Texas Department of Insurancewww.tdi.state.tx.us - Consumer Helpline 1-800-252-3439
Texas Department of InsuranceSummaries of the News Releases for 2002 follow. News Release Date:12/19/2002 TDI asks companies to undertake voluntary rate filing as legislative session approaches AUSTIN -- Today, the Texas Department of Insurance issued a letter to the top 10 companies writing homeowners insurance in Texas requesting a voluntary rate filing by January 02, 2003. TDI is also asking each company to include supporting information to justify their current rates or any planned rate changes. This inf News Release Date:12/18/2002 Court Approved Insurance Notice Conseco, Inc., CIHC, Conseco Finance and certain Conseco non-insurance subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago late Tuesday. No Conseco insurance companies are included in the bankruptcy filings. TDI and our counterparts in other states where Conseco insuranc News Release Date:12/16/2002 Small employers seeking a health care plan for their employees now have a quick and easy way to make price comparisons among the insurance companies and HMOs offering such coverage. The Texas Department of Insurance has placed a region-specific small employer rate guide on its Web site, www.tdi.state.tx.us. Employers without Internet access can obtain a printout of information for their areas by calling TDI at 1- News Release Date:12/13/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today issued an emergency cease-and-desist order directing 33 individuals and entities to immediately halt unlicensed health insurance operations marketed primarily under the names of Privilege Care Inc., Professional Industrial and Trade Workers Union (PITWU ), Southern Plan Administrators Inc. (SPA) and American Heartland Health Administrators, Inc. (AHHA). The marketers of the illeg News Release Date:12/9/2002 Betty Patterson, senior associate commissioner in charge of the Texas Department of Insurance's Financial Program, is one of this year's two winners of the most prestigious award presented by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The NAIC presented the Robert Dineen award to Patterson and to Wisconsin Deputy Commissioner Randy Blumer at the NAIC's winter meeting in San Diego, California. The News Release Date:12/6/2002 A Travis County grand jury has indicted John William Tesseyman III of Tyler for unauthorized insurance activities that may have left dozens of petroleum product truckers and fireworks display companies without the automobile, liability and property coverage they paid for. Many individuals, agents and other entities in Texas and other states have sustained financial losses and incurred claims for which they may ne News Release Date:11/30/2002 Consumers to receive $100 million in settlement AUSTIN - Today the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) and the Office of Attorney General (OAG) reached an agreement with Farmers Insurance Group that that will effectively end the lawsuit and administrative enforcement actions that were initiated against the company in August. As a result of the agreement, Texas consumers will receive $100 million in News Release Date:11/18/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor has rejected the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's request for a 10 percent rate increase for wind and hail coverage of homes in the 14 coastal counties and part of Harris County. Montemayor ordered on Friday that TWIA rates for residential property insurance remain at their present level. He granted TWIA's request for a 10 percent increase in rates for coverage of commercial bu News Release Date:11/15/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance is sending teams of volunteers to provide insurance advice and claim assistance to co nsumers whose homes and automobiles were damaged by recent storms along the Texas Gulf Coast. TDI staff members will work out of Disaster Recovery Centers in Beaumont and Corpus Christi, starting Saturday. An additional center may be opened in Houston. The TDI teams will answer consumers' questio News Release Date:11/13/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today signed a consent order that will enable almost 5,500 Texans to benefit from a nationwide settlement of race-based pricing allegations against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Beneficiaries of the order include both African-Americans and Hispanics. This latest settlement is another step toward eliminating the last vestiges of the ugly and unfair practice of charging more for a sm News Release Date:11/12/2002 The 64,000 Texans who looked to AmCare Health Plans of Texas for health care coverage have been accepted by other carriers through the efforts of the Texas Department of Insurance and other state and federal agencies. AmCare, a financially troubled HMO based in Houston, stopped providing coverage on October 31, 2002. The HMO had 28,193 members through employer group health care plans, 8,822 through Medicare + Cho News Release Date:11/12/2002 The 64,000 Texans who looked to AmCare Health Plans of Texas for health care coverage have been accepted by other carriers through the efforts of the Texas Department of Insurance and other state and federal agencies. AmCare, a financially troubled HMO based in Houston, stopped providing coverage on October 31, 2002. The HMO had 28,193 members through employer group health care plans, 8,822 through Medicare + Cho News Release Date:10/31/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today issued emergency cease-and-desist orders directing two European entities to stop issuing insurance policies to small employer health insurance plans in Texas without the licenses required by state law. The cease-and-desist orders name: -- MarkeTrends Insurance Ltd. of the Republic of Cyprus. News Release Date:10/22/2002 As the "fall back" hour signaling the change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time approaches Sunday, October 27, the State Fire Marshal's Office is reminding Texans to make another change that could save their lives - changing the batteries in their smoke alarms. While more than 90 percent of American homes have smoke alarms, nearly one-third of those alarms don't work. Non-working smoke alarms rob a home' News Release Date:10/21/2002 Houston today became the largest city in the country to receive a fire protection classification of "1," which means potential savings for Houston's property insurance premium payers. The State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) today approved the Insurance Service Office's (ISO) recommendation of a rating of Class 1, placing Houston with three other cities in Texas and only 43 communities in the U.S. with the highest News Release Date:10/10/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance has arranged for HMO Blue Texas to offer coverage for all 28,000 commercial group members of financially troubled AmCare Health Plans of Texas Inc., starting November 1. AmCare's coverage will remain in effect through October 31. HMO Blue Texa s has agreed to offer coverage to AmCare member groups. However, employers and others are free to seek health care coverage elsewhere, and News Release Date:10/9/2002 Seven people who were arrested in the Houston-area in connection with the state's largest known scheme to defraud insurance companies by intentionally flooding homes and filing bogus claims pleaded guilty or have been convicted on fraud charges. The scheme cost insurers - and, through higher rates, their policyholders - more than $5 million. Ramnath Ramcharan, 39, of Bay City, was found guilty Wednesday on News Release Date:10/8/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor has issued an emergency cease-and-desist order to shut down an unlicensed Houston-based entity that provides back-up coverage for questionable health plans that cover the employees of almost 900 companies in 15 states. The order names Britannia International Life & Casualty Ltd. and Lyndal Ray Stocks, a Houston insurance agent whom Texas Department of Insurance staff identified as the News Release Date:10/2/2002 A house catches fire somewhere in Texas every 30 minutes. Cooking, heating, and electrical fires are three of the leading causes of home fires in Texas, and are collectively responsible for nearly half of all home fires. Many fires can be prevented. The vast majority of home cooking, heating, and electrical fires could be prevented if every Texas household took these three simple safety precautions: -- Ide News Release Date:10/2/2002 AUSTIN - Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today initiated two actions - expansion of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) statewide and triggering of state market assistance programs, called the FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan - to assist Texas homeowners in finding insurance. Both actions are designed to build upon existing capacity available within the Texas homeowner's marke News Release Date:9/25/2002 An Open Letter to Farmers Homeowners Policyholders Farmers' decision to leave the homeowners insurance market in Texas is a tremendous disservice to its 700,000 policyholders and to hundreds of Farmers' loyal agents who will suffer economically from this unjustifiable action. In light of Farmers' public announcement, here are some things that Farmers' policyholders should know. Farmers cannot can Continue News Release Date:9/24/2002 AUSTIN -- The Texas Department of Insurance has adopted new rules giving physicians and health care providers the right to receive information to help them understand how HMOs and insurance companies calculate their fees, including "bundling" and "downcoding" practices. Governor Rick Perry directed the Texas Department of Insurance to develop fee disclosure rules in order to benefit physicians and providers under News Release Date:9/23/2002 AUSTIN -- The Texas Department of Insurance today expanded Texas homeowners insurance policy choices by authorizing Nationwide Insurance to use in Texas substantially the same homeowners policies that it uses in other states. In order to gain approval for the new form, Nationwide had to demonstrate that its customers would save money compared to what the company would charge for the standard Texas HO-B homeowners polic News Release Date:9/23/2002 Agents claim that Farmers will leave Texas market; TDI urges Farmers to stay and obey the law AUSTIN -- In a letter today, The Texas Department of Insurance made a settlement offer to Farmers Insurance that will bring them into compliance with the law and allow them to stay in the Texas market. This action comes at the same time Farmers agents are claiming that Farmers Insurance is preparing to abandon the News Release Date:9/20/2002 Opinion/Editorial for Publication By José Montemayor The insurance market in Texas has had a turbulent year, to be sure. With countless mold claims, overreactions by insurance companies and public adjusters, and the discovery that a major insurer is using illegal and unfair pricing practices to overcharge consumers, the hype has sometimes gotten out of c News Release Date:9/20/2002 AUSTIN -- For the past two days the Texas Department of Insurance has been inundated with calls from farmers insurance agents and customers who are afraid that Farmers Insurance will soon be announcing soon t hat they are leaving the Texas homeowners insurance market by refusing to renew policies. Rumors, if true, that Farmers Insurance may be abandoning their loyal policyholders and their sales force is disappo News Release Date:9/18/2002 New program designed to help Texans shop for homeowners insurance AUSTIN - The Texas Department of Insurance today announced a new program designed to help consumers find homeowners insurance. The program includes a web site, www.helpinsure.com and a toll free telephone number, 1-866-695-6873. Governor Rick Perry directed TDI in August to find new way News Release Date:9/10/2002 Conseco Inc. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 10th. The company's Sixth Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization was approved by the Bankruptcy court the previous day. That cleared the way for Conseco, Inc., to shed most of its existing debt and reissue shares of new common stock to its creditors. Conseco CEO William Shea thanked insurance regulators, partners and customers for their support News Release Date:8/23/2002 Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today made home ownership easier for Texas consumers by slashing title insurance rates by 6 percent. This cut in rates follows a 3 percent rate reduction that took effect in 1998. "This reduction in title insurance rates is good news for anyone buying or refinancing a home," said Montemayor. The rates of title insurance vary depending on the selling price of a home. Th News Release Date:8/13/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today announced the appointment of Karina Casari as Executive Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). In this position, she will assist Montemayor with the day-to-day demands of agency regulatory matters and operations, freeing him to intensify his focus on policy and statewide, national and international insurance issues impacting Texas. She also will be charg News Release Date:8/13/2002 State Fire Marshal Office (SFMO) investigators ar e looking into Monday's deaths of volunteer firefighters who died at the scene of fires in Freeport and near Wichita Falls. Captain Roger Michael Dunn, 48, of the Clute Volunteer Fire Department, was responding to a call for assistance at a house fire in Freeport Monday afternoon. Dunn arrived on the scene with other volunteer firefighters and collapsed just moment News Release Date:8/13/2002 C&D Order (PDF) | Staff Application (PDF) AUSTIN - Today the Texas Department of Insurance issued an emergency cease and desist order against Farmers Insurance Exchange and Fire Insurance Exchange (Farmers) to stop unfair pricing practices. The order effectively freezes Farm News Release Date:7/18/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today approved residential property policy forms developed by the Insurance Services Office that are substantially the same as policies that many insurance companies use in other states. An insurer wanting to use the ISO form in Texas must file for approval and show that it is reducing rates to reflect coverage differences betwe en the new forms and the Texas standard policies it sold News Release Date:7/10/2002 Thousands of homeowners throughout South Central Texas and the Abilene area are attempting to recover from the flooding that inundated homes and automobiles. Flood insurance on homes and comprehensive auto insurance on both automobiles and mobile homes will help some flood victims restore their property. Contacting one's insurance agent or company should be one of the first steps every flood victim should take to News Release Date:7/8/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) is sending two-person teams to each of the Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) opening this week to help flood victims, Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor announced today. A roving response team also will drive through affected neighborhoods as receding water permits. Consumers with questions or complaints about their insurance coverage can contact these TDI staff members News Release Date:7/3/2002 Governor Rick Perry today (Wednesday) directed the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to assist flood victims in the San Antonio area with help regarding their automobiles, homes and businesses that may have been damaged. John Robinson, Director of Information Assistance, and Tom Osborn, Property and Casualty Insurance Specialist, will attend this evening's community gathering to discuss problems associated with News Release Date:6/28/2002 Doctors coming to the state's Joint Underwriting Association for medical malpractice insurance will have more policy choices and, for certain beleaguered specialties, lower premium rates because of a unanimous decision by the JUA's board of directors. The JUA is now a more realistic option for doctors struggling to find viabl News Release Date:6/27/2002 Seven people were arrested today in Houston in connection with an insurance fraud scheme in which homeowners allegedly intentionally flooded their homes and filed claims that cost insurance companies abo ut $5 million. Investigators from the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the arrests at daybreak following a federal grand ju News Release Date:6/20/2002 State Fire Marshal G. Mike Davis today warned Texans that fireworks sold for personal use are becoming more powerful and can be dangerous to anyone not following the directions. "The careless use of fireworks results in unnecessary injuries from burns and explosions every year," said Davis. Responsible adult supervision will prevent many injuries as well as the destruction of private property fr News Release Date:6/14/2002 Texas Personal Lines Manual
HOMEOWNERS SECTION IV. [Optional] Additional Coverages & Endorsements When additional coverages or endorsements are added to the Texas Homeowners Policy, the endorsement must be attached to the policy. In ad Continue News Release Date:6/14/2002 EXHIBIT K Endorsement No. No. HO-162 MOLD OR OTHER FUNGI ENDORSEMENT News Release Date:6/14/2002 EXHIBIT D Endorsement No. HO-164A Homeowners Amendatory News Release Date:6/14/2002 News Release | Staff Petition | PDF Version News Release Date:6/14/2002 News Release | Staff Petition | PDF Version News Release Date:6/14/2002 News Release | Staff Petition | PDF Version News Release Date:6/14/2002 News Release | Staff Petition | PDF Version News Release Date:6/14/2002
Continue News Release Date:6/6/2002 An investigation by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Fraud Unit has revealed that one insurance agent's actions may have caused more than one hundred public firework displays scheduled for this Fourth of July as well as hundreds of trucks filled with petroleum products traveling on the nation's highways to be uninsured. Today, Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor ordered an emergency cease-and-desi News Release Date:6/3/2002 Claim Payment Proposed Rules: Bundling | Preferred The Texas Department of Insurance today submitted proposed rules to the Texas Register that would set up contract provisions requiring HMOs and insurers to disclose their fee schedules and coding procedures to physi News Release Date:5/31/2002 State District Judge Pete Lowry issued a temporary restraining order late Thursday against two licensed insurance agents in Texas preventing them from selling bogus commercial insurance policies and freezing their assets. A Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) investigation alleges the two agents, Robert S. Harrison of Richmond and Pete F. Ballard of San Antonio, sold worthless insurance policies for commercial re News Release Date:5/30/2002 State District Court Judge Scott Jenkins of Austin has placed American Benefit Plans (ABP), an illegally operating health insurer that scammed thousands of Texans, into permanent receivership and entered a judgment imposing $4.15 million in civil penalties. ABP and other defendants who allegedly colluded with it were held jointly and severally liable for the penalties, which are payable to the state. News Release Date:5/29/2002 State Fire Marshal G. Mike Davis has advised all registered fire extinguisher firms that inspect fire extinguishing systems for restaurant cooking areas that they may continue to service systems installed prior to July 1, 1996. Davis issued the alert in response to reports that some registered fire extinguisher firms had begun "red tagging" existing restaurant fire extinguishing systems solely because they were e News Release Date:5/28/2002 Texans know from experience that a tropical storm doesn't have to reach hurricane status to become both deadly and devastating. Last year, Tropical Storm Allison stalled over Houston, dropping up to 40 inches of rain and causing $2.5 billion in flood losses. Twenty-three people lost their lives. While no hurricane has hit a populated area of Texas in more than a decade, we're still feeling the effects of Tropica Continue News Release Date:5/22/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today authorized USAA to use substantially the same homeowners policy in Texas that the insurer uses in other states. He said the approval continues his efforts to reduce residential property rates, expand consumer choices and increase homeowners insurance availability for Texans. On March 8, the Commissioner gave similar approval to State Farm in the first action on a national poli News Release Date:5/21/2002 Consumers hit hard by recent homeowners insurance rate increases have a new tool to shop for lower premiums. The Texas Department of insurance has updated its homeowners rate guide four months early to help consumers through the present market upheaval. The new rate guide, which compares rates char News Release Date:5/15/2002 Bill of Rights - HTML Versions Homeowners | Homeowners-Spanish | Auto | Auto-Spanish News Release Date:5/10/2002 Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor has issued an emergency order directing two unlicensed health plans that catered to independent medical professionals to stop doing business in Texas. One of the plans, National Guild of Medical Professionals Health and Welfare Benefit Trust Plan (NGMP) located in Austin, allegedly owes more than $4 million in unpaid claims. A new plan, created and operated by some of News Release Date:5/3/2002 Companies Affected:
Continue News Release Date:5/2/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today signed a consent order that will enable Texans to benefit from nationwide settlements of race-based pricing allegations against three life insurance companies owned by Chicago-based Unitrin Inc. Approximately 72,800 Texas policyholders, former policyholders and beneficiaries of Union National Life Insurance Co., United Insurance Company of America and Reliable Life Insurance Co. News Release Date:4/29/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance's year-long effort to improve compliance with the state's prompt payment law has resulted in consent orders requiring 47 HMOs and insurance companies to pay more than $36 million in restitution to doctors and providers and $14.9 million in fines. The latest consent orders, signed today by Commissioner Jose Montemayor, require 12 insurance companies to pay fines totaling $1.7 mill News Release Date:4/18/2002 The State Fire Marshal's Office today awarded a Public Protection Classification (PPC) of 1 for the city of Wylie. Wylie joins only two other cities, Frisco and Plano, also in Collin County, as communities having the finest firefighters and equipment, fire alarm facilities and water distribution in the state. The Insurance Service Office (ISO), a New York-based advisory organization that serves the property and c News Release Date:4/15/2002 A dispute between Farmers Insurance Group and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) ended today with an agreement that will refund about $15 million to customers who paid too much in surcharges after being involved in traffic accidents. The consent order, signed by Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor and Farmers officials, requires full restitution to consumers amounting to $10.6 million, plus 10 percent int News Release Date:4/12/2002 Effectively Handling Water Damage and Mold Claims: A Consumer Guide The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) today initiated efforts to keep Texas consumers informed of changes in the homeowners insurance market and to help both consumers and insurers reduce the number of mold-related claims. Commissioner Jose Montemayor issued a bulletin requir News Release Date:4/8/2002 The State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) is investigating the death of a Johnson County firefighter who collapsed Saturday night while assisting in the transfer of a shooting victim to a medical helicopter. Kevin Baker, 39 , a member of the Mid-North Johnson County Volunteer Fire Department, assisted the American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service in clearing a landing zone for a Careflight helicopter to trans News Release Date:4/2/2002 Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today announced that 13 health insurance carriers in Texas have agreed to pay millions of dollars in restitution and fines for failing to pay physicians and healthcare providers within the time set by law. The restitution payments and fines result from numerous justified c News Release Date:3/28/2002 Texans whose new homes on the Gulf Coast meet windstorm building code specifications are saving more than 30 percent on their windstorm/hail insurance premiums. The savings come from mandatory discounts offered through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) for homes that meet the Building Code for Windstorm Resistant Construction. Since the building code became effective Sept. 1, 1998, approximately 3, News Release Date:3/27/2002 For the fourth time in one year, Commissioner Jose Montemayor today issued a cease-and-desist order to stop an unauthorized entity from selling health insurance policies to Texas consumers. Montemayor's order is directed toward Ajax Health Benefit Plan (AHBP), Ajax Enterprises, Inc. (AEI) and Justin Michael Sc iarra, owner and president of both companies located in Audubon, New Jersey. Along with the cease-and-des News Release Date:3/22/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today warned Texas insurance agents that they risk license revocation, felony prosecution and personal financial liability if they sell health care plans offered by unauthorized insurers. Montemayor issued a bulletin spelling out the dangers of unauthorized insurers and describing the subterfuges commonly used by them in recruiting agents to sell their health care plans. The bulletin News Release Date:3/15/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today cautioned Texas employers against unlicensed health care plans that may offer bargain-basement premiums but inevitably vanish when claims start piling up. In the past 12 months, the Texas Department of Insurance has acted to shut down three unlicensed health care plans on which more than 20,000 Texas employees and dependents relied for coverage. Rising premiums have made News Release Date:3/8/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor acted today to reduce rates, expand consumer choices and improve insurance availability by authorizing State Farm to sell Texans substantially the same homeowners policy that the company mar kets in other states. State Farm agreed to reduce its rates to reflect coverage differences between its News Release Date:3/7/2002 A state district judge has ordered American Benefit Plans (ABP), which does not have the required Texas insurance license, to stop selling health care coverage to employers. State District Court Judge Darlene Byrne of Austin issued a temporary restraining order against ABP on Wednesday and placed ABP in temporary receivership. She also froze the unauthorized insurer's bank accounts and placed its books, records, News Release Date:2/28/2002 Descendants often contact the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to inquire if a recently deceased relative had a life insurance policy. Oftentimes, they've heard the relatives discuss such a policy, but there was no policy found, nor indication of a policy with the will. TDI has no list of policyholders that have life insurance, and there's no national clearinghouse in which to turn. But, TDI does offer consu News Release Date:2/26/2002 Imagine going to your mailbox and finding an unexpected check for more than $200. Almost unbelievable - like "pennies from heaven." But that's what happened recently to 66,000 former policyholders of Members Mutual Insurance Co., which failed almost 10 years ago. Now, time is running out for approximately 14,000 consumers who received the $209 checks but have not yet cashed or deposited them. Each che News Release Date:2/15/2002 The deadline for Holocaust survivors or their heirs to file insurance claims with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) has been extended until September 30, 2002. "Despite our campaign to get the word out, there are still victims of the Holocaust who are just now finding out about the world-wide campaign to compensate them for lost or confiscated policies," said Insurance Commis News Release Date:2/15/2002 Local angle for Dallas and Waco news media Former policyholders of the long-defunct Members Mutual Insurance Co. have received unexpected checks for $209.50 each as the final outcome of the company's receivership. The $13.8 million mailed to 66,000 former policyholders is the biggest distribution of surplus company funds on record from a court-ordered Texas receivership of an insolvent mutual insurer. As a News Release Date:2/14/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor has issued new consumer protection rules to deter insurance companies from offering unrealistically low prices on long-term care insurance policies, only to raise them later to unaffordable levels. The rules apply to long-term care policies issued on and after July 1, 2002. House Bill 2482 of the 2001 Legislature, sponsored by Representative Ann Kitchen of Austin and Senator Judith Z News Release Date:2/13/2002 Commissioner Jose Montemayor today announced the appointment of Karina Casari as Executive Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). In this position, she will assist Montemayor with the day-to-day demands of agency regulatory matters and operations, freeing him to intensify his focus on policy and statewide, national and international insurance issues impacting Texas. She also will be charg News Release Date:2/12/2002 The State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) is participating in the investigation of the death of a Dallas Fire-Rescue veteran who died Monday while fighting a fire at an Oak Cliff apartment complex. Vincent Davis, 42, was taken to Dallas Methodist Medical Center, where he died from injuries. More than 100 Dallas firefighters responded to the six-alarm blaze that erupted shortly after 6 p.m. Monday. Davis and fireman News Release Date:2/11/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance worked diligently with PacifiCare for several months trying to resolve prompt pay compliance issues. An agreed resolution would have been beneficial both for PacifiCare and for the doctors and providers seeking payment for their services. Unfortunately, these negotiation attempts failed to achieve the desired result. Thus, at my request the Office of Attorney General has sued PacifiCar News Release Date:2/8/2002 Related links -- News Release Date:2/7/2002 Several Texas communities have begun turning to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) for background information on mobile amusement rides. The safety records and historical data on amusement rides operating in Texas are available from TDI's Amusement Rides division. "While amusement rides can be fun and exciting, the possibility for injury is always there," said Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor. To chec News Release Date:1/29/2002 A legislatively mandated advisory committee meets Friday to begin its analysis of "upside down" small-amount life insurance policies that cost more than they ultimately will pay in death benefits. The committee, appointed by Commissioner Jose Montemayor as directed by House Bill 2415 of the 77th Texas Legislature, will meet at 10 a.m. in Room 225 of Tower II of the William P. Hobby Jr. State Office Building, 333 News Release Date:1/23/2002 The following press release was issued by the Texas Department of Insurance on Wednesday, January 23, 2002. Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today approved rules to enable insurers to offer automobile insurance plans that would allow insurance companies to charge drivers by the number of miles driven. The National Organization for Women (NOW) said Texas is the first state to approve the plan for priv News Release Date:1/16/2002 Consumer complaints about large homeowners insurance premium increases, sometimes exceeding 100 percent, have prompted Commissioner Jose Montemayor to order special "market conduct" examinations of companies in the Allstate and Farmers groups. The Commissioner said other residential property insurance companies may undergo examinations in the future, if necessary. Market conduct examinations by specially tr News Release Date:1/16/2002 Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today cautioned Holocaust survivors and heirs in Texas that time is running out to file insurance claims with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC). The deadline for filing claims through ICHEIC is February 15, 200 2. I strongly encourage all Texans who believe they are entitled to benefits from a Holocaust-era insurance policy to submit the News Release Date:1/14/2002 View or download Get Smart Week brochure Take interactive "Get Smart" quiz Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today joined insurance commissioners across the country in proclaiming this week (Jan. 14-18) as "Get Smart Week." When it comes to insurance, what you don News Release Date:1/14/2002 People who want a say in developing strategies for reducing the ranks of Texans without health insurance will have their chance at a special January 31 - February 1 conference in Austin. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) is sponsoring the "Expanding Health Insurance Coverage for Texans" conference as part of an effort funded by a $1.4 million State Planning Grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Huma News Release Date:1/11/2002 For tens of thousands of Texans who have become unemployed in the recent economic downturn, losing their jobs also has meant losing health care coverage provided through their employers. State and federal laws provide certain rights and health coverage options for individuals and their families in these situations, says Commissioner Jose Montemayor. It's important for employers to make sure that laid-off e News Release Date:1/11/2002 Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor today appointed a 19-member Advisory Task Force for Mold-Related Claims to develop recommendations on how insurers should respond to claims for water and mold damage. "When repairing a water leak and handling any problem with mold, consumers, insurers, contractors and adjusters should be aware that certain practices may reduce losses," Montemayor said. This task force will News Release Date:1/2/2002 The Texas Department of Insurance today turned down a request by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co . to raise its personal auto rates by an average of 12.1 percent on July 1, 2002. Earlier this year, State Farm raised its rates an average of 9 percent, effective March 15. Had TDI granted the July 1 increase, the cumulative effective would have been to raise State Farm's rates by 22.2 percent in less than four For more information contact: PIO@tdi.state.tx.us Last updated: 05/31/2006 |
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