Latest Agencies Headlines

Understanding real estate-related risks

Sep 4 2006 // Throughout many states in the U.S., there has been an incredible increase in the number of professionals involved in or related to real estate. When thinking about real estate risks, the first to come to mind are real...

Warren is a 20-year insurance industry veteran. She originally joined Beecher Carlson in March 2005 as senior vice presi

Sep 4 2006 // People American International Group, Inc. named Nicholas J. Ashooh as senior vice president of communications. Ashooh succeeds John T. Wooster, Jr. who had filled that role on a temporary basis since year-end 2005, and...

Glenn

Sep 4 2006 // Former Executive Director A ‘spirited’ Kentucky wants make up ground in the race for captives Glenn Jennings replaced Martin J. Koetters as Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Insurance in April 2005....

TENN. AGENT IN BATTLE

Sep 4 2006 // KENTUCKY’S JENNINGS Interview with former regulator INSURANCE GLAMOUR How to grab college grads

Navigating Washington’s business and occupation tax tangle

Sep 4 2006 // Washington State’s current business and occupation (B&O) tax laws operate under a unique structure that can confuse even the most astute insurance agent or company. Harbored within this structure is the question...

News Currents

Sep 4 2006 // Associations oppose eliminating contingent commissions The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Illinois are continuing their fight against anti-competitive practices in the insurance industry. In doing so, they...

Cultivating a management mentality

Sep 4 2006 // A common misconception among agency owners who began their careers in sales is the belief that agency management and sales management are the same. The art and science of agency management require a unique set of...

Role models

Sep 4 2006 // Independent insurance agents are probably rarely asked to compile resumes but if they were, they would rightfully describe their roles as employers, producers, managers, problem solvers and consultants. Few, however, would...

An assault on compensation agreements

Sep 4 2006 // Both the Independent Insur-ance Agents of Oklahoma and the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas reported they have joined other agent groups in denouncing recent assaults on compensation agreements between independent...

Sep 4 2006 // People RISC, based in Dallas, promoted Beth Winstead to senior vice president in its Brokerage Department. Winstead joined RISC in 1997 as a casualty broker and has been one of its most consistent performers since that...

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spawn legislation, bulletins in Miss. and La.

Sep 4 2006 // Hurricanes Katrina and Rita exposed many misconceptions and misunderstandings that consumers had, or claimed to have had, with respect to their insurance coverage for hurricane related damage. The aftermath of these two...

What the West Coast can learn from the Gulf Coast

Sep 4 2006 // One year after Hurricane Katrina, the insurance industry says that nearly 95 percent of homeowners insurance claims have been settled. Insurance companies have paid billions in storm damage claims, and the vast majority of...

Rates are softening

Sep 4 2006 // As the surplus lines world turns to another year of soft market conditions, specialists and innovators may be the ones to survive as increasing competition intensifies, according to excess and surplus lines brokers,...

Also, Phillip Hill was elected chief financial officer and vice president of operations. Hill has been part of Ogilvy-Hi

Sep 4 2006 // People Ogilvy-Hill Insurance elected Mark Shipp president and CEO. Shipp has been with Ogilvy Hill for 11 years. In addition to his new role as president/CEO he will continue to build new relationships in the field. The...

Know thyself; insure thyself

Sep 4 2006 // As we know, errors and omissions insurance is intended to cover professionals, including insurance brokers and agents, for their professional mistakes. Businesses that make recommendations or provide clients with solutions...

First post-Katrina court decision a victory for insurers

Sep 4 2006 // On Aug. 15, 2006, a decision was handed down in the first post-Katrina insurance lawsuit to go to trial. Because there are thousands of lawsuits raising the same claims with millions, if not billions, of dollars at stake,...

Higher office

Sep 4 2006 // The race to succeed Eliot Spitzer, recognized thorn in the side of the insurance industry, as New York attorney general is underway. Five candidates are running. Four Democrats, all public sector professionals, are vying:...

Court: Pennsylvania agents have no duty to inspect flood risks

Sep 4 2006 // Insurance agents and insurers in Pennsylvania were breathing a sigh of relief following a court ruling that says agents do not have a duty to inspect all properties before binding or renewing flood insurance coverage. Had...

Mass. agents cautious on assigned risk plan

Sep 4 2006 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has been given the green light by the state’s high court to proceed with installing an auto insurance assigned risk plan and she appears intent on doing so. On...

The Mass. liquor JUA serves up misleading market information

Sep 4 2006 // As a managing general agent for liquor liability insurance for over 20 years, I took great interest in a recent article in Insurance Journal entitled, “Raising the bar on liquor liability training.” (See...