Latest Agencies Headlines

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

House Passes Flood Insurance Bill; Key Senators Sign On

Mar 4 2014 // The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday evening passed legislation to curb some of the premium increases in the nation’s flood insurance program that have been causing “sticker shock” for property...

CGSC Restructures Asia Marine Team with New Hires, Latitude Brokers Launch

Mar 4 2014 // Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC), the global wholesale and reinsurance broker, announced a repositioning and rebranding of its marine insurance business in Asia. “Effective from 3rd March 2014, Latitude Brokers...

Iowa Insurance Agent Charged with Creating Bogus Policies

Feb 26 2014 // A 46-year-old insurance agent in northeast Iowa has been accused of creating fake life insurance policies so she could make more in commissions. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says Melissa Williams, of Dike, is charged...

Burns & Wilcox Brokerage Adds Taylor in North Dallas Office

Feb 24 2014 // Burns & Wilcox Brokerage hired Robert “Buddy” Taylor as casualty broker in the firm’s North Dallas office. Taylor, whose expertise has been in the trucking excess/umbrella arena, has more than 30...

Northeast PIA Survey Shows Prices Rising, But at Slower Pace

Feb 24 2014 // In the first month of 2014, the PIA affiliates in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York conducted their second-annual Market Trends Survey and found that the heralded hard market may not be launching as...

Industry Update: Riding the Wave in the Marina Marketplace

Feb 24 2014 // As the $4.2 billion marina industry continues to expand, independent agents who seek to leverage their specialization and partner with experienced carriers have a significant opportunity to grow their businesses. With the...

How to Be a High Performing Agency

Feb 24 2014 // To be a high-performing firm, one needs to emulate what the best firms are doing and the traits that bring high-performance to fruition. This article focuses on the top five characteristics the best agencies have in...

Who’s Worth What in the Independent Agency System

Feb 24 2014 // Exclusive Survey Shows Compensation Up, Benefits Up With a Cost For the second year in a row, salaries and total compensation rose in independent insurance agencies across the nation. More agencies are offering health...

Pay and Performance

Feb 24 2014 // This issue of Insurance Journal brings you the 8th Annual Agency Salary Survey results. Nearly 2,000 agency owners, producers and agency staff responded to this year’s exclusive survey, all wanting to know...

Technology’s Opening a Whole New World of Agent E&O Exposures

Feb 24 2014 // Those in the insurance industry have another errors and omission (E&O) risk to consider these days, and they have technology to thank for it. Anyone in the insurance industry that possesses, stores, transmits or...

People

Feb 24 2014 // Laurie Infantino has been named education director of Insurance Journal‘s Academy of Insurance. The insurance education professional will focus on the quality of the instructors and the education content offered by...

Mayor of West, Texas, a Trusted Choice Hometown Hero

Feb 24 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) named West Mayor Tommy Muska of Muska Insurance Services as its newest Trusted Choice Hometown Hero. Hometown Hero recognizes Trusted Choice insurance agents who go above...

Administrative Changes Proposed for Texas Workers’ Compensation System

Feb 24 2014 // Adoption of NCCI Manual Would Be Effective June 1 Texas Insurance Commissioner, Julia RathgeberTexas will be privatizing many functions in its workers’ compensation system if a proposal to adopt the National Council...

Mass. AG Opposes 7.7% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike

Feb 24 2014 // At a recent public hearing, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office expressed its opposition to the workers’ compensation average rate increase proposal and argued that the rate should be lowered...

Brokers Missing Out on Big Opportunities in Trade Credit Insurance Market

Feb 21 2014 // Agents and brokers who are not selling trade credit insurance – also known as receivables insurance – are missing huge opportunities but also opening themselves up to errors and omission (E&O) exposures, according...

Insurance Journal Co-Sponsors Agency Research Project

Feb 21 2014 // Channel Harvest Research, in partnership with Insurance Journal, has launched a new study of the independent agency system, probing agents’ attitudes toward insurance carrier relationships and, in particular, the...

Southern California’s IIABA-LA Gets New Officers, Directors

Feb 20 2014 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Association of Los Angeles recently installed new officers and directors for 2014. The new IIABA-LA lineup for officers: Ryan Wunderlich, Hub International Insurance –...

The Main Street America Group Expands Main Line BOP Policy to South Dakota

Feb 20 2014 // The Main Street America Group has introduced its commercial product line, featuring its flagship Main Line Business Owners Policy (Main Line BOP), to independent agents who represent the super-regional property/casualty...

Texas Likely to Become an ‘NCCI State’ for Workers’ Comp; Question Is – When?

Feb 20 2014 // Texas will be privatizing many functions in its workers’ compensation system if a staff petition to adopt the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) Basic Manual, with Texas exceptions, and the national...

Allstate Seeking to Expand Agency Count in Texas

Feb 19 2014 // Allstate Insurance Co. is launching a recruitment campaign to appoint 120 new agency owners in Texas this year. Allstate agency owners are also actively searching for qualified candidates to fill more than 800 sales...