Agencies - Latest Insurance News

Associations Oppose Eliminating Contingent Commissions

Aug 16 2006 // The Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers has joined the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIAB) and Western Insurance Agents Association (WIAA) in criticizing regulators and public officials who seek...

HKMB Names Parker VP/Surety Solutions

Aug 15 2006 // Canada’s HKMB International Insurance Brokers announced that Kelly A. Parker has joined the firm’s Toronto office as Vice President & Practice Leader, HKMB Surety Solutions. She “will join...

Lloyd’s Warns on Australian Stock Broker Coverage

Aug 14 2006 // Lloyd’s issued a bulletin warning that an Australian stock brokerage firm called The Armitage has been falsely claiming to have coverage from Lloyd’s. Lloyd’s said it “has become aware” that...

Ohio SeibertKeck Names New President

Aug 14 2006 // SeibertKeck Insurance Agency, Inc., based in northeast Akron, Ohio, has announced the appointment of Craig A. Hassinger to the position of president of the organization. He will report to chairman and chief executive...

Agents Association Accuses Garamendi of Using Office to Win Votes

Aug 14 2006 // The Western Insurance Agents Association, Rancho Cordova, Calif., has issued a statement responding to California Insurance Commissioner Garamendi’s auto rate regulations. It reads: Americans would be hard pressed to...

Fla. Charges Agency with ‘Sliding’ Ancillary Costs onto Auto Policies

Aug 14 2006 // Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer, said he has filed administrative charges against 12 agents and customer representatives of Direct General Insurance Agency for “sliding” ancillary...

California Imposes New Ethics Regulations on Broker-Agents

Aug 11 2006 // The California Department of Insurance has issued a notice informing insurance producers of new ethics regulation requiring all fire and casualty broker-agents and life agents to complete four- hour “ethics...

Oak Street Funding Finalizes Quarter Billion Capital Deal

Aug 11 2006 // Indianapolis-based Oak Street Funding has raised more than a quarter billion dollars in capital through loans completed with Germany-based DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank and Boston-based NewStar Financial....

Nine Players – Including Agent – in World Series of Poker

Aug 10 2006 // Nine players — four pros, a former talent agent, an insurance broker, an ad salesman, a recent college grad and a retired businessman — were all that remained from a field of more than 8,700 hopefuls vying for...

U.S. Surplus Lines Brokers Detailed on Lloyd’s Website

Aug 9 2006 // Lloyd’s has placed detailed information on U.S. surplus lines brokers on its Website www.lloyds.com/us. The information available will “help the market verify the license details of surplus lines...

Virginia Advises Insurance Agents of Security Breach

Aug 8 2006 // Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance is advising all insurance agents in the state that their social security number may have been accessible on the bureau’s website for a six-week period of time. The social security...

Singapore Brokers Give Chubb ‘Best Claims Service’ Award

Aug 7 2006 // Members of the Singapore Insurance Brokers Association recently voted Chubb as having the “Best Claims Service.” This is the second consecutive time Chubb has won the award and the fifth consecutive time it...

Julie Benafield Bowman

Aug 7 2006 // Like insurance commissioners in other states, Arkansas Insurance Commis-sioner Julie Benafield Bowman, is keeping an eye on catastrophe issues and the availability of insurance related to them. Unlike commissioners in...

Companies step up to take Texas Select policyholders

Aug 7 2006 // Some 150,000 Texas homeowners will be affected by the liquidation of Vesta Fire Insurance Co. and its Texas subsidiaries by the Texas Department of Insurance, but the situation seems to be not as dire as previously...

Excess flood insurance — when the federal plan isn’t sufficient

Aug 7 2006 // The lessons learned from Katrina and Rita and predictions of a future with bigger and stronger storms highlight more than ever the importance of flood insurance, even in locations where it was previously thought...

Diversification plus education equals a successful independent agency

Aug 7 2006 // Note to independent agents and brokers: Pay attention to the Geico gecko and former “24” actor who is now shilling for Allstate. They are gunning for your business. Either you can try to go head to head against...

Vesta liquidation by Texas felt from Florida to Mass.

Aug 7 2006 // Some 70,000 Florida, 150,000 Texas, 5,200 Massachusetts and 11,000 New Jersey policyholders are among those affected by the liquidation of Vesta Fire Insurance Co. and its subsidiaries. Texas regulators placed the company...

Hawaii obtains reinsurance to take control of Vesta subsidiary