Latest Texas Headlines

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

TDI’s Montemayor Cautions Against Overreaction on Mold Issues

Sep 3 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 3 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 3 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...

Are Producers Always the Agents of Insurers’

Sep 3 2001 // Texas has a statute, section 21.02 of the Insurance Code, which makes insurance intermediaries the legal agents of carriers for many purposes. Lots of people believe producers are always the agents of insurers with respect...

Texas Homeowners Market Shaken by Mold

Aug 20 2001 // After the decision by Farmers Insurance to put the brakes on writing new homeowners policies in Texas beginning Aug. 15, the market in Texas experienced an upheaval, according to the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas...

Well-Control Coverage Drying Up for Small, Independents in Oil Patch

Aug 20 2001 // Oil and gas drillers in Texas are averaging about 40 new holes in the ground every day as the pace of looking for petroleum, especially natural gas, continues unabated in Texas and elsewhere, and that’s...

The Shrinking, Expensive Market for Nursing Home Coverage

Aug 20 2001 // I find that nursing homes are in a serious crisis in trying to obtain medical liability coverage,” Texas Insurance Commissioner José Montemayor said in February, as he announced the Texas Department of Insurance...

Two More Named Storms Forecast for August

Aug 20 2001 // As the Atlantic hurricane season’s second named storm has faded into memory, hurricane forecaster William Gray predicts two more named storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico during the month of August.One of...

Changes in Texas Licensing

Aug 20 2001 // Changes in licensing provisions in the Texas Insurance Code are scheduled to become effective Sept. 1 and the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas has posted information on its website about how these changes may affect...

Convicted in Healthcare Fraud

Aug 20 2001 // Eight people, including six chiropractors and a physical therapist, have been convicted and sentenced for allegedly participating in a massive healthcare fraud scheme against the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance...

Hardening Market Heralds Rush to Alternatives

Aug 20 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...

Mediator Named in Mold Case; Farmers Pulls Plugon HO-B Policies

Aug 6 2001 // A Travis County judge has named Austin lawyer and former Texas Supreme Court candidate Karl Bayer to mediate a settlement in a mold-related lawsuit in which the jury slapped Farmers Insurance Group with a $32 million...

Agents and Coverage Opinions

Aug 6 2001 // Insurance intermediaries—agents, brokers, and the like—do all sorts of things for their customers and clients. They help them select coverages. They help select insurers. They shop for price. They prepare applications....

Rackley Adds Travelers

Aug 6 2001 // Pulaski, Tenn.-based ratings technology company, Rackley Systems, added Travelers Insurance to their list of companies supported by commercial lines rating in the state of Texas. Operating within the newly introduced...

Texas Fund pays Dividends

Aug 6 2001 // The Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund (Texas Fund) announced plans to pay approximately $25 million in dividends to select policyholders for the third year in a row. The dividends will come as the...

Reliance Insurance 1817-2001 – R.I.P’

Jul 23 2001 // Reliance Group Holdings (RGH), the parent company of Reliance Insurance Company (RIC), one of America’s oldest insurers which traces its roots back to 1817, filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of...

TDI SETS MOLD HEARING

Jul 23 2001 // The Texas Department of Insurance will hold a hearing on mold coverage provided in the state’s residential property insurance policies in Corpus Christi August 21. It is the second of three hearings planned by the...

Study Says Eight Insurers Command 65 Percent Market Share in Hurricane-Prone States

Jul 23 2001 // A recent study by Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based Weiss Ratings Inc. indicated that just eight large property and casualty insurers provide homeowners coverage to residents in hurricane-prone states. Weiss Ratings, a...

Complaints Fly in Allison’s Aftermath

Jul 23 2001 // Judging from the number of complaints from insurers and consumers alike in the wake of Tropical Storm Allison’s June foray through Southeast Texas, it is doubtful that Allison will end up being the most popular name...

Are High-Flying Hospitality Markets Headed for a Free-Fall’

Jul 23 2001 // If the hospitality market has firmed recently to, say, the consistency of crème brulée, will it necessarily become more like peanut brittle in the coming months? Who knows? But like many areas of today’s economy,...