Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Southeast Insurance Employment: Agency, Carrier Plans Brighten Picture

Apr 18 2012 // Those interested in new or better positions in insurance might want to grab their suntan lotion and head to the Southeast. They might also want to brush up on their Spanish. The unemployment rate remains higher in key...

C.M. Meiers Legal Battle Continues With New Allegations

Apr 17 2012 // The auction and sale of C.M. Meiers Co. Inc., an out-of-trust Woodland Hills, Calif.-based insurance agency in bankruptcy, is a done deal. But the buyers and former owners are now in a squabble over allegations that the...

FEMA to Agents: Stop Using Commission Rebates to Solicit Business

Apr 17 2012 // Federal emergency officials are calling on insurance agents to stop offering clients a cut of the agent’s commission if the client agrees to purchase a flood policy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking...

COO Named for New York-based Work At Home Vintage Employees

Apr 17 2012 // Work At Home Vintage Employees LLC (WAHVE), a New York City-based company that provides domestic remote staffing services for insurance firms, appointed Frank Sentner as chief operating officer. Previously, Sentner was...

Wholesale Broker AmWINS Agrees to $1.3 Billion Recapitalization with New Mountain

Apr 17 2012 // Wholesale insurance broker AmWINS Group Inc. announced today that its management and employee shareholders have agreed on a $1.3 billion recapitalization with private equity firm New Mountain Capital of New York. Other...

West Insurance Employment: California Job Market to Stay Soft

Apr 17 2012 // The phrase “Go west young man,” may not apply so well to the insurance industry in the nation’s most populous state. An examination of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Economic Development Department data...

East Insurance Employment: Hiring Is ‘Slightly Elevated’ in 2012

Apr 16 2012 // The insurance employment market in the East and Northeast regions — as in most other parts of the country — can be summed up the following way: hiring is “slightly elevated” compared to last year, but there...

Young Agents Survey

Apr 16 2012 // How the Next Generation is Leading the Way There’s a change happening in the insurance industry — a big change. Young independent insurance agents are leading a revolution. It’s a revolution of means more...

Business Moves – South Central

Apr 16 2012 // Louisiana Agency Partners, The Kirksey Agency Louisiana Agency Partners (LAP) announced that The Kirksey Agency in West Monroe, La., has become the 12th member agency of the Louisiana-based network of independent insurance...

A Marriage of Modernity and Tradition

Apr 16 2012 // A milestone in the modernization of the London insurance market was reached on March 5, when the electronic processing of endorsements using ACORD data messages was extended to all classes of business. The endorsements...

Business Moves – East

Apr 16 2012 // BB&T Corp., Crump Group BB&T Corp., a major regional bank and insurance broker based in Winston-Salem, N.C., completed its previously announced acquisition of insurance businesses from Crump Group, a Roseland,...

Business Moves – Midwest

Apr 16 2012 // Great American Insurance Group Cincinnati, Ohio-based Great American Insurance Group’s environmental division opened a regional office in New York City. The expansion complements the environmental division’s...

Oklahoma Agent Sentenced

Apr 16 2012 // A formerly licensed insurance agent in Oklahoma, Matthew Hammer, has been sentenced for fraud. Hammer pled guilty to one felony count of Obtaining Property by False Pretense and was sentenced to a three-year deferred...

Georgia Agents Form New Venture, PentaRisk

Apr 16 2012 // A man and a boy who suffered brain damage due to government negligence and the parents of a slain police informant will be compensated through three bills signed by Gov. Rick Scott. One would require Lee County’s...

This Is Not Your Father’s Industry

Apr 16 2012 // This industry is changing fast. Quite a number of agency owners and carrier executives will realize this fact too late. This reality is not necessarily a sad fact because great success stories will arise from these...

Why Agents and Customers Choose Higher Prices

Apr 16 2012 // Insurance customers are price-sensitive shoppers, and they have become more so given the financial pressures of the struggling economy. Many observers fear that standard coverage is becoming commoditized to the point where...

160-Year Old Hanover Retaking Its Place as P/C Industry Leader

Apr 16 2012 // Eight out of 160 years of history may not seem like a big deal but for Hanover Insurance Group, founded in 1852, the last eight years have seen a series of big deals. Eight years ago in 2004, the $2.4 billion heavily...

Agents Urge Caution on Changes to Missouri Work Comp Insurer

Apr 16 2012 // Some insurance agents are urging caution as Missouri lawmakers consider changes to a state-created workers’ compensation firm that has been criticized by the state auditor for taking advantage of a federal tax...

Digital Divide: Young Agents Versus ‘Old’ Agency Principals

Apr 16 2012 // Are Today’s Young, Vocal Agents Trying to ‘Occupy’ Insurance? Young producers are essential to the survival of the independent agency system. They are enthusiastic and motivated, and if you can put up...

Replacement Costs Battle on the Road to Somewhere

Apr 13 2012 // Steve Young was somewhat upbeat when he was asked what he thought about the outcome of a long-brewing legal battle between three insurance associations and the California Department of Insurance. That upbeat attitude is...