Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson File Lawsuit Against Former Insurance Broker

Mar 23 2011 // Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from their former insurance broker. According to celebrity gossip Web site TMZ, which discovered the lawsuit, Hanks and Wilson...

Insurers, Brokers Settle Spitzer-Era Bid-Rigging Case for $37 Million

Mar 23 2011 // Lawyers for a majority of the 15 insurance company and broker defendants in a long-running suit accusing them of bid-rigging are scheduled to be in court today outlining a proposed settlement that will cost them about...

Pennsylvania Ponders Workers’ Comp for Small Business Owners

Mar 23 2011 // Agents in Pennsylvania will urge lawmakers today to pass legislation that would allow insurers to cover owners or partners of small businesses through a workers’ compensation policy. The legislation changes insurance...

London Broker Sees Some Libya Claims, but Situation is Unclear

Mar 23 2011 // London-based Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance broker United Insurance Brokers (UIB) has indicated that there may be some insurance exposure as a result of the unrest in Libya, and the decision by the UN to sanction...

Texas Broker Bowen, Miclette & Britt Acquires Florida Agency

Mar 22 2011 // Texas-based insurance broker Bowen, Miclette & Britt Inc. has expanded into the Florida market though the acquisition of Huckleberry Sibley & Harvey Insurance & Bonds. The acquired agency, HSH, has a client...

Texas Wind Pool Reminds Agents of Switch to Direct Deposit Commissions

Mar 22 2011 // Texas agents who sell policies for the Texas wind insurance pool need to provide banking data to the association in order to begin receiving monthly direct deposit commissions. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has...

BIBA Calls for Realistic Regulation of UK Brokers

Mar 22 2011 // The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) released the key findings of its Future of Regulation research on Monday March 21 at a Parliamentary Reception in the House of Commons, to an audience of MPs, civil...

House Moves On Flood Insurance Changes

Mar 21 2011 // A Republican draft of legislation to reform the federal flood insurance program would renew the program for five years, phase out most rate subsidies, tie coverage limits to the rate of inflation, vary the deductible by...

Expanding Flood Insurance Options: Good Idea?

Mar 21 2011 // Expanding a federal program that is already $17 billion in debt might seem like a non-starter of an idea on budget-conscious Capitol Hill these days. However the idea is included in a Republican proposal to reform the...

Agency E&O Liability for Failing to Procure Coverage

Mar 21 2011 // Insurance agents can be sued by their clients for breach of contract or negligence when they fail to procure appropriate insurance coverage. Generally, an insurance agent or broker who undertakes to procure insurance for a...

Come along for a ride with Jason Verlinde

Mar 21 2011 // I recently went on my own ride to Michigan for the Michigan YIP’s Winter Get-Away! I was invited to teach a class on Generational Differences and the turnout and response from the class was tremendous – it was...

People

Mar 21 2011 // Jennifer McPhillips was promoted to senior director of federal government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and will serve as one of the association’s...

Next for IBM’s Watson: Insurance Jobs in Jeopardy?

Mar 21 2011 // IBM wasted no time in parlaying the winning performance of its artificially intelligent Watson on the TV game show “Jeopardy!” into real business. The company recently announced a deal to commercialize...

How the California Bill Implements Federal NRRA Surplus Lines Reform

Mar 21 2011 // The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), Subtitle B, Part I, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, reaches out and touches California on July 21, 2011. In anticipation of its effective date,...

People

Mar 21 2011 // Jennifer McPhillips has been promoted to senior director of federal government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and will serve as one of the...

BrickStreet to Drop West Virginia Government Accounts

Mar 21 2011 // The company created by West Virginia to provide workers’ compensation insurance no longer wants to cover state agencies, prompting lawmakers to consider alternative policy options. The Senate Finance Committee...

Next for IBM’s Watson: Insurance Jobs in Jeopardy?

Mar 21 2011 // IBM wasted no time in parlaying the winning performance of its artificially intelligent Watson on the TV game show “Jeopardy!” into real business. The company recently announced a deal to commercialize...

Independent Spirit Shapes Marsh’s New Retail Unit

Mar 21 2011 // CEO Eslick Shares Lessons Learned in Assembling Marsh & McLennan Agency In a little over a year, mega-broker Marsh & McLennan quickly assembled one of the largest independent agencies in the nation, entirely...

Former Ohio Insurance Agent Sentenced for Role in Fraud Scheme

Mar 18 2011 // A former Hicksville, Ohio, insurance agent has been sentenced to three years’ probation for his role in an auto insurance fraud scheme, state insurance regulators announced. Ohio Lieutenant Governor and Department of...

Assured Agencies Names Anderson Senior VP

Mar 18 2011 // Assured Agencies of Lake Mary, Fla., has announced that Eric Anderson joined the company as senior vice president. He will oversee acquisitions and operations in the Pacific Northwest, Kentucky and Indiana. Anderson has...