Latest Texas Headlines

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

Montemayor Approves Higher Auto Benchmark Rates for Texas

Nov 19 2001 // Citing growing numbers of collision, uninsured motorist, and property damage liability claims in the state, Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor approved an increase in private automobile benchmark rates. While...

Hardening Market Heralds Rush to Alternatives

Nov 12 2001 // During the last hard market, much of corporate America wasted little time in stepping up the search for risk transfer alternatives to traditional commercial insurance. The current hard market appears to be no different if...

NAII Suggests Changes to Texas Mold Proposal for HO Policies

Oct 22 2001 // In conjunction with the fourth and final hearing held by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) on issues surrounding the surge of mold claims in the state, the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII)...

Nevada Insurer Ordered to Stop Sales in Texas

Oct 10 2001 // State insurance regulators have ordered a Nevada insurance company to stop selling health policies and collecting premiums in Texas, after learning that the company had not been paying medical claims.According to a report...

Retreating Insurers Create Turmoil in the Texas HO Market

Oct 8 2001 // Despite efforts by the Texas Department of Insurance to stabilize the homeowners insurance market in the state, property/casualty insurers are bailing out of the Texas market or scaling back coverage, at least temporarily,...

Appeals Court Orders Progressive’s Commission Plan Back to Trial

Oct 8 2001 // The Third Court of Appeals in Austin reversed itself Sept. 13 and ordered an Austin district court to retry a case involving a Corpus Christi insured who claimed unfair discrimination in his purchase of a policy at a price...

TDI’s Montemayor Cautions Against Overreaction on Mold Issues

Sep 30 2001 // Texas Department of Insurance Commissioner José Montemayor is urging both insurers and consumers to avoid overreacting to issues concerning insurance coverage for mold. He said patience was needed as solutions are being...

2,200 Attendees Expected at NAPSLO Convention, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian to Keynote 27th Annu

Sep 30 2001 // Tapley O. Johnson, Jr., incoming president of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) and chairman of the annual convention, expects some 2,200 attendees at the 27th Annual Convention in San...

Mileage-Based Auto Insurance’

Sep 30 2001 // Rule makers over at TDI are huddling these days trying to decide how best to promul-gate regulations for the pending implementation of private passenger auto insurance by-the- mile for Texas drivers. The measure was born...

Texas Insurers Estimate 60 Percent Increase in Water and Mold Claims

Sep 17 2001 // New estimates from the insurance industry predict insurer losses from water and mold damage claims will reach $780 million in Texas this year. The figure represents a 60 percent increase over claims from a year...

FIWT Stays Focused on Education, Networking

Sep 17 2001 // The Federation of Insurance Women of Texas holds its 57th annual convention in San Antonio October 3-7. True to the number one objective of the organization-education-the FIWT convention will offer members the opportunity...

Insurance Women Are ‘Girls’ No More in This Industry

Sep 17 2001 // There’s the old saying about death and taxes—that they’re only things you can really count on. But it could be argued that there’s something else that’s just about as dependable as those two...

Nonprofits Growing Fast, But Still a Tough Classto Cover

Sep 17 2001 // Nonprofit organizations are among the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy and while many companies try to steer away from writing policies for nonprofits, there are a few that thrive on the business.Those who do...

Nonprofits Especially Need Protection Against D&O Liability Risks

Sep 17 2001 // Although Directors’ and Officers’ liability insurance (D&O) often is associated with large for-profit companies, they are not the only ones that need it. Many people hold the common misperception that...

WC AGENCY GETS NEW DIRECTOR

Sep 17 2001 // The Texas Workers Compensation Commission (TWCC) named Richard “Dick” Reynolds, a former legislator and insurance commissioner, as the new executive director of the agency. The six-member commission voted...

TEXAS LEADS IN WC COSTS

Sep 17 2001 // Texas had the highest average total cost per workers’ compensation claim ($14,465) of eight states reviewed in an independent study released by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI),...

TWIA SEEKS 13% RATE HIKE

Sep 17 2001 // At a recent public hearing held by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) on windstorm coverage rates, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) requested a 13.6 percent rate increase for hail/windstorm insurance...

Courts Continue to Reject Diminished Value Concept in Class Actions

Sep 5 2001 // In spite of an ongoing influx of litigation, U.S. courts continue to reject class-action lawsuits involving diminished value, a concept referring to the difference between the value of a vehicle before and after it was...

2000 Market Share For Insurers in Texas

Sep 3 2001 // The books are closed on 2000 Texas premium and loss information for the insurance industry. IIAT’s annual review of market share data contains a few surprises, some good news and some bad news. Here are the...

2000 Surplus Lines Premium Report

Sep 3 2001 // Processing at the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas this year confirms what underwriters, agents, and risk managers already know – the hardening of the Property/Casualty market continues.Through August, the...