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• 01-05-2012Johns to Retire as president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service
• 12-12-2011What Insurers Could Do With Your Social Media Score
  

  This article implies that insurance companies are surfing social media sites and establishing “social scores” to set premiums.

• 12-10-2011Speaker Strauss Announces Interim Appointments on Windstorm
  

  The committee will examine alternative ways to provide insurance to the state’s seacoast territory.

• 11-08-2011Oklahoma Earthquakes Stir Interest in Insurance Coverage
  

  After much of the state felt Saturday’s largest-ever recorded quake, residents began calling their insurance agents.

• 10-27-2011Texas Still Faces a Significant Risk From Uninsured Drivers
  

  The worse the economy gets, the riskier it is to drive on Texas roads.  As the economy tanks more drivers are liability insurance, rolling the dice with their lives - and yours.

• 10-12-2011TWIA $3M Payout On Hold
  

  A split commissioners court thwarted the Galveston County’s ability to accept a $3 million dollar payout as a part of a settlement with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

• 10-05-2011New Insurance Commissioner Says Politics Won’t Guide Her Decicions
  

  Commissioner Kitzman stated that her reputation as South Carolina Insurance was not one of partisanship or undue favoritism.

• 08-25-2011One in Five Texas Drivers Lack Insurance
  

  More than one in five Texas drivers lack insurance despite state’s three-year old auto insurance verification program.

• 05-11-2011Measure Would Limit Cases Against Wind Insurer
  

  The state House on Tuesday approved a bill pushed as a way to streamline the claims dispute process and cut costs for the state’s wind insurer of last resort, but derided by opponents as a slap at consumer protections.

• 04-12-2011Texas Lawmakers Consider 85 MPH Speed Limit
  

  Motorists in Texas and Kansas soon may be able to drive faster than ever — legally.

• 04-06-2011Some Texas Speed Limits Could Be Bumped To 85, The Fastest In The Nation
  

  Texans might enter life in the fastest lane under a bill the House approved Wednesday, authorizing an 85-mph speed limit on highways.

• 03-09-2011Many Wildfire Victims Cope With No Insurance
  

  For at least 20 homeowners, February’s firestorm brought two harsh realities: losses in the flames and the absence of insurance to cover the cost.

• 11-17-2010Texans Paying Highest Home Insurance Rates Nationwide
  

  AUSTIN – Texas has reclaimed the distinction of having the most expensive homeowners insurance premiums in the nation, according to new figures from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  Industry representatives, on the other hand, said the rates reflect the high risks for insurers selling policies in Texas.

• 09-13-2010Texas Democratic donor, GOP legislator spar over insurance settlement
  

  Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn, arguably the most powerful Democratic donor in the state, has taken offense at a Republican lawmaker's effort to get information about a series of Mostyn's cases.

• 08-31-2010Challenger For Texas Governor Seeks To Alter Rate Filing System   • By CHAD HEMENWAY Published 8/3
  

  Homeowners insurance looks to be a key issue in the race for Texas governor, with challenger Bill White announcing a plan to push a prior approval system.

• 08-30-2010Oklahoma Body Shops Catching Up On Hail Damage Repairs
  

  Nearly four months after May's hailstorm caused major damage throughout the metro, vehicle repairs are winding down.

• 08-27-2010White Urges State Approval of Insurance Rates
  

  Addressing an issue that hits the pocketbooks of many Texas voters, Democratic candidate for governor Bill White said Thursday that insurers should be required to get approval from the state before raising rates for homeowner policies.

• 08-11-2010Galveston leaders weigh pulling plug on beach development plan
  

  GALVESTON — The latest skirmish in a long-running dispute over development on Galveston beaches could play out today.
  The Galveston City Council is poised to scuttle a plan years in the making that is designed to discourage houses built where rapidly eroding beaches would eventually leave them on the public beach.

• 07-13-2010Mass Settlement Offered in Ike Windstorm Cases
  

  Within the next month, Bolivar Peninsula property owners involved in the insurance fight should get notices from their respective attorneys about whether they want to accept a slice of a $189 million "mass settlement" with the state windstorm insurance pool, attorney Steve Mostyn said.

• 07-07-2010Actuarially Sound Property Rates Remain Elusive Along Texas Coast
  

  Insurance company interests have long complained that the state-backed Texas Windstorm Insurance Association charges rates that are not actuarially sound for the risks it insures, making it impossible for private insurers to compete for business in the areas TWIA serves.
  
  Those critics now have an ally in the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which says TWIA — the insurer of last resort for wind coverage for homes and businesses along the Texas coast — charges "premium rates [that] do not fully reflect the risk of loss and would likely need to increase by 20 to 35 percent in order to do so."

• 06-24-2010TWIA Won’t Pay Evacuation Expenses
  

  The governing board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association this week voted unanimously against paying for evacuation expenses when policyholders flee hurricanes.  The nine voting members of the board also rejected paying additional living expenses for policyholders who weren’t able to return to their properties because of damage caused by flood or other perils. 

• 06-23-2010TWIA To Move Ahead With 5% Rate Hike
  

  The association’s governing board approved the increases in a 5-3 vote at its quarterly meeting Tuesday in Galveston.  The increases do not have to be approved by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin because lawmakers changed the rules during the 81st legislative session in 2009.

• 06-23-2010TWIA Defers Direct Billing Decision
  

  The nine voting members of the board, composed of five insurance company representatives, two agent representatives and two consumer representatives, directed its staff to provide a clearer “road map” to direct billing at a meeting in September.

• 06-03-2010Losses from Oklahoma’s May storms likely to top $1 billion
  

  Insurance companies will pay out about $595 million to cover losses from tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma last month. And that total is expected to grow.

• 04-13-2010Most Texas home insurers profitable again
  

  AUSTIN – Texas home insurers returned to profitability in 2009, as property claims were nearly half of those lodged as a result of Hurricane Ike the previous year.  New financial reports released Monday by the Texas Department of Insurance indicated that most companies had a solid year, if not a banner one, thanks to the lack of any major weather catastrophes across the state.

• 01-18-2010Texas Windstorm Association Settles 300 Ike and Dolly Lawsuits; 1,000 Remain
  

  The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has now settled about 300 lawsuits related to the devastating 2008 hurricane season, but the general manager of the last resort insurer rejects insinuations in Texas that TWIA is now settling because it realized it mishandled claims.

• 01-15-2010Editorial:  Is it time to drain the windstorm pool?
  

  The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, facing about 1,000 lawsuits from homeowners over its handling of insurance claims after Hurricane Ike, has begun a flurry of settlements.

• 01-14-2010Drivers Like New Insurance Proposal
  

  Measure Would Impound Cars Of Uninsured Drivers. Law enforcement officers have new data verification systems that can quickly check if a driver has insurance. Drivers said they like the proposal.

• 01-14-2010Windstorm insurer picks up pace on Ike settlements
  

  The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association is accelerating the pace of settlements. “In the past, TWIA mediated possible settlements on an individual basis,” Oliver said. “We are now working with plaintiffs' attorneys to handle mediations in groups and deal with them more quickly, which is to everyone's benefit.”

• 01-12-2010Farmers Insurance, state agree to cut ‘excessive’ rate hike
  

  AUSTIN – Farmers Insurance agreed Monday to scale back a double-digit rate hike for homeowners coverage in Texas. But the company will get to keep millions of dollars it has collected the past six months, even though the state declared those premiums excessive.

• 01-09-2010TWIA board defers decision
  

  The governing board of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association on Friday deferred deciding whether to raise rates and whether to offer coverage that would pay for evacuation expenses when policyholders flee hurricanes.

• 12-30-2009Texas homeowners’ insurance rates drop to No. 2 in new study
  

  AUSTIN – Texas has slipped to No. 2 in average homeowners' insurance premiums, a new national study.  Industry spokesmen said the study supports their often-repeated argument that Texas' hurricanes, tornadoes, ice and hail storms and wildfires drive the state's high premiums for home insurancend.

• 12-14-2009Are Texas’ auto safety inspections worth the hassle?
  

  Texas is one of 19 states left that require a periodic safety review – down from a peak of 31 states in the 1970s. The District of Columbia recently disbanded its inspection program because of high costs and a lack of evidence that the inspections saved lives.

• 12-11-2009Windstorm insurer strikes back at plaintiffs’ lawyers
  

  Under fire for how it handled Hurricane Ike claims, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association sent a letter to lawmakers this week criticizing lawyers suing the association on behalf of homeowners.

• 12-09-200926 percent of vehicles in Dallas County uninsured, state analysis shows
  

  AUSTIN – More than one in four vehicles in Dallas County are uninsured, the highest percentage in any of the state's large urban counties, an analysis released Tuesday by the Texas Department of Insurance shows.

• 12-08-2009Most uninsured drivers in Texas in coastal county
  

  In Kenedy County, south of Corpus Christi, 49.7 percent of registered vehicles could not be matched to an insurance policy, according to figures released to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today by the Texas Department of Insurance.

• 12-03-2009Letter to the Editor From TWIA - Keep suits in perspective
  

  We ask the public, and especially our policyholders, to keep these lawsuits in perspective with the scope of the catastrophe. Were mistakes made? Perhaps, in a very few situations based on the scope of the disaster — but in these cases, we welcome the opportunity to work with our policyholders to resolve any outstanding issues.

• 11-17-2009State Farm ordered to pay Texas homeowners $310 million for overcharging
  

  AUSTIN – State Farm Insurance must repay its customers $310 million for charging them too much for homeowners coverage dating back to 2003, the state insurance commissioner ruled Monday.

• 11-15-2009Number of uninsured motorists up
  

  The number of tickets for failure to maintain financial responsibility of a motor vehicle is on pace to rise this year in Abilene.
  Through Thursday, there have been 1,686 cases of motorists without insurance. There were 1,767 in 2008 and 1,858 in 2007.

• 11-10-2009Lawsuit says windstorm insurer rigged process
  

  The state windstorm insurer may have unfairly stacked the deck against homeowners with Hurricane Ike claims, according to a lawsuit filed Friday, and that has one lawmaker calling for an investigation.

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