Convenience Store Group Earns
First Texas Mutual Dividend
December 18, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $129,320 dividend to the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (TPCA) workers’ compensation Safety Group today.
The group’s first dividend was based largely on its overall loss ratio.
Group dividends are separate from individual policyholder dividends. Texas Mutual Insurance Company declared approximately $125 million of individual dividends this summer. Many TPCA members qualified for both types of dividends.
The TPCA Safety Group is open to qualifying convenience stores and other petroleum product distributors. Texas Mutual Insurance underwrites the group, and Anco Insurance administers it.
For more information, click here.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Texas Mutual Pays Big Dividends to Small Businesses
December 12, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced $684,997 in dividends to National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) workers’ compensation Safety Groups today. The dividends were based largely on the groups’ overall loss ratios.
“Our members are small and independent businesses. Many are at a disadvantage competing against larger businesses,” said Stephanie Vincent, NFIB group administrator. “These dividends will help them level the playing field.”
The largest dividend went to the NFIB wholesale/retail group, which received a $353,072 check. The NFIB construction group received a $236,117 dividend, adding to its five-year history of earnings. Meanwhile, the NFIB manufacturing group earned $95,808, its first dividend from Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
The NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing small and independent businesses. Texas Mutual Insurance Company is a leading writer of Safety Groups in Texas.
The company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
For more information about NFIB Safety Groups, contact Stephanie Vincent at (512) 476-9847 or stephanie.vincent@nfib.org.
Payroll Scheme Results in Indictment
December 7, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County grand jury indicted Ameripro Drivers, L.L.C. of Dallas and Joffrey Majors of Parker on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.
The indictments allege that Ameripro and Majors were involved in a scheme to lower Ameripro’s premium by concealing part of its payroll.
Ameripro Drivers, L.L.C. is a temporary labor service that specializes in providing drivers to freight trucking companies and retailers. Majors, who was the company’s office manager, handled its insurance matters.
The indictments allege that between Nov. 8, 2003 and Nov. 8, 2005, Ameripro Drivers, L.L.C. and Majors concealed payroll and employees from Texas Mutual Insurance Company in an undisclosed company, Ameripro Drivers 2000, L.L.C.
Because workers’ compensation insurance premium is based, in part, on payroll, this type of scheme can result in a business being charged a lower premium than it actually owes. By hiding payroll to pay a lower premium, an employer can gain an unfair advantage over competitors.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading workers’ compensation insurance carrier. The investigation is part of the company’s zero tolerance for fraud policy. Texas Mutual Insurance Company maintains three teams of investigators permanently assigned to investigate every report of suspected fraud.
Note: A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation – not a conviction – of criminal conduct.
TRA Earns $2.6M Texas Mutual Dividend
December 3, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $2,604,861 million dividend to the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) workers’ compensation Safety Group today. The dividend, the highest in the group’s history, is based largely on its overall loss ratio.
“Restaurants are the largest private-sector employer in Texas, and we’re still growing,” said Richie Jackson, TRA executive vice president/CEO. “There are nearly one million people working in the industry. Dividends help us reward members who are committed to keeping their employees safe.”
TRA has earned more than $7.7 million in group dividends over the past nine years. Group members can also earn individual dividends based on their personal loss ratios.
TRA is the primary advocate for Texas restaurateurs. Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance. For more information about the TRA Safety Group, click here.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
November 26, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that an independent licensed insurance agent pled no contest to a charge of perjury in a workers’ compensation fraud-related case.
A Travis County district court sentenced Richard Brian Aube of Dallas to one year of deferred adjudication and ordered him to pay a $4,000 fine.
Aube presented false testimony on matters relating to one of his clients in February 2005. Texas Mutual Insurance Company was investigating the client for misrepresenting payroll to get a lower workers’ comp premium.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance. The company maintains three teams of in-house fraud investigators.
For more information, visit the Fighting Fraud section.
Texas Mutual Expands Network Service Areas
November 19, 2007 - The Texas Department of Insurance approved Texas Mutual Insurance Company’s request to expand its workers’ compensation health care network service area today.
The expansion includes the Wichita Falls area (Archer, Baylor, Clay, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger and Young Counties), the Sherman area (Grayson County) and the Laredo area (Webb County). With the expansion, the network will be available to approximately 97 percent of the company’s policyholders.
Policyholders who are eligible for and choose the network option benefit from occupational health care services designed to control the costs of workplace injuries. The network’s focus is helping injured workers get well and back on the job. Most policyholders who participate in the network also get a 12 percent annual premium discount.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance.
Claimant Earns $10K a Week
While Stealing Workers’ Comp Benefits
November 15, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that the 331st Travis County District Court sentenced Richard Brooks of Buna on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.
Brooks must serve five years’ deferred adjudication and repay $19,945 in benefits to Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
Brooks reported a job-related injury while working as a foreman for Boiler Services Inc. The Beaumont-based company specializes in construction and maintenance at refineries and petrochemical plants.
Brooks claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injury. Texas Mutual Insurance Company began paying him income benefits.
Meanwhile, Texas Mutual Insurance Company uncovered evidence that Brooks had accepted a contract job working in Iraq. Brooks earned $10,000 a week.
Investigators call this type of scam double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work. Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading workers’ comp insurance carrier. The Brooks case was part of the company’s zero tolerance for fraud policy.
For more information, visit the Fighting Fraud section.
Sign Industry Group Open for all Licensed Texas Agents
November 9, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced today that the Texas Sign Association (TSA) Safety Group, TSA Comp Group Inc., has become an open group. Qualifying on-premise sign product manufacturers, sign supply distributors and associated sign service providers can benefit from the group’s workers’ compensation premium discount and custom safety services.
Roberts & Crow Inc. partnered with Texas Mutual Insurance Company to create TSA Comp Group Inc. in 2004. They will remain the master agent of the group. However, because the group is open, any licensed Texas agent can submit qualifying clients for consideration directly to Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
Each TSA member gets a premium discount based on the group’s premium volume, regardless of their individual premium size. By controlling their losses, members may qualify for group and individual dividends from Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
For more information about TSA, visit www.tsa-compgroup.org/, or call (800) 406-9614.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Texas Mutual Rewards
First-Year Policyholders With Dividends
November 7, 2007 - Today, Texas Mutual Insurance Company began distributing approximately $2 million in dividends among first-year policyholders with favorable loss ratios. The dividends represent the final component of the company’s $125 million 2007 individual policyholder dividend distribution.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company has paid about $445 million in individual policyholder dividends since 1999. The company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Texas Mutual Announces Four Fraud Indictments
October 31, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that four individuals were indicted, in separate cases, by a Travis County grand jury on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The individuals allegedly collected a combined $24,153 in workers’ comp benefits they were not entitled to.
All four cases involved a scam that investigators call double-dipping. Double-dipping occurs when claimants collect benefits for being too injured to work when they are, in fact, gainfully employed.
Here are the individuals who were indicted, and the amount of income benefits they allegedly collected: Dennis Aguilar of Mt. Pleasant, $13,054; Daniel Beck of Fort Worth, $5,040; Gilbert Madrid of Odessa, $3,818; and Robert Brumley of Abilene, $2,241.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ comp insurance. These cases are part of the company’s zero tolerance for fraud policy.
Note: A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation – not a conviction – of criminal conduct.
Green Industry Group Reaps What it Sows
By controlling its losses, TGI earns $637,511 dividend from Texas Mutual
October 18, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced a $637,511 dividend to the Texas Green Industry (TGI) workers’ compensation Safety Group today. TGI has earned more than
$1 million in group dividends since 2005.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company bases dividends largely on each group’s overall loss ratio. The lower the group’s loss ratio is, the higher its dividend earning potential.
“We’re committed to helping our members keep their employees safe and on the job,” said Ken Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss Insurance Agency, TGI group administrator. “That is why we invest so heavily in safety education and training.”
Hotchkiss gives every TGI member a safety manual designed specifically for the green industry. The agency also encourages members to use the free safety resource center.
The resource center includes tools that help employers identify the root causes of accidents, compare their incidence rate with others in their industry, and order DVDs, videos and other safety training materials.
For more information about TGI, click here.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company notes that past dividends are not a guarantee of future dividends, and the Texas Department of Insurance must approve all dividends.
Bryan Business Owner Sentenced
for Workers’ Comp Fraud
October 9, 2007 - Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported today that a Travis County court sentenced a Bryan, Texas business owner on workers’ compensation fraud-related charges.The court sentenced James N. Vavra to two years' deferred adjudication. It also ordered him to perform 80 hours of community service and repay $3,920 in benefits to Texas Mutual Insurance Company.
Vavra is co-owner of Clear View II Inc., a Bryan-based installer of windows and doors. He reported a job-related injury and claimed he was unable to work as a result of the injury. Texas Mutual Insurance Company began paying him income benefits.
Meanwhile, the company uncovered evidence that Vavra had returned to work with Clear View II Inc. Investigators call this type of scam double-dipping because the claimant collects benefits for being too injured to work when he or she is, in fact, gainfully employed. Texas law requires claimants to contact their workers’ comp carrier when they return to work.
Left unchecked, double-dipping and other workers’ comp fraud can lead to higher premiums for all Texas employers.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading workers’ comp insurance carrier. The Vavra case was part of the company’s zero tolerance for fraud policy.
For more information, visit the Fighting Fraud section.