Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Independent Agency System Marked by Changes and Challenges
Feb 28 2012 // Bob Bramlett Robust merger and acquisition activity, carrier relocations and an aging workforce are influencing independent insurance agencies in ways an agency owner might not have experienced decades ago. But Bob...
West Virginia Judge OKs Settlement in Agent Orange Suit
Feb 27 2012 // A West Virginia judge has approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by residents who say that chemical manufacturer Monsanto burned dioxin wastes, polluting the area with unsafe levels of the chemical. The...
P/C Insurers Face Obstacles on Road to Hard Market
Feb 24 2012 // With interest rates low and looking like they will stay low for some time to come, property/casualty insurance companies will have to focus on making their profit on underwriting rather than on investments. However, P/C...
New London Broker Q360 Launched in Partnership with Tawa
Feb 23 2012 // A new London-based broker, Q360, has been launched with Tawa providing the capital backing. Q360 Ltd will initially operate within the business sectors of onshore energy, property, binding authorities, professional...
Success or failure on paper
Feb 23 2012 // Success or failure on paper By: David Connolly iQ Consulting They are the primary form of communication with our underwriters. They have a substantial impact on our reputation. They are often the difference between winning...
Professional Underwriting Group Provides Insolvency Carve Back
Feb 22 2012 // The Professional Underwriting Group, Inc. (PUG) will now provide insurance agents and brokers professional liability insurance for insurers earning a rating of “A” or better from Demotech. The insurance...
The Hartford’s AARP Program Looking for Agents
Feb 22 2012 // The Hartford says it will be increasing the availability of its auto insurance program for members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) by expanding its base of producers. Originally, members of the AARP...
There’s an App for That: Mobile Phone Quoting
Feb 21 2012 // Don’t be surprised if in the not-too-distant future on a television commercial you see Flo, adorned in her white apron, drop her price scanner and pick up a smartphone, on which she takes a picture of a...
California Earthquake Authority Kicks off Second Marketing Program for Agents
Feb 21 2012 // The business of selling earthquake insurance to homeowners may have just gotten a bit easier. The California Earthquake Authority has launched its annual “Marketing Value Program,” in which the quasi-private...
Insurance Agent Licenses in North Dakota Double in Decade
Feb 21 2012 // Officials said the telephone and the Internet have spurred an almost twofold increase in the number of insurance agents licensed to do business in North Dakota in the past decade. State insurance department data show an...
Illinois Insurance Agent Sentenced 17 Years for Fraud
Feb 21 2012 // A southern Illinois insurance agent and securities broker was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to an investment scheme that prosecutors said swindled roughly $6 million from dozens of mostly...
Preferred Concepts Hires R-T Specialty Exec in Hartford, Conn.
Feb 21 2012 // Preferred Concepts LLC, a national insurance program administrator and specialty broker, appointed Jay Sheehan as senior vice president of Preferred Advantage, the firm’s specialty brokerage division. Sheehan will be...
South Central Business Moves
Feb 20 2012 // TDECU, Assurance Insurance, Burridge Insurance TDECU Insurance Agency LLC has acquired two independent insurance agencies: Assurance Insurance Agency Inc. (Assurance) based in Bellville, Texas, and Burridge Insurance...
Agency Compensation Expected to Rise in 2012: Ward Group
Feb 20 2012 // Contingent commission payouts to insurance agencies are estimated to be 12 percent higher in 2012 than 2011, a new study said. The study by the Ward Group also found that carriers are continuing to increase their volume...
Analyzing Agency Management Benchmarks
Feb 20 2012 // I have been analyzing agencies for a long time, and I believe it is extremely safe to say that no two agencies are the same. At least I have never found two agencies to be the same. This is the problem with so many popular...
Compensation Freeze Comes to an End?
Feb 20 2012 // Agencies Report Salaries and Compensation on the Rise, Slightly It looks like the freeze may be over. For the first time since 2008, independent agency salaries rose in 2011, albeit only slightly. According to Insurance...
Perpetuation. It’s Your Legacy
Feb 20 2012 // There are an ever-growing number of great insurance agencies. With few exceptions there are an ever-growing number of great individuals leading these very organizations. It is all part of a natural process where the weaker...
Louisiana Senator Co-Sponsors Bill to Protect Agent Health Commissions
Feb 20 2012 // Two U.S. senators have filed a bill to clarify that agent compensation should be excluded from the federal health reform Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirement for the individual and small group markets. Sen. Mary L....
Southeast Business Moves
Feb 20 2012 // BB&T Corp, Crump North Carolina-based BB&T Corp. is buying the property/casualty and life insurance units of Roseland, N.J.- based insurance wholesaler Crump Group. BB&T said it will pay $570 million in cash...
California Independent Contractor Law May Be Liability for Agents, Brokers
Feb 20 2012 // A new California labor law designed to punish employers for misclassifying workers has broad legal language that can possibly impact insurance agents and brokers who knowingly advise clients on employee classifications to...
