Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Encourage Your Inexperienced Agent to Find a ‘Production Peer’
Jan 27 2014 // Inexperienced P/C producers frequently feel that they are working alone, lost in a sea of expectations. Their response, especially if they are young, is often to redouble their online activity. But today’s impersonal...
McKinsey Report Gets It Wrong on Independent Agents
Jan 27 2014 // For decades the experts have been betting against independent insurance agents, yet they keep winning. Why? The consultants, finance guys, and others who populate the skyscrapers on Wall Street discount the power of the...
Insurance Industry Trends for Agencies to Exploit in 2014
Jan 27 2014 // In order to be a step ahead of the competition it is best to be proactive. One can do this by understanding and exploiting current and future trends. It is easy to predict trends by understanding recurring cycles and...
Agency Models: What Defines Today’s True Independent Agency
Jan 27 2014 // The conventional definition of an independent agent is an entrepreneur who owns his or her book of business and offers multiple carriers to service their clients. That is the simplified version, and it falls short of...
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Emerges From 2013 As a Serious Player
Jan 27 2014 // Last year was quite a year for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) – or half of a year, anyway. Since opening its doors for business in June 2013 with much fanfare, the new venture has gone from four to nearly...
Judge Puts Missouri Law on Healthcare Navigator Licensing on Hold
Jan 26 2014 // A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against Missouri’s law requiring a state license to serve as a navigator to help consumers sign up for coverage through the new health insurance marketplace. U.S....
MHG Insurance Brokers Opens Office in Houston
Jan 24 2014 // MHG Insurance Brokers, a national brokerage in the United States specializing in life and health insurance for groups and individuals as well as business insurance, announced the opening of an office in Houston, Texas. The...
Canada, U.S. Safety Agencies Urge Fast Action on Oil-by-Rail Cars
Jan 24 2014 // North American regulators should phase out the type of rail car involved in last July’s deadly Lac-Megantic crash “sooner rather than later,” Canadian investigators said on Thursday, urging the United...
Wells Fargo Selling 42 Smaller Regional Insurance Offices to USI
Jan 24 2014 // Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. home lender, has agreed to sell more than 40 percent of its insurance brokerage locations to focus bricks-and-mortar operations on higher-growth regions and bigger clients. USI...
Commentary: Insureds’ Agreement to Read Insurance Policy
Jan 23 2014 // A shock wave was recently sent through the insurance agent/broker community in Connecticut. In a surprising case at the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, O&G Industries, Inc. v. Aon Risk...
R.I. Regulator Offers Consumer Tips on Winter Weather Claims
Jan 22 2014 // Recent winter storms have already left a path of damage and power outages across the country. When a storm strikes, it’s important to know what to do if the home is damaged or if the insured gets involved in an auto...
Senate Links Agent Licensing Reform with Flood Insurance Delay
Jan 21 2014 // There is a new political wrinkle in the attempt to stave off flood insurance rate hikes across the country. The Senate has attached an industry-supported bill to streamline agent and broker licensing to its bill to delay...
The Motorists Insurance Group Restructures Business Model, Management Team
Jan 17 2014 // Motorists Insurance Group President and CEO David L. Kaufman announced a new functional structure for the Columbus, Ohio-based group’s 10 property/casualty insurance, life insurance and insurance brokerage...
Oklahoma Insurance Agent Accused of Defrauding Elderly Couple
Jan 17 2014 // Tulsa insurance agent Presley Keith Dennis has been arrested and accused of defrauding a Muskogee couple out of nearly $300,000, the Oklahoma Insurance Department reported. The arrest follows an investigation by the...
The Importance Of Sales Meetings
Jan 15 2014 // Your Sales iQ Nothing, not one thing happens in this economy until a sale is made. No raw materials are ordered, not one engine starts, and no services are performed until an order has been placed. Strong sales are the...
Combined Agents of America Adds Wade to Leadership Team
Jan 15 2014 // Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), with headquarters in Austin, Texas, announced that William H. (Bill) Wade II has joined its team as director of carrier relations and program management. Wade has more than 40 years of...
Dalton Joins Southwest Risk as Casualty Broker
Jan 15 2014 // ClearView Risk Holdings LLC, the Dallas-based holding company of Southwest Risk LP, announced that Jason Dalton has joined Southwest Risk as a casualty broker with an emphasis on the transportation segment. Dalton has more...
Congressional Spending Plan Would Curb Some Flood Insurance Hikes
Jan 15 2014 // The $1.1 trillion government funding agreement unveiled by Congressional negotiators on Monday includes language to postpone for about eight months some of the flood insurance rate hikes triggered by reforms passed in...
Cross Insurance Acquires Assets of Maine, Connecticut Brokers
Jan 14 2014 // Bangor, Maine-based Cross Insurance has acquired the assets of two insurance brokers – Willis of Northern New England Inc., and The Insurance Exchange Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut. Formerly known as the Dunlap Agency,...
Bloss & Dillard Acquires Agents Insurance Markets in Virginia
Jan 13 2014 // Huntington, West Virginia-based managing general agent Bloss & Dillard Inc. announced it has acquired and now operates Agents Insurance Markets Inc., a managing general agent in Richmond, Virginia. The new acquisition...
