Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Driving Up Agency Valuation
Apr 4 2005 // Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? There is a general perception that agency value has been increasing the past few years. This belief is partially true and is the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the past...
Regulators Look for a Clue
Apr 4 2005 // Was it Colonel ChoicePoint in the Conservatory With a Knife? When ChoicePoint Asset Co. finally disclosed Feb. 15 that criminals had gained access to the personal information of as many as 145,000 people in all 50 states,...
Q&A With Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger
Apr 4 2005 // Interviewed by Kevin B. O’Reilly When Insurance Journal last spoke with Sandy Praeger, she was only months into the job. Kansans elected the Republican as insurance commissioner in November 2002. Back then she was...
State Opposition, Other Issues Bury Federal Charter Efforts
Apr 4 2005 // Although three major proposals to revamp insurance regulation are before legislators in some form, it appears that the industry’s ultimate goal of optional federal charters is nowhere close to fruition. Only the...
Eddy vs. BSTV Inc.
Apr 4 2005 // (Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District I, March 8, 2005) –Ruling:Professional services exclusion barred coverage for claims asserted against real estate agents. The court held that the professional services exclusion...
Agents Beware: Due Diligence is Now Required
Apr 4 2005 // Transactions between retail agents and brokers they place business through just became more labor intensive. I recently testified as an expert in a federal case involving a reputable agency’s failure to conduct...
CAPITAL ONE EXPANDING, PLANS TO HIRE 150 NEW AGENTS
Apr 4 2005 // Capital One Insurance Services, formerly InsLogic, an insurance broker in Oak Ridge, Tenn., plans to triple its work force. Capital One Insurance was acquired in January by Capital One Financial Corp., and wants to hire...
Agents Beware: Due Diligence is Now Required on Brokers
Apr 4 2005 // Transactions between retail agents and brokers they place business through just became more labor intensive. I recently testified as an expert in a federal case involving a reputable agency’s failure to conduct...
Spitzer’s Complaint Outlines Aon’s Personal Lines Deals with Insurers
Apr 4 2005 // The recent $190 million settlement between the world’s second largest insurance broker, Aon, and officials in three states sheds light on how, as New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other public officials...
South Central Homeowners Market Update
Apr 4 2005 // Judging from the homeowners insurance rate changes reported by the Arkansas Insurance Department for 2004, the highest increases were effective before August. The largest hike, 28.3 percent, was filed by Federal Insurance...
TDI February Enforcement Actions = $1.3 M in Fines and Restitution
Apr 4 2005 // The Texas Department of Insurance recently announced enforcement actions taken by Commissioner José Montemayor that became final during February. The actions include four license revocations, one license denial, and fines...
Texas Independent Agents Seek Fairness in Consumer Protection Statutes
Apr 4 2005 // Agents are treated unfairly by Texas statutes and the result is sky-rocketing errors and omissions insurance premiums, according to the Indepen-dent Insurance Agents of Texas. When rates in the E&O insurance program...
Keeping Retention Rates High in a Softening Market
Apr 4 2005 // The success or failure of any organization can be traced to customer retention. Agents and carriers who retain the most customers have greater long-term success and profitability than those who consistently lose...
IBA West President Discusses Broker Disclosure, Work Comp Issues
Apr 4 2005 // Mark Wells, publisher of Insurance Journal, recently spoke to Stan Simpson, the newly elected president of the Insurance Agents and Brokers of the West and a principal at Buckman-Mitchell Inc., an independent agency in...
Homeowners Moving to the West Coast
Apr 4 2005 // Whether your client owns a multi-million dollar home overlooking the Pacific Ocean or a small bungalow tucked away a mile from the beach, it is your responsibility to find the right homeowners insurance coverage that will...
Help Your Clients by Becoming a Small Business Advocate
Apr 4 2005 // One of the great things about being a commercial lines insurance agent is that you get to meet people and learn a little bit about a lot of businesses. This knowledge puts insurance agents in a unique position to represent...
Adjusters can Detect the Problem of Underinsurance Before Disaster Strikes
Apr 4 2005 // In the aftermath of the devastating Southern California wildfires of October 2003, claim adjusters went to work in an area where an estimated 3,631 structures were destroyed. In many cases the only remaining indication of...
Lake Charles Agent Told to Cease and Desist
Apr 1 2005 // A Lake Charles, La., insurance agent (producer) was arrested and issued a cease and desist order, along with a summary suspension of his license, on charges of submitting fraudulent damage repair claims and pocketing the...
Downgrade of Calif. Auto Company Results from Reinsurance Broker Error
Apr 1 2005 // Effective immediately, AM Best has downgraded Workmen’s Auto Insurance Company from a B++ to a B(u), citing the company’s drop in surplus as the main reason for the downgrade. The company has filed a lawsuit...
CIAB Wins Countersignature Lawsuit in Puerto Rico
Apr 1 2005 // The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, the trade association that represents the nation’s largest commercial P/C and benefits brokers, announced the successful outcome of its lawsuit in Puerto Rico to strike...
