Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AMS Upgrades Sagitta System

Aug 2 2006 // AMS Services announced the general availability of AMS Sagitta 7.0, an agency management system for larger agencies, bank-owned agencies and national brokers. This release includes new security enhancements as well as...

Texas Agent Duplicates First Ever Hole-In-One at Lubbock Golf Course

Aug 1 2006 // An insurance agent playing in a weekend tournament in Lubbock, Texas, followed up his first hole-in-one with another one day later. On the same hole. Using the same club. “I’ve never even heard of such a...

Texas Agent Group Launches Homeowners Market Web Page

Aug 1 2006 // TIP/PIA Texas announced it has set up a special Web page providing information on homeowner markets, in an effort to help with possible solutions in light of the recent problems with Texas Select. This is not an...

St. Paul Settles with Conn,. Ill., N.Y. Attorneys General Over Broker Compensation

Aug 1 2006 // The St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. has entered into a $77 million settlement with the attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Illinois, as well as with the New York State Department of Insurance, resolving issues...

House Bill Would Establish National Disaster Commission

Jul 31 2006 // Legislation that would establish a bipartisan national commission tasked with recommending policies to help the federal government prepare for and manage disaster response has been introduced in the House of...

America First Insurance Offers Coverage to Texas Select Policyholders

Jul 28 2006 // Add America First Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, to the list of insurers that are actively working with Texas agents to assist policyholders with Texas Select Lloyds Insurance Company, which was recently put...

Minn. Plans Program to Raise Public Awareness of Insurance Crimes

Jul 28 2006 // At a rate of about three a day, state Commerce Department regulators have been posting enforcement actions against insurance agencies and companies, real estate agents, mortgage originators, security brokers and...

Orange County Agents and Brokers Host Golf Tournament

Jul 27 2006 // The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Orange County will be hosting its 49th Annual Golf Tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 20th, 2006, at the Tustin Ranch Golf Club. There are three registration fees available: 1)...

Republic Assists Agents in Moving Texas Select Policyholders

Jul 26 2006 // The Republic Group, based in Dallas, announced it is accepting from independent agents policies of former Texas Select customers. The Texas Department of Insurance has mandated that all Texas Select policies will be...

Wis. American Family Honored for Agents’ Customer Service Excellence

Jul 26 2006 // More than 1,350 licensed American Family Insurance agents from throughout the company’s 18 operating states have been recognized for customer service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished...

Broker Security Breach Puts N.Y. Workers’ Comp Clients at ID Risk

Jul 26 2006 // The names, addresses and Social Security numbers of as many as 540,000 injured workers have been lost, and the state and a contracted company are trying to protect the workers from identity theft. In New York, company and...

Agents Again Urge Passage of Surplus Lines Reform Legislation

Jul 25 2006 // As the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006 (HR 5637) makes its way to full committee of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services, the American Association of Managing General Agents sent a call to...

Mich. Offers New On-line Payment Option for Agents’ Licenses

Jul 25 2006 // Individuals wishing to become licensed as insurance agents in Michigan may now pay online for their license, Office of Financial and Insurance Services (OFIS) Commissioner Linda A. Watters announced. The online payment...

Utah Agent Charged with Pocketing Premiums

Jul 25 2006 // Ryan Webb, a Salt Lake County, Utah, insurance agent, was charged with insurance fraud, a second degree felony, unlawful dealing by a fiduciary, a second degree felony, theft by deception, a second degree felony, and...

Riding out soft and hard market cycles with quality relationships

Jul 24 2006 // Analyzing the economic rhymes and reasons of soft and hard market cycles in the insurance industry would make for a challenging university-level business course. Theories abound on why and when these cycles occur, but no...

Pay less attention to delinquent accounts, call your good customers

Jul 24 2006 // Agents can make a difference in the perception of the insurance business if, instead of tracking and billing delinquent accounts, they turn everything around and call good customers, Kat Davis of Tower Hill Insurance in...

Getting your commercial producers to prospect

Jul 24 2006 // Some producers never seek out fresh prospects. Instead, their managers employ list services and telemarketers to spoon-feed them their leads. Still, this is the exception in the agency business and not the rule. Most...

Safeco CEO: ‘We will sell to consumers in the way they want to buy’

Jul 24 2006 // Explaining Seattle-based Safe-co’s recent announcement that it would sell its products directly to the consumer over the Internet, president and CEO Paul Rosput Reynolds said the company previously had been not...

The virtual, global economy humbles insurance leaders

Jul 24 2006 // Insurance professionals have a lot to worry about as the fast-paced virtual economy takes hold. According to futurist Edie Weiner, they are right to be worried. She says there are a lot of risks ahead and given the speed...

Former FEMA director promotes government-industry disaster mediation

Jul 24 2006 // Federal and state governments should work with private insurance companies to sponsor disaster mediation programs, according to a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. James Lee Witt, president of James...