Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Agents for Logging Industry Hang On in Downturn

Aug 1 2011 // The logging and forestry industry has suffered dramatically since 2006, with the amount of lumber being harvested dropping by half to 5 billion from 10 billion board feet since then. Underwriters in this class agree that...

Declarations

Aug 1 2011 // 100 Agents We’ve got a lot coming out in 2012.” —Jon Beckham, chief marketing officer at South Carolina-based Accident Insurance Co., who said the company is looking to add 100 agents in the 100 days through...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Joseph Waked was named CEO of Buena Park, Calif.-based Freeway Insurance, a subsidiary of New York-based Confie Seguros. He will have responsibility for California, Texas and Arizona. Waked replaces Freeway’s former...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Wholesaler Swett & Crawford has added Ricky Dawson to its casualty staff in New York. Dawson, who has a background in both insurance wholesale brokerage and underwriting, previously served as a wholesale broker with...

Allstate Agents Hope Unionization Sparks Changes at Insurer

Aug 1 2011 // Some unhappy Allstate Insurance agents who say the insurer controls them like employees even though they are independent contractors are moving to affiliate with a union. The National Association of Professional Allstate...

Ready or Not, New Surplus Lines Law Is Here

Aug 1 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act has arrived. States have been scrambling over the past year to update surplus lines laws that will conform with NRRA requirements, while agents and...

Web Exchange

Aug 1 2011 // Gunning for Business On July 6, InsurnaceJournal.com ran a story about Aaron Merchant, a Farmers Insurance agent in Ahwatukee, Ariz., who in 2008, turned his firearms hobby into a small business, selling guns in a small...

Safe Driving Habits Pay Off for Consumers with Usage-Based Insurance Programs

Aug 1 2011 // The driving habits of personal auto consumers are shaping the way carriers price coverage today. Those carriers providing usage-based insurance (UBI) options, including telematic systems or devices to monitor an...

Essentials: Read the Policy

Aug 1 2011 // The insurance agent told his client to “read the policy.” It was simple but important advice. More likely than not, the client did not heed the advice. When the insurance policy was received it was probably...

Top 100 2011 Privately Held Independent Agencies

Aug 1 2011 // About This Report: Despite lingering economic challenges and the ongoing soft insurance market, the nation’s leading independent insurance agencies fared much better in 2010 than in 2009. Property/casualty premiums...

House Committee Hears Concerns on Surplus Lines Reform Tax Issue

Jul 28 2011 // Just days after the surplus line reform legislation became effective, federal legislators heard comments from industry insiders on concerns regarding the implementation of provisions in the bill, including how states will...

P/C Commercial Prices Showed Modest Increases in Q2: Brokers’ Survey

Jul 28 2011 // Pricing in the U.S. commercial property/casualty market showed modest increases in the second quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter. That’s according to The Council of Insurance Agents &...

CNA Enhances Real Time Quoting System for Small Business Agents

Jul 28 2011 // Chicago-based CNA announced enhancements to its Real Time Quoting system for agent quoting of Small Business accounts. The company said CNA’s newest Real Time Quoting solution enables Small Business agents and...

Lloyd’s America President Watkins Campaigns for Broader Appeal

Jul 27 2011 // Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., smiles like he has a big secret he wants to spill. The history of Lloyd’s of London is no secret: originated in Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop in London;...

Western Insurance Agents Association Names New Chair

Jul 27 2011 // Carol Connors of Ck Specialty Insurance Associates based in San Jose, Calif., was installed as chairman of Western Insurance Agents Association for the 2011-2013 during the association’s annual business meeting held...

Allstate Agents Hope Unionization Sparks Changes at Insurer

Jul 26 2011 // Some unhappy Allstate Insurance agents who say the insurer controls them like employees even though they are independent contractors are moving to affiliate with a union. The National Association of Professional Allstate...

UK Broker BMS Continues Overall Growth

Jul 22 2011 // Specialist insurance broker BMS Group announced that its results for the year ended December 31, 2010, show a “strengthening of financial resources and a share buyback,” which will “support BMS’...

More States Join Surplus Lines Tax Sharing Proposal

Jul 22 2011 // Four new members joined a surplus lines premium tax sharing agreement supported by state regulators this week, even while some predict confusion over a competing proposal may lead to the demise of any surplus lines...

Un-commoditizing Insurance

Jul 21 2011 // What makes you better or different than your competition? Ask every agent that question and you’ll get the same answer. I’m not kidding. Don’t believe it? I’ve worked with hundreds of agencies &...

Ready or Not, New Surplus Lines Law Is Here

Jul 21 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act has arrived. States have been scrambling over the past year to update surplus lines laws that will conform with NRRA requirements, while agents and...