Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Systematic Sales Strategy Should Be Priority No. 2 for Agency Managers
Feb 8 2009 // In this hard economy coupled with the soft market, most agencies expect sales and revenues to go down. Even the best performers feel the downward trend in premiums. According to Juan Andrade, executive vice-president for...
Start-Up Stories: How New Agencies Are Competing
Feb 8 2009 // A Crop of Newly-Formed Agencies Is Defying the Hard Economy and Soft Market The independent insurance agency system is enjoying a resurgence. For years, the number of agencies in the country had been declining but that...
Certificates of Insurance and Agency Liability: What Agents Should Know
Feb 8 2009 // A common practice by insurance carriers is to inform their agents that they should not send the company copies of certificates of insurance when they are issued. This is most likely the result of mail-flow issues with the...
Liberty Mutual Drops Direct Sales to Middle Market Businesses
Feb 8 2009 // Puts Faith in Independent Agents Liberty Mutual Group is throwing in the towel on direct distribution of insurance to middle market businesses. Because it couldn’t beat independent agents and brokers — who...
Start-Up Stories: How New Agencies Are Competing
Feb 8 2009 // Crop of New Agencies Is Defying the Hard Economy and Soft Market The independent insurance agency system is enjoying a resurgence. For years, the number of agencies nationwide declined, but that trend has halted. There...
It Figures
Feb 8 2009 // 37,500 The number of number of independent agencies nationwide, according to the “2008 Future One Agency Universe Study,” sponsored by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Trusted Choice and...
Certificates of Insurance and Agency Liability: What Agents Should Know
Feb 8 2009 // A common practice by insurance carriers is to inform their agents that they should not send the company copies of certificates of insurance when they are issued. This is most likely the result of mail-flow issues with the...
Systematic Sales Strategy Should Be Priority No. 2 for Agency Managers
Feb 8 2009 // In this hard economy coupled with the soft market, most agencies expect sales and revenues to go down. Even the best performers feel the downward trend in premiums. According to Juan Andrade, executive vice-president for...
How to Avoid Agency Errors and Omissions Claims
Feb 8 2009 // Advising Clients on Specific Dollar Values of Coverages They Need to Consider May Create Unnecessary Exposures There have been an increasing number of lawsuits brought against agents in situations where the...
Pros and Cons of Running a Small Business Unit
Feb 8 2009 // Agencies Say SBUs Take Dedication, Technology But Offer Profitability Going for the big fish may bring in big returns but some agencies think having a strategic plan to go after all those little fish is just as important....
Human Services Agencies Can Benefit from Agent Advice, Especially in Challenging Economic Times
Feb 8 2009 // Custom Coverages and Loss Control Can Help Non-Profits Survive While today’s economic environment presents some challenges for many companies large and small, independent agents who understand and embrace those...
5 Business Owner Policy Gaps and Pitfalls Agents Should Watch Out For
Feb 8 2009 // Business owner policies, traditionally referred to simply as BOPs, were introduced in 1976 and significantly revised in 1987. The BOP evolved gradually since the 1987 revisions to include risk classification and sizes not...
Aon Hit With Q4 Benfield Merger Costs But Broker Commissions Grow Slightly
Feb 6 2009 // Aon Corp., the largest global insurance brokerage by assets, reported that net income fell 95 percent in the fourth quarter as it incurred costs related to restructuring and its merger with Benfield Group. Net income was...
New York Proposes Compensation Disclosure Rules for Agents
Feb 6 2009 // Despite earning praise from major insurance brokerages, a proposed new regimen of compensation disclosure rules for insurance producers has New York agents on edge. The draft regulations issued earlier this week include...
Louisiana Agents Accused of Fraud, Theft, Pocketing Premiums
Feb 6 2009 // In two separate instances, Louisiana insurance agents recently have been accused of fraud and misappropriating premiums. In one case, the Louisiana Department of Insurance Fraud Section Investigators served Tamara Celeste...
Mercury Insurance Chairman: Independent Agents Will Always Have Future
Feb 5 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...
North Texas Agencies, Powter and O’Neal, Join Forces
Feb 5 2009 // Powter Insurance, based in McKinney, Texas, announced it has acquired the O’Neal Insurance Agency of Burleson, Texas. O’Neal Insurance Agency owner Jerita O’Neal will join Powter, bringing many years of...
Colorado Casualty Introduces Workers’ Comp in Nevada
Feb 5 2009 // Englewood, Colo.-based Colorado Casualty, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, announced it has added workers’ compensation coverage to its commercial insurance product line in Nevada. “Bringing...
Western Insurance Agent/Broker Association Installs New Officers
Feb 4 2009 // Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West (IBA West) CEO Clark Payan recently installed the associations new officers and directors. Following will serve in 2009. President Richard E. Dinger of Crescenta Valley Insurance,...
State Farm Rejects Call to Let Florida Agents Represent Other Insurers
Feb 4 2009 // Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is urging State Farm Florida to “immediately” let its agents do business with other insurance companies for their more than one million policyholders now that State...
