Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Impact on Other Agents of Conn. Verdict Against Nationwide Doubted
Jan 24 2005 // A recent $2.3 million jury verdict for wrongful termination in favor of a former Nationwide Insurance contract agent from Connecticut is unlikely to have any effect on independent agents or their companies, according to...
Impact on Other Agents of Conn. Verdict Against Nationwide Doubted
Jan 24 2005 // A recent $2.3 million jury verdict for wrongful termination in favor of a former Nationwide Insurance contract agent from Connecticut is unlikely to have any effect on independent agents or their companies, according to...
Is it Time to Sell the Agency’ Three Factors to Help You Decide …
Jan 24 2005 // Many owners have at one time or another thought about selling their insurance agency or brokerage. Many were tempted but never quite took the plunge. Those who didn’t sell most likely were making too much money at...
Chicago Agent’s License Revoked
Jan 24 2005 // Acting Illinois Director of Insurance Deirdre K. Manna has revoked the insurance producer license of Cynthia A. Redict-Adams of Chicago effective Dec. 21, 2004. Redict-Adams had been licensed since March 4, 1987. She was...
Insurance Journal to Publish Top E&S Broker List
Jan 24 2005 // Insurance Journal magazine will publish its inaugural Top Excess & Surplus Lines Broker list on Feb. 21, 2005, in all five of its regional editions. Managing general agencies, wholesalers and managing general...
Bid-rigging Investigations Continue in North Carolina
Jan 24 2005 // Investigators have been assigned by Commissioner Jim Long of the North Carolina Department of Insurance Commissioner to take a closer look at possible bid-rigging by insurance companies and brokers. Last October the...
Heath Turns the Corner as Colemont Insurance Brokers
Jan 24 2005 // At the corner of Cole and Monticello Avenues near the Highland Park area of Dallas, an excess and surplus insurance brokerage was born—twice, it could be argued. The company that became Heath Insurance Brokers, one of...
Broker Survey Shows 4Q Premiums Drop
Jan 24 2005 // More than 80 percent of small and large commercial property/casualty accounts and 90 percent of medium accounts found their insurance premiums either stable or down by as much as 20 percent during the fourth quarter of...
Back to the Basics
Jan 24 2005 // E&S Industry Returns to Familiar Ground Neither wind, nor rain nor the dark cloud of standard carriers returning to the marketplace will keep excess and surplus insurance writers from maintaining profitability. From...
Court Knocks Out Mass. Limits on Banks’ Sales of Insurance
Jan 24 2005 // Banks should have an easier time selling insurance in Massachusetts thanks to a recent federal court ruling granting supremacy to federal rules over more restrictive state laws governing banks’ sales of insurance...
N.Y. Weighed Contingent Fee Issue Years Before Spitzer Investigation
Jan 24 2005 // While it did not begin boiling over until last October when charges were brought against Marsh, the controversy over brokerage contingent fees has actually been simmering for more than a half dozen years in New York...
N.Y. Superintendent: A Handshake and Heads-Up
Jan 24 2005 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York looks forward to working with New York’s next Superintendent of Insurance and is hopeful the major strides begun by his predecessor will continue to benefit...
Heath Turns the Corner as Colemont Insurance Brokers
Jan 24 2005 // Name May Be Changing but Company’s Service, Business Practices Stay the Same At the corner of Cole and Monticello Avenues near the Highland Park area of Dallas, an excess and surplus insurance brokerage was...
Buyers Be Where’
Jan 24 2005 // Where are all the buyers? Regulators and other officials note that the voices of insurance buyers are conspicuously absent from the current controversy over brokerage compensation. They say that few if any risk managers or...
The Drive’
Jan 24 2005 // Have you been watching the NFL playoffs? As a devotee of our country’s first national pastime–baseball–I confess to not having paid very close attention. To me, football is just the dead air on...
Insurance Marketing and Communications
Jan 24 2005 // How to Produce Client Seminars As we develop our marketing and communications plans for 2005, one of the most effective ways a broker can provide a customized service to its clients is by producing educational seminars on...
Outsourcing Allows Agents and Brokers to Focus on Core Competencies
Jan 24 2005 // Increased Customer Satisfaction, Reduced Overhead When an operational limit is hit, insurance agents and brokers often turn to outsourcers. They may need to increase their physical capacity to handle new customer...
A Brief History of Contingent Commission Agreements
Jan 24 2005 // Contingent commissions first appeared in the 1960s when claims were rising much faster than the rate of inflation and insurance companies cut agent commissions on premiums. To make up for this loss of revenue, carriers...
Westfield Carefully Weighs Wider Midwest Move
Jan 24 2005 // Ohio-based property/casualty carrier Westfield Insurance is carefully weighing its expansion with plans to appoint more agents to its middle market distribution force. Champaign, Ill.-based Agency Relationship Manager Ken...
How to Find New Markets
Jan 24 2005 // For nine years, Insurance Journal has published the annual Directory of Excess, Surplus and Specialty Markets. This issue is a resource for independent agents and brokers to help them find the markets they need. The print...
