TSLA Mid-Year Meeting Set for Vail
The Texas Surplus Lines Association Mid-Year meeting is set for July 19-22 at the Vail Marriott Resort, Vail, Colo. Speakers will include William Kirven, Colorado Insurance Commissioner: Rick Morgan, ConfirmNet; Dirk Nohre, Nohre and Co.; and Kim Yelton and Mark Vane, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld. Association updates will also be provided. Presenters will include: Baron Garcia, president, AAMGA; Toni Campbell, president, FIWT; Don Medlin, president, IIAT; and John Latham, president, NAPSLO. Registration will begin July 19 from 2 to 5 pm followed by the President's Dinner at 8. Registration will continue Friday from 8 to 9 am. The speakers' program will run from 8 to 11:30 am. Social activities are scheduled for the afternoon including a golf tournament. Saturday, the speakers' program will run from 8 to 10 am. The afternoon is open with a final reception, children's party and dinner, entertainment and golf awards set to begin at 7:15 pm. A detailed schedule is available at www.tsla.org.
Markets Central Added to IIAT Website
A tightening admitted market has helped boost Texas surplus lines business. Volume through the Surplus Lines Stamping Office is up 37 percent through April compared to the same period last year. To help Independent Insurance Agents of Texas members get a fix on what coverages are being written by the state's surplus lines agencies, IIAT added to its website a directory using data developed by the stamping office, which logs every surplus lines policy sold in Texas. The information is available at www.iiat.org by selecting Markets and then clicking on MarketsCentral. Users can choose from 77 coverage categories, many with subcategories, to pinpoint market needs. After identifying search criteria, users are given a list of agencies that have written the specified coverage complete with website and e-mail links.
ICT To Hold Property and Casualty Symposium
The Insurance Council of Texas will hold its annual meeting along with a property and casualty insurance symposium June 27-28 in Austin. Member company representatives are encouraged to attend the annual meeting and the meeting of the council board of directors June 27. The symposium begins at 9 a.m. June 28. Speakers include José Montemayor, Texas Insurance Commissioner; Jay Thompson, attorney with Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP; Robert Hartwig, VP & chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute; and Wayne Slater, Capitol bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News.
Accident and Workplace Violence Prevention Workshop
The Workers' Health and Safety Division of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission will present a one-day educational seminar, Accident Prevention Planning and Workplace Violence Prevention, in Corpus Christi May 23. Location is the Omni Hotel Bayfront. According to the National Safety Council, the average cost of a disabling injury in 1999 was $28,000. Course participants will learn strategies for developing an effective accident prevention plan. Course participants will receive information to design a workplace violence prevention plan specific to their company. For information call 512-804-4610.
AMS To Integrate IRS-AIMS Rating
AMS Services has entered into an agreement with IRS-AIMS to integrate their MAGIC for Windows Texas rating software with AMS management systems. The reorganization of the AMS Holding Group during the first quarter paved the way for a new open-door policy in how AMS Services works with third-party rating vendors. IRS-AIMS is the first contract signed. The first integrated product should be ready by late summer.
WebCE Lands St. Paul, CBIA Contracts
Dallas-based WebCE, has entered into new agreements with The St. Paul Companies and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) to provide those organizations with Internet-based insurance continuing education. Over 2,500 claims handlers with The St. Paul Companies are expected to complete state-required insurance continuing education courses through the alliance with WebCE. The courses will be offered through St. Paul University's already existing Claims College, which provides educational opportunities to agents, employees and handlers.
TWCC Executive Director Steps Down
Leonard W. (Len) Riley, Jr. resigned from his post as executive director of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission April 12. Virginia A. May was subsequently appointed acting executive director. Previously a deputy executive director of the agency, May has been responsible for multiple operations within the TWCC. May also served as director of Self-Insurance Regulation and Texas State Risk Management. Before joining the TWCC, she held positions of risk manager, insurance and benefits manager and underwriter in the public and private sectors.
MarketScout Releases XML-Compatible Software
Dallas-based MarketScout, an e-commerce company specializing in the distribution of property and casualty insurance products, has released its XML-compatible distribution software. The software via the web enables insurer's applications and serves as a front-end interface for linking new or legacy rating systems to MarketScout's distribution platform. MarketScout represents over 50 "A" rated insurance companies, including AIG, CNA, Markel and others, posted in over 400 different industry and coverage classifications. Only one insurance company per industry is posted.
AAMGA Elects New Leadership
The American Association of Managing General Agents has named as the organization's 2001-2002 president-elect, Robert S. Giles, CIW, president and COO of W.R. Scobie Inc./Midwest General Agency, CMGA. Giles, who was vice president for AAMGA's Zone 1 during the past year, will assume the office during the association's annual business meeting on May 24. Current president-elect, Baron Garcia, president of Oklahoma General Agency, will become the president of AAMGA at that time. Two new regional vice presidents and two new regional directors were also chosen. Elected vice president of the eastern region was Joseph P. Hutelmyer, CIW, president and CEO of Seaboard Underwriters, Inc., CMGA. Milton O. Johnston, president of Milton O. Johnston & Company, was elected vice president for the western region. Director for the eastern region will be Francis Johnson, CIC, vice president of Johnson & Johnson Inc. Mgrs. Roger Lott, CIC, vice president of Graham-Rogers Inc., was chosen asdirector for the western region. Under a reorganization plan, the association is now divided into two geographic zones, east and west, instead of three. The dividing boundary is the Mississippi River. However, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Mississippi are in the western region.
ISO Moves To New Jersey
In a move that consolidates all of its business units under one roof, Insurance Services Office Inc. has relocated the company's international headquarters to the Newport World Business Center. The relocation unites at the same address 1,400 employees formerly based throughout the Northeast.
