Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oregon Revokes Insurance Agent License
Sep 24 2008 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) recently revoked the licenses of a Portland insurance agent and her agency, and fined the agent $43,714 for misappropriating clients’ premium money,...
Hanover Insurance Adds Cohen as Regional Vice President in Ohio
Sep 24 2008 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., with offices in Columbus, today announced it has named Bob Cohen to its local field leadership team in Ohio, reinforcing the company’s strong commitment to winning independent...
Mich. Agents: AIG Rescue, Insurance Regulation Still Best Left to States
Sep 24 2008 // The following commentary on the push for federal regulation as a result of AIG and other financial institutions’ troubles was written by Robert PIerce, CEO, Michigan Association of Insurance Agents. Over the last few...
Liberty Mutual Group Completes Safeco Acquisition
Sep 24 2008 // Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group finalized its acquisition of Seattle, Washington-based Safeco Corp. on Sept. 22 after entering the agreement in April. While improving its scale and geographic reach, the transaction...
Womack Honored With Austin Agents Group Presidents’ Award
Sep 24 2008 // Matt Womack, a partner with the Watkins Insurance Group in Austin, Texas, has been honored with Independent Insurance Agents of Austin’s Presidents’ Award. The award is based on performance and is given out by...
Rating Roundup: Liberty/Safeco, CAPCO, Service
Sep 24 2008 // Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings of Liberty Mutual Group, Inc. (LMG) and Safeco Corp. (SAF) as follows: LMG–Long-term IDR to...
ACE Europe Launches IT Security Policy
Sep 23 2008 // ACE Europe announced that it has launched “ComputerGuard Plus,” its comprehensive IT hardware and network security policy, on the Safeonline broking system. “Brokers using the Safeonline system can now...
Untrustworthy Insurance Agents Will Lose Licenses in Washington
Sep 22 2008 // Insurance agents in Washington state can lose their licenses if they are deemed “untrustworthy.” In an important decision, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler...
Insurance Broker/Charity Exec Quits; Lawyer Says He’s Innocent
Sep 22 2008 // The top executive of a Utah-based children’s charity has resigned, the same day he was in court on felony charges related to his insurance business. James Larry Hall II was president and CEO of Children’s...
Lack of Technology Can Raise Agency E&O Concerns
Sep 22 2008 // The use of technology is interwoven into agency procedures and practices, says Sabrena Sally, senior vice president of commercial insurance with Westport Insurance Corp., a subsidiary of Swiss Re and one of the largest...
Hurricane and Political Seasons Stir Up National Cat Plan Proposals
Sep 22 2008 // As Losses Mount for Insurers, More Proposals for a National Solution Emerge Neither Gustav nor Ike walloped the property/casualty insurance industry the way Katrina did but there is still concern in insurance and...
Independent Agent 2.0
Sep 22 2008 // Branding through Blogging and Beyond Real time technology is giving agencies immediate access to carrier information on their clients, allowing agencies to quickly and efficiently transact quotes, billing inquiries,...
People
Sep 22 2008 // The Chubb Corp has named Richard G. Spiro executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Oct. 1. Spiro, 44, succeeds the retiring Michael O’Reilly, who will remain at company until the end of 2008 to...
How Agents Prepared and Fared as Gustav Hit Gulf States
Sep 22 2008 // On the morning of Sept. 1, Gustav’s eye made landfall on the Louisiana coast just shy of Category 3 status. Experts estimate Gustav caused about $8 billion to $10 billion in insured damage. On Aug. 29 as Hurricane...
People
Sep 22 2008 // Jacksonville, Florida-based Harden & Associates, an insurance brokerage company, promoted Dustin Theilacker to chief information officer. As CIO, Theilacker will continue to provide technology vision and leadership...
Agents Weigh in on Gustav
Sep 22 2008 // In response to e-mailed inquiries from Insurance Journal, a number of Louisiana-based insurance operations reported they had prepared for Hurricane Gustav. Some had evacuated; most had recovery plans in place. Thomas J....
Why Agents Need to Know If Their Clients Blog
Sep 22 2008 // Getting ‘SLAPP’ed: Individuals Blog at Their Own Risk; Exposure of Business Clients Depends on Policy Endorsements Blog-related personal injury suits have produced judgments ranging between $7,500 and $11.3...
IIAT Disaster Response Team Heads to Coast
Sep 22 2008 // In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas initiated its catastrophe response plan to offer assistance to member agencies that have been severely affected by the massive storm. The plan...
Hope is Not an Agency Plan
Sep 22 2008 // Despite current market conditions, as I travel from state to state, I find the goal of almost every independent agent is to grow personal lines business. The basis of this organic growth strategy is adding new clients or...
Hope is Not an Agency Plan
Sep 22 2008 // Despite current market conditions, as I travel from state to state, I find the goal of almost every independent agent is to grow personal lines business. The basis of this organic growth strategy is adding new clients or...
