Lawsuits against major insurance carriers were among the most-read stories in Insurance Journal’s South Central region in 2025. Allstate and GEICO were both hit by lawsuits in Texas this year alleging improper practices.
Readers also flocked to stories about new laws that affect the regulation of insurance in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Another area of interest was the devastating rain storms that hit Central Texas on the Fourth of July weekend.
Top 10 Insurance Journal South Central Stories of 2025
Texas Lawsuit Alleges Allstate Illegally Collects Driver Data
The most popular story of 2025 among South Central region readers involves a Texas lawsuit filed Allstate alleging the carrier illegally collects driver data through secretly embedded software in mobile apps and then uses the data to justify raising Texans’ insurance rates. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Allstate and its subsidiary, Arity, have collected trillions of miles worth of location data from over 45 million customers nationwide to create the “world’s largest driving behavior database.” Texas alleges Allstate would use data to inform its underwriting as well as sell the driving behavior data to third parties, including other car insurance carriers. Allstate said in a statement that it has fully complied with all state laws and regulations.
Driverless Trucking Firm Aurora Puts Human Back in Driver’s Seat
Readers gravitated to this story about driverless vehicle developer Aurora, which reversed course by putting humans back in the driver’s seat less than a month after the company began commercial autonomous service. The decision to move an “observer” from the rear of the cabin into the driver’s seat was made at the request of PACCAR Inc., which manufactured the trucks, Aurora Chief Executive Officer Chris Urmson said. In May Aurora announced that it began commercial trucking services in Texas with two fully driverless vehicles, both built by PACCAR. It was Aurora’s first commercial self-driving service on public roads. The company planned to expand to El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix by the end of 2025.
Texas Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme
A Texas man was sentenced in February to more than 13 years in prison for constructing a $5 million insurance fraud scheme. Jordan Ford, 32, was charged via criminal complaint in June 2024 and pleaded guilty in September 2024 to a criminal information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court documents, Mr. Ford and his coconspirators recruited insurance company employees to pull clients’ personal information from legitimate insurance claims. The employees handed those details over to Mr Ford. Using the stolen information, Mr. Ford – posing as the client – called the insurance companies and requested they update the payment information to accounts he and his coconspirators controlled. Other times, Mr. Ford paid insurance employees to lend him their company-issued laptops, logged onto the companies’ systems, and authorized and issued payments, which were sent to accounts he and his coconspirators controlled. In total, the coconspirators misdirected funds from at least three insurance companies, netting more than $4.4 million.
New Oklahoma Law Limits Post-Loss Assignment of Benefits on Property Damage
Oklahoma lawmakers this year passed a bill limiting post-loss assignment of benefits for property damage under auto, residential or commercial property insurance policies. House Bill 1084 prohibits the solicitation or acceptance of an assignment of any post-loss insurance benefit related to property damage under an auto collision or comprehensive policy, residential property insurance policy, or commercial property insurance policy. The law doesn’t apply to liability coverage under an auto, residential, or commercial property insurance policy.
Louisiana Insurers Must Disclose Prior Policy Premiums Under Controversial New Law
Under a new state law, Louisiana insurers will be required to give mandatory disclosure of prior policy premium when issuing a renewal policy to a policyholder. The mandatory disclosure rule is part of a new law that intends to give the insurance commissioner more power to reign in “excessive” rates. Under House Bill 148, the prior policy premium must be prominently displayed and set forth in close proximity to the renewal premium. All insurers must be in compliance with the rule by January 1, 2026.
Liberty Mutual Owes $4M Refund After Overcharging Louisiana Citizens Assessments
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple announced in March that Liberty Mutual owes approximately $4 million to about 138,000 Louisiana policyholders after overcharging the Louisiana Property Insurance Corporation Emergency Assessment for the past four years. Temple said the Louisiana Department of Insurance received a consumer compliant in February about the Louisiana Citizens assessment charged on their Liberty Mutual renewal notice. LDI reached out to Liberty Mutual and discovered that due to an error, the company had not updated the assessment percentage since 2021. By April 1, Liberty Mutual had adjusted the assessment charge to 0% for all affected policyholders.
Louisiana Governor Vetoes Bill Limiting Bad Faith Lawsuits Against Insurers
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry vetoed a bill in June that would have limited bad faith lawsuits against insurers, a move that raised criticism from the insurance industry. SB 111, sponsored by Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Many, intended to bring clarity to when claimants could bring bad faith personal or bodily injury lawsuits against insurers. The bill proposed that bad faith lawsuits be barred when insurers provide a good faith dispute as to liability and as to medical causations for the injuries alleged by the claimant. The bill would have prohibited bad faith lawsuits when an insurer hadn’t received 30 days to review an offer within the applicable policy limits or the insurer had not had the opportunity to conduct proper discovery.
Deadly Floods Reinforce Texas’ Challenge as Crisis Epicenter
The devastating early July floods in central Texas reinforced the state’s status as an epicenter of extreme weather. The July 4-5 floods in the Texas Hill Country region led to at least 137 fatalities and approximately $1.1 billion of damage. The storm was the latest severe weather event in Texas, which accounts for roughly a third of all damages caused by extreme weather in the US during the last 10 years. From 1980 through 2024, Texas has logged 190 weather disasters costing $1 billion or more, according to the US National Centers for Environmental Information.
Texas Lawsuit Alleges GEICO Raises Premiums Despite Accident Forgiveness Promise
A class action lawsuit filed in February alleges that GEICO doesn’t abide by its Accident Forgiveness program when a driver with a clean record gets into a first, at-fault accident. A Texas residents alleges in the suit that GEICO raised his auto premium 91% after his wife got into a minor fender bender accident at which she was at fault. The couple had qualified for GEICO’s accident forgiveness benefit upon his May 2024 auto insurance renewal, and GEICO said it would waive the surcharge associated with the first at-fault accident caused by an eligible driver on the couple’s policy. The lawsuit alleges GEICO violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Insurance Code.
Oklahoma Supreme Court: Insurer Must Provide Direct Renewal Notice to Named Insured
After a fire destroyed the Relax Inn in June 2020, property owner Jai Hospitality discovered that its insurer, Western World, had denied its claim based on a policy lapse occurring weeks prior. Although the insurer had sent a renewal offer with a premium increase to the motel’s insurance agent, the offer was never shared with Jai, leading the owner to believe the policy was still in effect. While lower courts initially sided with the insurer’s argument that notifying the agent was sufficient, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the property owner. The court determined that both state law and the specific policy language required the insurer to provide written notice directly to the named insured, concluding that coverage remained in effect through the date of the fire because the insurer failed to fulfill this duty.
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