Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insureds Must Know What’s In Their Flood Policies
Feb 22 2009 // In this litigious day and age, lawsuits alleging breach of the insurance policies, bad faith, unfair claims handling, unfair settlement practices or negligence by an insurance agent are so common that they are not...
Now Playing in Florida: A Scary Surplus Lines Scenario
Feb 22 2009 // Court Rulings Strike Fear That Surplus Lines Could Lose Freedom Have you ever seen anything like this in Florida? Never. I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere in the country. If it were a horror flick it might...
Attitude Adjustment
Feb 22 2009 // The tiff between State Farm Florida and the Office of Insurance Regulation that has culminated in the insurer’s withdrawal from the state’s property market is disturbing. It’s not disturbing because an...
Florida Attaches Major Conditions to State Farm Withdrawal
Feb 22 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has offered his own plan for State Farm Florida Insurance Co.’s withdrawal from the state that includes conditions not in the insurers’ own plan. McCarty wants State...
What Retail Agents Value in Surplus Agents
Feb 22 2009 // Insurance Journal asked a select group of 130 Florida retail agents what they look for when selecting surplus lines agencies to do business with. They placed access to markets as the most valued consideration, followed by...
FSLA Leader Sees Soft Market Opportunities in State Farm Exit, Med Mal, EPLI
Feb 22 2009 // The Florida surplus lines industry may be challenged right now by regulatory uncertainty stemming from the Essex and CNL Hotels rulings but it is not letting that blind it to opportunities. One opportunity is the pending...
Mercury Insurance Chairman: Independent Agents Will Always Have Future
Feb 22 2009 // Despite the seemingly difficult times independent insurance agents may be facing today, they will always have a future, according to George Joseph, chairman and founder of Mercury Insurance, considered one of the most...
Operational Efficiency Should Be Priority No. 3 for Agency Managers
Feb 22 2009 // Managing an independent insurance agency in today’s economy and soft market forces agents to set priorities. Juan Andrade, executive vice-president for sales and distribution at The Hartford, who oversees his...
Implications of the 2008 Farm Bill
Feb 22 2009 // Could Reduce Agent Commissions, But Create New Insurance Categories The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill) authorizes farm programs for the next five years. The Act’s provisions encompass a...
Top 5 Insurance Issues for Farmers in a Soft Economy
Feb 22 2009 // Review Exposures, Values and Maximize Insurance Value to Ensure Satisfied Farm Customers Thanks in part to commodity prices that are still higher than average and, thankfully, less volatile than in 2008, the agricultural...
Who’s Worth What?
Feb 22 2009 // Agency Salary Survey: Agencies Trim Payrolls and Raises Independent insurance agencies remain reliable employers even in these rocky economic times, but even they have to cut back occasionally. Whether due to efficiencies...
Eye on Boats and Marinas
Feb 22 2009 // Marine Broker Shares Views on the Current State of the Market The marina and boat industry is a natural fit for John Harvey, founder and president of Voyager Insurance Services in Frisco, Texas. Harvey has been in the...
N. Idaho Insurance Agent Charged After Drug Raid
Feb 20 2009 // An insurance agent and prominent supporter of public schools in the northern Idaho city of Coeur d’Alene has been charged with felony cocaine possession. Idaho State Police say Jerry Carlson could face more charges...
Connecticut Agents’ Group Urges State to Drop Cat-Fund Plan
Feb 18 2009 // A trade group for Connecticut insurance agents is urging lawmakers to abandon plans to create a state natural catastrophe fund. The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut (PIACT) said the state’s Insurance and...
Spiro Receives Award from New York Agents’ Trade Group
Feb 17 2009 // A Valley Stream, New York insurance agent has been named the first-ever winner of the “1882 Fellow Award” from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY). Steven Spiro, president of...
Florida Rejects State Farm Withdrawal Plan; Requires Major Conditions on Citizens, Agents
Feb 13 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has offered a withdrawal plan for State Farm Florida Insurance Co. and its parent company with major conditions that were not in the original plan submitted by the insurer. In...
Marsh Sees Growth in 2009 Boosted by Acquisitions
Feb 12 2009 // Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc , the No. 2 global insurance broker, reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, helped by lower costs, and forecast higher profits in 2009, sending its shares up 16 percent. The...
Former Iowa Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to $1 Million Fraud
Feb 11 2009 // A former Iowa insurance agent accused of siphoning more than $1 million from clients has pleaded guilty to federal charges. Jack Straw pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count each of mail fraud,...
Wisconsin Streamlines Insurance Complaint Filing, Agent Licensing
Feb 11 2009 // Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg announced improvements to the state’s complaint and agent licensing processes intended to simplify access to agency services for consumers and insurance...
North Dakota Revokes Fargo Insurance Agent’s License
Feb 11 2009 // North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm has revoked the insurance license of Larry Atkins, a Fargo insurance agent who was charged with 78 felonies in 2008. The revocation bars him from selling, soliciting or...
