Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Agent Pleads Guilty to Theft
Nov 7 2005 // A Costa Mesa Insurance agent pled guilty to three felony counts of grand theft and was forced to surrender his insurance license for life following an investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance (CDI)...
Lack of Electricity, Gasoline Slows Hurricane Wilma Recovery Efforts
Nov 6 2005 // Four days after Hurricane Wilma crossed southwest Florida and tore into South Florida, insurance agents in Naples and Miami told Insurance Journal they had not encountered the onslaught of claims they expected, but...
Harrington Tells FAIA: Employment Crisis Major Threat to Agencies
Nov 6 2005 // An impending employment crisis threatens independent insurance agents and will become disastrous by 2010 unless employers act now, Lisa Harrington, Florida Association of Insurance Agents vice president of Education, told...
People
Nov 6 2005 // Jim Shevlin has been named assistant vice president and regional business development manager for ACE USA’s Southeast Region. ACE USA is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. Based in Atlanta, Shevlin will manage...
News Briefs
Nov 6 2005 // ALABAMA Vesta Reinsurance To Cover Wilma Vesta Insurance of Birmingham, issued a statement saying it has complete reinsurance coverage for Hur-ricane Wilma claims in Florida. “As previously disclosed, Vesta’s...
Editor’s Note: Miss., La. Crisis: A Domino Effect
Nov 6 2005 // One of the top issues facing the insurance industry in the southeast right now is rebuilding Mississippi and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane experts at the Society of Insurance Research conference in October...
W.Va. Big ‘I’ Members Learn About Policy ‘Glitches,’ Coverage Fixes
Nov 6 2005 // Glitches” in policies agents select for insureds and possible coverage “fixes” to close these gaps or lapses in coverage were discussed by Fred Macy, president of Gray Wolf Insurance Seminars, during the...
People
Nov 6 2005 // Cathy DeCoulaz was recently installed as president of the Alamo Chapter, Society of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, in San Antonio, Texas. DeCoulaz has served the Alamo Chapter on the Board of Directors and in...
Industry Conduct After Spitzer Shows Old Habits Die Hard
Nov 6 2005 // The multiple investigations triggered by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer one year ago have thus far tarnished the insurance industry’s public image more than they have changed its private behavior, according...
Editor’s Note: A Little Polish
Nov 6 2005 // In the aftermath of the Spitzer investigations, it’s understandable why the insurance industry might feel battered and bruised. Some state insurance departments are considering new disclosure regulations, and...
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Nov 6 2005 // ACE USA announced two appointments in its ACE Casualty Risk Unit. William Hazelton has joined as senior vice president and underwriting manager for ACE Environ-mental Risk, and Mitchell Schmidt is now senior vice president...
This Just In: Industry Conduct after Spitzer Shows Old Habits Die Hard
Nov 6 2005 // The multiple investigations triggered by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have tarnished the insurance industry’s public image more than they have changed its private behavior, according to experts at a recent...
Avoiding Financial Catastrophes: Take Care When Procuring Agents E&O
Nov 6 2005 // Agents and brokers have spent a great deal of energy in recent years finding suitable insurance products for their clients. Not only has the marketplace become more complex, the typical insured has become increasingly more...
Using a Marketing Approach to Recruiting Employees
Nov 6 2005 // This is the first in a series of articles offering “best practices” for the hiring process in the independent agency. More information is available at: www.iiat.org, under Agency Management. The lifeblood of...
Value Added Services Stand Out from the Pack
Nov 6 2005 // For most firms, the insurance consumer will not see any major value difference between agencies. Because products, price and service are roughly the same, sales people are forced to sell on rapport, relationships and sales...
Planning Ahead: Navigating Clients through Disasters
Nov 6 2005 // Most insurance agents and brokers have worked hard to build their businesses and their reputations. Clients trust them to provide good advice and to really understand their businesses and exposures. So when a disaster...
IJ Online Exclusive: Swett & Crawford Group Gains Independence Again
Nov 6 2005 // Insurance Journal Publisher Mark Wells interviewed Dave Hartoch, chairman of the Swett & Crawford Group, shortly after an announcement that the company had been sold by Aon Corp. to an investment group in late...
Nonprofit D&O Essentials: Homeowners, Condo Association Boards Beware
Nov 6 2005 // Americans place significant value on their residential investments. So who wouldn’t want to get involved in one’s homeowners or condominium association? But the directors and officers of these nonprofit...
E&O Alert: Has Your Agency Outgrown Its Policies and Procedures?
Nov 6 2005 // If your agency has grown over the years, then you’ve probably gone through many changes. Do the following scenarios sound familiar? The organizational structure, policies and procedures that were in place when your...
Professional liability ripples
Nov 6 2005 // urricane Katrina has long gone, but the aftereffects of the mighty storm are likely to linger for a very long time. Rita and Wilma have compounded the mess. The direct losses are staggering. The latest preliminary figures...
