Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Agents Learn How to Market to People Unlike Themselves
Apr 16 2014 // The middle-aged white woman told the audience of mostly older white male businessowners that much of the country and many of their future customers don’t look like them or necessarily share all their values. While...
Agents Brewing Up Program Business for Craft Beermakers
Apr 16 2014 // Craft beers have been capturing an increasing share of the domestic beer market over the past decade and this specialty niche is still growing. By 2020, America’s craft brewers will have more than 20 percent market...
Texas Windstorm Insurer Opens 24-Hour Claims Call Center
Apr 15 2014 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast, reported it has established a Claims Call Center that is open 24 hours, seven days a week. TWIA is encouraging...
Southern California Agent Sentenced For Ponzi Scheme
Apr 15 2014 // Michael Zuno Zuniga, 43, of Fullerton, was sentenced to five years in Los Angeles County Jail and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution for his participation in a Ponzi scheme targeting Los Angeles area...
Will Ratings Concerns Hinder Reinsurer M&A, Hedge Fund ‘Play’? -Litmus Analysis
Apr 15 2014 // In the “investment banker 101 playbook” for cyclical industries the reinsurance industry has arrived at the page marked “weak pricing due to too much competition; sell M&A services to our...
U.S. Agencies Join Probe of Fatal California FedEx/Bus Crash
Apr 14 2014 // FedEx Corp. will be in the spotlight of U.S. safety investigations operating alongside local law enforcement inquiries after a fiery truck-bus collision killed 10 people in California. Two federal agencies said that they...
North Carolina’s Anders Wins Top Big ‘I’ Service Award
Apr 14 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers (IIABA or the Big “I”) recently awarded agent Cloyce Anders of North Carolina with the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one...
Travelers CEO Fishman Eyes Potential Foreign Acquisitions
Apr 14 2014 // Travelers Companies, which acquired Dominion of Canada General Insurance in 2013 and increased its ownership stake in its joint venture in Brazil in 2012, is likely to continue expanding internationally. In his annual...
N.Y. Regulators to Start Licensing Title Insurance Agents for First Time
Apr 14 2014 // New York’s new budget gives state financial regulators authority to issue licenses to title insurance agents for the first time. Sponsors say the measure is intended to protect consumers and lower costs for New York...
Independent Insurance Agents Find Some Pundits, Politicians in Washington Agree
Apr 13 2014 // News flash: a conservative and a liberal in Washington agree — on quite a few matters, in fact. Before an audience of independent insurance agents last Friday, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and liberal...
Secure Settlements Launches Mortgage Settlement Insurance
Apr 11 2014 // Secure Settlements, Inc. (SSI),a data intelligence and risk analytics company for the mortgage industry, has partnered with RFIB Group Ltd. and certain underwriters at Lloyd’s of London to offer a new product that...
Use of Cellphone Tracking Device in Michigan County Questioned
Apr 11 2014 // Oakland County commissioners asked no questions last March before unanimously approving a cellphone tracking device so powerful it was used by the military to fight terrorists. Now, though, some privacy advocates question...
Washington Insurance Commissioner Fines Insurance Producers
Apr 10 2014 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines totaling $23,050 against insurance companies, agents and brokers who violated state insurance regulations. The disciplinary actions and fines were levied from...
N.J.’s Consolidated Insurance Agents Changes Name to ANE, Eyes Expansion
Apr 10 2014 // Consolidated Insurance Agents, a network of independent insurance agencies in New Jersey, is changing its name to ANE, Agency Network Exchange. It also unveiled a plan to add resources and staff to expand its network of...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Apr 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. To put it more simply, a number of companies, agencies, and other firms benefit if...
Montana’s Sen. Tester Awarded Big ‘I’s’ Legislator of the Year 2013
Apr 10 2014 // U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has been named the Gerald Solomon-IIABA Legislator of the Year for 2013 by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”). The award was presented Tuesday...
Carriers Being Selective with Florida’s Citizens Clearinghouse Agency Appointments
Apr 9 2014 // Florida’s state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. says the initial opening of its new web-based clearinghouse designed to make it easier for private insurers to write its policies has been promising, although...
Brazilian Lender BTG to Launch Insurance Units in Latin America
Apr 8 2014 // Grupo BTG Pactual SA, the Brazilian lender controlled by billionaire Andre Esteves, plans to start an insurance business in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. The first step will be to enter Chile’s annuity market,...
Nebraska Court: Agent Breached Contract but Client List Not a Trade Secret
Apr 8 2014 // The Nebraska Supreme Court recently upheld the finding of a lower court that a crop insurance agent breached the terms of her contract with a former employer when she went to work for another agency. However, in First...
Arthur J. Gallagher: Q1 Revenues Up 20%; 10 Mergers in Pipeline
Apr 7 2014 // Illinois-based global insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported 20 percent growth in total revenues for its brokerage and risk management units combined along with four percent growth in organic commissions...
