers have removed more than 66,000 unsafe commercial vehicles and more than 12,000 unsafe commercial drivers from the state’s roadways, the Department of...

Business Moves

Nov 21 2011 // The Doctors Co., FPICMedical liability insurer The Doctors Co. has completed its previously-announced acquisition of FPIC Insurance Group Inc., a major provider of health care liability insurance in Florida, Texas, Georgia...

People

Nov 21 2011 // Dallas-based LevelFirst has named Toni Campbell director of Marketing. Campbell will oversee all marketing efforts for the newly formed wholesale property and casualty insurance broker and MGA.LevelFirst also introduced...

Texas Surplus Lines Late-file Bill a Victory

Nov 21 2011 // The passage of a bill addressing late filing of surplus lines policies in the 2011 Texas legislative session was a victory for surplus lines professionals in the state. Senate Bill 1806 was backed by the Texas Surplus...