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Nationwide Texas Insurance Co. is Adding More Than 100 Agents in Texas by 2014.

Nationwide Mutual Texas Insurance Company is looking for experienced sales professionals to fill agency positions. The company has plans to hire more than 100 new Nationwide agents by 2014 to serve the needs of customers throughout Texas.

The companies Texas insurance division plans to add about 30 new agents in San Antonio, 60 in Dallas and 20 in Austin.

“We’re looking for top sales professionals and entrepreneurs to join our team,” said Terrance Williams, regional vice president of Nationwide’s southern region. “Becoming a Nationwide agent gives you the opportunity to grow and run your own business, selling Texas homeowners insurance, Texas auto insurance, Texas business insurance and life insurance products to help consumers protect what’s most important to them.”

Nationwide offers a broad range of insurance careers and agency programs that help match sales professionals with challenging, yet rewarding occupation. These positions offer competitive compensation packages and exceptional career growth opportunities.

In addition to its statewide agent expansion, Nationwide recently broke ground on a new sales and service facility in San Antonio that will be home to about 1,000 existing and 800 new sales and service associates. The facility is scheduled to be completed in mid-2012.

Burglaries Follow Oklahoma Door-to-Door Insurance Salesman

Oklahoma authorities say a trend has developed of home burglaries following a visit by a door-to-door salesman. Nearly a dozen communities have been hit.

Garfield County sheriff's deputies told Oklahoma City television station KFOR that the salesman uses a high-pressure approach. In the process, the salesman finds out when family members are home.

The numbers do not include the impact on millions of people who lost their jobs and health insurance after the recession began in December 2007.

The 2007 snapshot shows that Massachusetts, which has achieved near-universal coverage, had the lowest rate of uninsured people under age 65, about 7.8 percent. States with the highest rates of uninsured were in the South and West: Texas was at the top, with 26.8 percent, followed by New Mexico (26.7 percent) and Florida (24.2 percent)...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has issued an emergency declaration, intended to speed state help to parishes that need it after the storm hits. He said mandatory evacuations are not expected, but parishes might call for voluntary evacuations in some low-lying areas...

If only vehicles registered in the Rio Grande Valley filled the roadways, drivers would have a three-in-10 chance of encountering an uninsured driver, according to the state's insurance regulator.

Almost one-third of the drivers in Cameron County do not have automobile insurance, making the county second in the state for percentage of uninsured motorists...

Earlier, NHC said the system, located about 1,000 miles east of the eastern Caribbean islands, had a 30 percent chance of developing.

Specifically, NHC said, "Conditions are becoming less favorable for tropical cyclone formation . during the next 48 hours." ...

A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a-” of American Strategic Insurance Group (ASI) (St. Petersburg, FL) and its members. (See below for a detailed listing of the companies.)

The ratings reflect ASI’s continued underwriting profitability and solid risk-adjusted capitalization resulting from prudent underwriting, innovative pricing systems, effective reinsurance programs and a sound overall risk management focus. As a result, significant surplus growth has occurred in recent years, complemented by continued support from the parent company. The positive outlook contemplates that operating performance and risk-adjusted capitalization will continue to trend favorably in the near and long term, as ASI begins to further diversify its geographical footprint...

The Feb. 8 opinion piece “Don't believe the flooding myths,” by Michael D. Talbott, director of the Harris County Flood Control District, really should be required reading for every homeowner in Southeast Texas. It probably should be passed out along with the ream of papers already given to new Texas homeowners at the time of closing. It's that important.

Misinformation about flooding hereabouts — and the costs of and need for flood insurance — is rampant . This costs Harris County homeowners hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Damages related to flooding from Hurricane Ike in 2008 totaled $2.2 billion, but that is just the amount that was paid by flood insurance. For the 80 percent of Harris County homeowners not covered by flood insurance, the total costs are anybody's guess...

The National Safety Council, a research and advocacy group, estimates that 200,000 crashes of all types on U.S. roads are caused by drivers who are texting...

According to data assessed between 2000 and 2007, Allstate found that water damage ranked as the most common claim from its Texas homeowner insurance customers. It was followed by wind and hail damage as the second and third most common claim...

Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, has proved to be the costliest weather catastrophe in Texas history by a large margin. The storm racked up nearly $12 billion in windstorm and flood insurance claims in the state...

Democrats have conceded they can no longer pass healthcare on their own, ensuring that their key legislative reform either dies or accepts further compromises to gain approval from Republican members...

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) and the College Station Police Department are expanding a crime prevention campaign aimed at preventing auto thefts and auto burglaries. The program involves the funding and distribution of signs that read, “LOCK your car, TAKE your keys and HIDE your belongings.”...