Live Insurance News

Texas Lawmakers Push to End Widow’s Insurance Premium Increase

May 8, 2025May 8, 2025 Logan B.

Texas Auto Insurance – Senate Bill 1238 Aims to Protect Texas Widows From Steep Premiums Imagine this: You’ve just lost your spouse. You’re grieving, overwhelmed, trying to pick up the pieces. Then, like salt in the wound, you call your insurance company to update your policy… and bam! Your premiums go up. This scenario, known as the “widow’s penalty,” is what a new Texas bill, Senate Bill 1238, is designed to stop. For years, widows and widowers in Texas have reported surprise rate hikes on their auto and homeowners insurance…

Can Texas Stop Insurance Rate Hikes Without Scaring Off Insurers?

May 6, 2025May 8, 2025 Ben Jones

Texas Plans to Tackle Home Insurance Crisis, but Will It Work Like California’s Approach? Texas lawmakers are taking a hard look at the state’s soaring home insurance rates, and they’ve got a plan. Proposed bills floating in the state legislature would require insurance companies to get approval before raising premiums by certain amounts, like 10%. It sounds promising, right? But critics are raising their eyebrows, questioning whether these changes will actually do enough—or worse, if they’ll cause more headaches without lowering costs. If it all feels a bit familiar, that’s…

New Texas insurance law may make things harder for Hurricane Harvey victims

August 31, 2017August 30, 2017 G. Turner

As the very first steps for recovery begin, HB 1774, signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) becomes effective. A Texas insurance law, signed by Governor Greg Abbott back in May, will become effective tomorrow. This, at a time when Hurricane Harvey victims are taking the very first steps toward understanding what they can do to recover. Houston, the fourth most populous city in the United States, may have years of recovery ahead. The Texas insurance law will be changing the way claims lawsuits are handled when they…

Liability insurance exclusions limited for builders in Texas

January 21, 2014January 18, 2014 H. Cutner

The Supreme Court in the state has also restricted the exclusions for general contractor coverage. The Texas Supreme Court has given a new ruling that may help to increase the consumer confidence levels in terms of the liability insurance coverage that is carried by general contractors as well as builders. The ruling will help to decrease the number of exclusions that exist on these policies. This insurance news was made when Justice Phil Johnson made a ruling that denied the attempt of an insurer to avoid having to pay a…

Texas Insurance Commissioner’s job may be on the line

February 26, 2013April 30, 2013

Insurance news - Eleanor Kitzman Texas Insurance Commissioner

Democrats in the Senate shot down at least one of the appointments made by the Governor in recent sessions. Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman may be the next one in the crosshairs for the Senate Democrats in the state, which have taken down at least one of the appointments made by Governor Rick Perry in each of the last two legislative sessions. Kitzman was first appointed in 2011 by the governor, and “has serious problem” in the Capitol. This statement was made by Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin). The Texas Insurance…

91% of Texans to be insured by 2014, thanks to the Affordable Care Act

March 2, 2012March 2, 2012 Marc

The Texas Medicaid Director, Billy Millwee, spoke to the House Public Health and Insurance committees this week regarding the Affordable Care Act. The director has been tracking the trends and effects that the federal health care law has birthed in the state and has come to a promising conclusion. Currently, 74% of the state’s residents have some form of health insurance coverage. Millwee claims that when the Affordable Care Act is fully enacted in 2014, this will jump to 91%. By that time, only 2.3 million Texans will have no…

Texas windstorm insurance legislation inches closer to becoming law

June 11, 2011May 15, 2013

Texas lawmakers have been toiling over changes to the state’s insurance program, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. The program provides affordable coverage to coastal residences and is one of the few organizations through which homeowners can obtain protections from wind damage. Legislators have been debating over the necessity of the program and whether or not the state should continue to support it. A definitive decision had not been made before the end of the legislative session, but Senators were unwilling to let the issue slide into obscurity. After calling for…