ALA., N.C. AGENTS JOIN ASSUREX GLOBAL

Cobbs Allen & Hall Inc. of Birming-ham, Ala., and Senn Dunn, of Greens-boro, N.C., have been accepted as members of Assurex Global of Columbus, Ohio, a large insurance association designed to specifically serve independent agents and brokers. Only one affiliate per market can become a member.

The John G. Smith Co. opened in Birmingham in 1887 and the name changed to Cobbs Allen & Hall in the 1920s to reflect its new owners. A new group of owners and managers took over in 1992. In 1996 the company began to expand, with the opening of an office in Atlanta. In 1999 it opened an office in Augusta, Ga.; and in 2004 an office opened in Nashville, Tenn. Services offered include commercial, benefit and personal insurance, including loss control, claims, alternative risk solutions and surety expertise.

Senn Dunn is a 77-year-old independent insurance agency and one of North Carolina's largest privately held insurance agencies with 87 employees. Services and products include property/casualty, employee benefits, personal lines and human resources consulting.

BILL TO EASE INTERNATIONAL SALES

The Legislature is considering a bill that could make the state a center for international insurance, much as it already is for international banking.

The House Insurance Committee unanimously passed the measure Feb. 22. The Senate banking and insurance panel was slated to take it up in March.

The bill would ease the rules to sell offshore insurance products from Florida to non-U.S. residents. Today, foreign companies sell those products to non-U.S. residents from places outside Florida, such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

The companies don't operate in Florida, because set-up requirements are too cumbersome for the limited range of offshore products they could sell, proponents of the bill told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

To set up in Florida, the foreign insurer would have to show financial statements; a rating by an insurance rating agency; be licensed elsewhere for at least three years and maintain a $15 million surplus; among other requirements.

June Deadline WC Awards Nominations

A call for nominations for the third annual Florida CHOICE Awards for Workers' Compensation has been issued by CHOICE Medical Management Services LLC of Tampa, Fla. The program recognizes physicians who deliver remarkably high-quality care, communicate promptly with all parties involved, promote the return-to-work philosophy and achieve superior levels of patient satisfaction. Entires must be received no later than June 24.

Anyone involved in the workers' compensation system, including injured employees, employers, human resource professionals, nurse case managers, claims professionals, physicians and/or staff, risk managers and third-party administrators, can nominate a physician by logging onto www.FloridaChoiceAwards.com or calling (888) 823-5377.

GROUP FROM FORMER SOVIET UNION ON TOUR

Information about the insurance industry and insurance regulation in the state were shared by the North Carolina Insurance Commission in Raleigh as it welcomed 19 hospital administrators and head physicians from Armenia, Azerbijian, Georgia, Moldovia and the Ukraine. The group visited Raleigh as part of the Special American Business Internship Training Healthcare Administration Program for Western Eurasia and the Caucasus.

Delegates met with Commissioner James Long and other members of his staff. They learned business planning and cross-cultural communication techniques. They traveled to select regions and cities across the country to meet with U.S. hospital officials, healthcare providers and industry experts.

PROGRESSIVE GROUP DRIVES INTO S.C.

Progressive Insurance's Drive Group (Drive Insurance) will offer its commercial auto product in South Carolina through more than 430 agents. Drive(SM) Insurance is The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies' new brand designed ex-pressly for independent agents and brokers. It is the third largest seller of commercial auto insurance countrywide.

Drive Insurance specializes in filling the commercial auto insurance needs of small businesses, but will insure up to 20 vehicles and offers limits up to $1 million. Progressive Claims Service is available to customers 24 hours a day, seven-days-a-week.

UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES ACT BATTLE LOOMS

As it does every year, the insurance industry is going to have to battle the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, among others, when it pushes for civil justice reforms, particularly when it comes to changing the Unfair Trade Practices Act, which is the section of code governing "bad faith" by insurance companies.

COSTS A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR W. VIRGINIANS

Insurance costs are a problem and insurance companies are sued too often, according to a new poll completed by Charleston-based RMS Strategies and sponsored by the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia and the West Virginia Insurance Federation. The goal of the poll was about what consumers think about insurance, what their major concerns are and what they want government to do.

W. VA. AGENCY TO SERVE HISPANICS

Veronica Hall, an associate agent with Maiden Financial in Martinsburg, W. Va., has opened what she thinks is West Virginia's first insurance agency catering to Hispanic clients. Hall said she didn't intend to work in the insurance industry and didn't plan to stay in the United States several years ago when she came from Argentina to visit her father.

Now Hall says she has found her niche--helping Hispanic residents in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle accli-mate to life in a different country--Hall said she wouldn't want her life to be any different.

Hall held her grand opening for the agency on Feb. 26 at 127 S. Queen Street. Maiden Financial is an exclusive Nationwide Insurance Agent.