Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Amid Obstacles, Opportunities for Insurance Agents Exist

Jun 4 2009 // You don’t need to get too deep into conversation these days to find out people are afraid. Given changes in business, the economy and government, many individuals feel they don’t know what or who to trust....

Maryland Insurance Agent Reilly to Fill State Senator’s Seat

Jun 4 2009 // Edward Reilly, chairman of County Council of Anne Arundel, Maryland has been chosen to replace retiring Sen. Janet Greenip. The Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee voted 8-5 for Reilly after a meeting Tuesday...

Top 100 Profile: Strength in Numbers at Keystone Insurers Group

Jun 4 2009 // As Insurance Journal prepares for another Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agency List, to be published in our Aug. 3, 2009, magazine, the editors wanted to highlight a few of the current Top 100 agencies. Throughout...

Insurance Agent Named to South Carolina Parole Board

Jun 3 2009 // The owner of a South Carolina insurance business is the newest member of the South Carolina Board of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Gov. Mark Sanford appointed Alan Gardner of Newberry to the post last...

Report: Bank Insurance Brokerage Income Falls Slightly in 2008

Jun 3 2009 // Bank holding companies’ (BHC) insurance brokerage income overall experienced a 3.6 percent drop in 2008, the first decline in total BHC brokerage income since 2001, according to a new industry report. “BHCs...

Top 100 Agencies: Extended Deadline to Submit, June 8

Jun 3 2009 // Insurance Journal has extended the deadline for its annual Top 100 Agencies submissions. IJ is on the search for the nation’s leading privately-held property casualty independent agencies and brokerages for its...

Ohio Workers’ Comp Board OKs Safety Rules, Rate Decrease

Jun 2 2009 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors has approved rule changes associated with the safety standards in the Ohio Administrative Code for several industries. Ohio law allows BWC to adopt...

Quality and Protectionism in the Insurance Market

Jun 1 2009 // Why Market Blocking Is Not Best for the Consumer or the Industry The insurance business needs to lose a vestige of the insurance marketplace of the last century. Let’s become more friendly to competition and the free...

State Auto: How a Regional Carrier Weathers the Storms

Jun 1 2009 // CEO Restrepo Talks Cat Losses, Premium Growth and Independent Agents Regional property/casualty insurance companies don’t make headlines like the large institutions. They simply go about their business serving...

Common Insurance Mistakes Can Sink Boaters’ Finances

Jun 1 2009 // As Action on the Water Heats up, Here’s Some Advice Agents Can Offer Clients As boating season starts to heat up once again, independent agents across the country may see clients who are re-evaluating their boat...

How to Re-ignite Producers – and Other Employees – Who Have Lost Their Spark

Jun 1 2009 // Incentive Compensation Focused on Customers, Not Premiums, Works, Consultant Says Al Diamond is one of the country’s best known and respected agency management consultants. His firm, the Agency Consulting Group, is...

Economy Forcing Changes in Carrier Investment Philosophy

Jun 1 2009 // Ratings Agencies May Need to Rethink Their Methodologies as Well The current economic environment has produced several influences that in combination are negatively affecting, or at least stressing, property casualty...

Direct Writers Continue Battle for Massachusetts Auto Market

Jun 1 2009 // Allstate Announces Plan to Begin Writing After Generation-Long Hiatus Direct writers continue to target the Massachusetts personal auto insurance market, as one major national carrier announced it has written its first...

Delta Celebrates 50 Years

Jun 1 2009 // Some 50-year-olds may wish 50 really were the new 40, but for Delta General Agency Corporation turning 50 is a milestone the Houston-based insurance wholesaler is proud to celebrate. Formed in 1959 by Houston retail agent...

How to Re-ignite Producers – and Other Employees – Who Have Lost Their Spark

Jun 1 2009 // Al Diamond is one of the country’s best known and respected agency management consultants. His firm, the Agency Consulting Group, is based in Cherry Hill, N.J. He deals with agencies across the country on issues...

State Auto: How a Regional Carrier Weathers the Storms

Jun 1 2009 // Super Regional CEO Restrepo Talks Catastrophe Losses, Premium Growth and Independent Agents How are regional insurance companies faring in today’s climate — financial and catastrophe? What challenges do they face?...

Investigators Aim to Catch Few Bad Apples in P/C Agent Ranks

Jun 1 2009 // As Economic Conditions Drive Up Fraud, Officials Hope to Prevent Agent Abuses from Spreading Those who track insurance criminals for a living say that as the economy has worsened, insurance fraud has been rising –...

New York Med Mal Insurer is $43M Short

Jun 1 2009 // Law Bars State from Regulating Insolvent PRI New York’s second-largest medical malpractice insurer is more than $43 million in the hole, according to new regulatory filings, but state regulators are legally forbidden...

Fireman’s Fund: Focusing on Agents

Jun 1 2009 // CEO LaRocco, Exec Barnard Outline Insurer’s Renewed Strategy to Re-Engage Agents and Deliver Greater Value Weathering today’s economic storm has not been easy for insurance companies. Consumers are more...

DCAP Morphs from Agency Franchiser into Insurer

Jun 1 2009 // Newly Reconstituted as Kingstone Insurance Co. DCAP Group Inc., an upstate New York franchiser of independent agencies, is ditching its franchise insurance business as part of a strategic move to exit the retail insurance...