Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Hurricane winds could be felt in professional liability markets

May 22 2006 // The professional liability market may be significantly affected by the increase in frequency and severity of hurricanes, causing greater rating agency scrutiny and changes to evaluation models. “The three recent...

AGENTS HAIL PASSAGE OF TAX LEGISLATION

May 22 2006 // The Senate has passed a conference report on the bill, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act, last month on the heels of House passage a day earlier. The tax-cut bill, supported by independent insurance agents...

People

May 22 2006 // Willis Group Holdings, the global insurance broker, has named Don Bailey as chief operating officer of the company’s North American business unit. In this capacity, Bailey will work with Mario Vitale, CEO of Willis...

Young agent ‘tricks and treats’

May 22 2006 // Like many of you, I started my insurance career with an empty desk and a phone. Over the years, I have learned some tips or “tricks” that I have used effectively to generate sales. Cold calling was the first...

Insurance programs meet computer programs

May 22 2006 // Like so many other areas of life, the Internet changed the exposures involved in affinity group programs. In fact, e-commerce and e-mail have taken some of the affinity out of affinity groups. When I first started...

Hurricane winds could be felt in professional liability markets

May 22 2006 // The professional liability market may be significantly affected by the increase in frequency and severity of hurricanes, causing greater rating agency scrutiny and changes to evaluation models. “The three recent...

Technology can help agents boost sales and more

May 22 2006 // Given the pace of today’s technological developments, it is often difficult for agency principals to know where to get the most bang for their buck. As most agency principals know, it is important to take a strategic...

Coverage issues at core of Hurricane Katrina-related litigation

May 22 2006 // The initial decisions from Hurricane Katrina lawsuits provide some comfort to both insurers and insureds and potential warnings to insurance agents. The amount of property damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi...

News Currents

May 22 2006 // Hurricanes spawn E&O troubles for insurance producers With regard to potential errors and omissions claims against insurance producers in Louisiana arising out of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, three main coverage areas...

Products liability = risk identification = Insurance 101

May 22 2006 // Basic insurance coverage salespersons don’t fully understand their products or completed operational exposure, and insurance agents don’t understand it, and the public’s understanding is even more...

Not all agents oppose an optional federal charter

May 22 2006 // The Commissioners are now fully prepared to go before their various legislative committees with recommendations for a system of insurance law which shall be the same in all States – not reciprocal, but identical; not...

People

May 22 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company appointed Larry Wagner as its new vice president of underwriting. Wagner will serve as chief underwriting officer and will oversee loss prevention efforts. Wagner has 30 years of underwriting...

Investor insights

May 22 2006 // Today, it’s not a fun time to be an insurance investor or analyst,” said Ray Joseph, vice president of Los Angeles-based Capital Research Co. Joseph should know; he is an investment analyst with research...

Harnessing technology in the London insurance market

May 22 2006 // Kinnect is dead! Long live Kinnect! Although Lloyd’s long troubled IT project was consigned to the flames last January (See IJ Website Jan. 24), a number of IT phoenix have risen from its ashes. “I think 2006...

U.S. insurers withstood record catastrophe losses in 2005

May 22 2006 // Strong capitalization, sound risk management and efficient global risk sharing enabled the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry to withstand record-setting catastrophe losses in 2005, according to Frank J. Coyne,...

Maximizing your agency’s ROI – Return on internet

May 22 2006 // Is your insurance agency investing in web initiatives? If so, you are in the minority. While many independent insurance agents have a virtual presence on their insurance carrier sites, most independent insurance agencies...

SullivanCurtisMonroe CEO says growth, profit and fun equal success

May 22 2006 // Best Practices is a new Insurance Journal column that profiles how some of the nation’s top performing agencies run their operations. IJ’s Publisher Mark Wells recently interviewed William Curtis, managing...

Diversification plus education equals a successful independent agency

May 22 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...

Editor’s Note: Your Space

May 22 2006 // In teenage land, the Internet is hardly foreign. Ask any 14-year-old today — they likely know all the ins and outs of using the Web to research school projects, as well as how to make friends all around the world...

Agents hail passage of tax legislation

May 22 2006 // The Senate has passed a conference report on the bill, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act, last month on the heels of House passage a day earlier. The tax-cut bill, supported by independent insurance agents...