Latest Texas Headlines

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

South Central Workers’ Comp Markets Show Signs of Improvement

May 19 2008 // Workers’ comp premium rates in Arkansas will continue on the declining path they have followed since the state passed workers’ compensation legislative reform in 1993, when a 12.8 percent rate decrease takes...

Claims Pile up from Texas Storms

May 16 2008 // Back-to-back storm systems surprised Central Texas overnight on May 14-15 with intense winds and heavy hail damage in localized areas that has insurance agents and companies responding to thousand of property damage...

Specialty Insurance Managers Announces Management Changes

May 15 2008 // Specialty Insurance Managers Inc. CEO Frank R. Berry and President Diana G. Berry are retiring. The Austin, Texas-based managing general agency chose to perpetuate by passing the leadership of the firm to Mike Berry,...

Damage from April 17 Texas Storm Exceeds $200 Million

May 15 2008 // Insured losses from severe storms on April 17 that hammered areas west of Fort Worth, Texas, with softball size hail now exceed $200 million, the Insurance Council of Texas reported.An estimated 33,000 homeowner claims and...

Appeals Court Overturns $7.75 Million Vioxx Verdict

May 14 2008 // An appeals court in Texas overturned a $7.75 million verdict against Merck & Co involving its withdrawn pain drug Vioxx Wednesday, ruling that evidence presented at trial failed to prove the medicine caused the heart...

Damages Mount, Again, in Storm-battered South Central States

May 13 2008 // As the town of Picher, Okla., begins to climb out of the wreckage of the deadly tornado that swept across Southeastern Oklahoma and into Missouri and beyond over the May 10 weekend, some are predicting that the town may...

Texas, Allstate Reach Agreement on Homeowners Reductions, Refunds

May 12 2008 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), the Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) and Allstate Texas Lloyd’s (Allstate) have reached agreement to settle all outstanding litigation with respect to homeowners...

Texas AG Settles with El Paso Company on Identity Theft Charges

May 9 2008 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott reached an agreement with El Paso-based CNG Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries, Check ‘n Go of Texas Inc. and Southwestern & Pacific Specialty Finance Inc., over charges that...

Texas Home Builders Workers’ Comp Group Dividend Approaches $60K

May 7 2008 // Hotchkiss Insurance Agency LLC and Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $59,360.36 dividend to the Texas Home Builders Workers’ Comp (THB-WC) purchasing group.Formed in September 2005 the group is exclusive to...

Bostick Returns to Quirk & Company

May 7 2008 // Debbie Bostick has rejoined Texas-based Quirk & Company as a new business account executive for the Commercial Lines Division. Building on her previous 18 year tenure with Quirk & Company, she will focus on the...

Stephens Insurance Expands, Adds 10 to Austin Office Staff

May 6 2008 // Stephens Insurance LLC expanded its commercial and retail insurance service capabilities in Texas by adding 10 staff members to its Austin office.Founded in 1987, Stephens Insurance offers insurance services throughout the...

Richardson Joins State Auto’s Middle Market and Large Account Unit

May 5 2008 // Todd Richardson joined State Auto Insurance Company’s Austin, Texas-based Middle Market and Large Account (SAMMI) facility.Richardson brings more than 19 years of experience to his new role as a SAMMI account...

Texas Supreme Court Justice’s Wife Re-Indicted on Arson Charges

May 2 2008 // The wife of a Texas Supreme Court justice has been indicted for a second time on charges connected to a fire that destroyed the couple’s suburban Houston home in the summer of 2007.A grand jury indicted Francisca...

Coast Strongly Influences Louisiana, Texas Property Markets

May 1 2008 // Louisiana and Texas share a lot. Besides sharing a common border, they share the Gulf of Mexico — both its bounty and its battering, in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes. The latter greatly influences the rates...

Texas Lawmakers Hear Testimony on Injured Worker Ruling

Apr 30 2008 // Relatives of those killed in a 2005 BP plant explosion and other industrial accident victims are urging the Legislature to undo a Texas Supreme Court ruling in a high-profile workplace injury case.“If no one is held...

Texas March Enforcement Actions Result in $130K in Fines, Restitution

Apr 29 2008 // Enforcement actions taken by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during March include five license revocations, four license denials, and fines and restitution totaling $130,400.Copies of...

West and North Texas Cleaning up After Violent Storms, Tornadoes

Apr 25 2008 // Violent thunderstorms produced tornadoes, large hail and heavy rains over west and north Texas on April 23 causing a considerable amount of damage. The worst losses appear to have occurred where the storm clouds began...

The Gibraltar Group Opens Central Texas Office, Adds New Broker

Apr 24 2008 // The Gibraltar Group will open an office in Goldthwaite, Texas, on May 5 to serve businesses in Central Texas, the company reported.Warren Blesh, who has more than 25 years of commercial insurance experience, will lead...

Colemont Rolls Out New Admitted Non-Subscription Program in Texas

Apr 23 2008 // Colemont Insurance Brokers has introduced TExcess, a new employers’ excess indemnity insurance (EEII) policy available for larger Texas employers who are non-subscribers to the workers’ compensation...

NIP Founder Has a Passion for Director Protection

Apr 22 2008 // Bill Pollock is passionate about protecting directors of companies.The Dartmouth College and University of Virginia law school graduate has been a director and a CEO, and understands from both sides the position company...