Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Missteps in Employee Hiring Costly for Agencies: MarshBerry
Nov 25 2013 // For most lines of insurance business, commission income is growing and most insurance agents and brokers expect profits to be similar or better in 2013 compared to 2012. That’s according to the 28th Annual Market...
SEC Proposes Fiduciary Duty for Investment Brokers Advising Retail Clients
Nov 22 2013 // Investment brokers advising retail customers should be held to a standard that requires them to recommend products that are in the best interest of clients, according to a proposal from a group advising U.S....
Three Leavitt Group Agencies in Southern California Merge
Nov 21 2013 // The Leavitt Group announced a merger of three of their Southern California agencies. The merger will include the Covina office of Valley Insurance Service, employee benefits agency Leavitt Benefits Insurance Services of...
IIAT: Independent Agents Guide Consumers Through Affordable Care Act
Nov 21 2013 // In a Nov. 14 address on the troublesome roll out of healthcare.gov and the public outcry over the cancellation of less expensive individual insurance policies, President Obama said, “Buying health insurance is never...
FM Global in Rhode Island Appoints Manager of Broker Relations
Nov 21 2013 // Johnston, R.I.-based FM Global appointed Randall Schreitmueller as vice president, manager of broker relations, a newly created position at the company.Randall SchreitmuellerSchreitmueller is responsible for championing...
Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana Installs Officers for 2014
Nov 20 2013 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana Inc. (Indiana Big “I”) has installed its slate of officers for 2014. The executive committee leadership team for the Indiana Big “I” for 2014 is:...
Connecticut Regulator Revokes License of Broker Mired in Insurance Controversy
Nov 19 2013 // Connecticut’s insurance department last week revoked the insurance licenses of Earl O’Garro Jr. and his insurance brokerage firm, Hybrid Insurance Group. O’Garro has been mired in an ongoing insurance...
Insurance Broker Charged With Theft From NYC Jewish Charity
Nov 18 2013 // An insurance brokerage owner is accused of helping a longtime Jewish community leader steal more than $7 million from a prominent New York City charity. Joseph Ross was charged with grand larceny and money laundering. The...
Top 50 Personal Lines Leaders
Nov 18 2013 // About the Personal Lines Leaders: The 2013 Personal Lines Leaders in this special feature are taken from Insurance Journal‘s Top 100 Property/Casualty Independent Agencies as reported in August. This list utilizes...
Carrier Disintermediation of Agencies
Nov 18 2013 // A multitude of forces are causing many carriers to think of ways to disintermediate agencies. Healthcare reform is one. Some benefits carriers have cut commissions to 0 percent and agents are still writing with them. This...
Direct Interested Sales Leads to the Right Agency Employee
Nov 18 2013 // Sales leads arrive at today’s property/casualty agencies from a variety of digital and traditional sources. The former includes social media, websites, blogs, emails, etc. The latter features direct mail,...
Will Hurricane Katrina Legal Issues Be Resurrected in Sandy Claims?
Nov 18 2013 // It has been more than eight years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and only slightly more than one year since Hurricane Sandy made landfall on or about Oct. 29, 2012. Following Hurricane Katrina,...
AIG Using Science to Define ‘Broker Quality Index’
Nov 18 2013 // AIG’s CEO Bob BenmoscheProperty/casualty insurance brokers who aren’t diligent about the accounts they’re presenting to American International Group risk being discovered through one of the features of...
California Insurance Broker Sentenced For Scamming Tom Hanks
Nov 18 2013 // A Southern California insurance broker who overcharged Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, hundreds of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison. City News Service says Jerry Goldman...
Insurers Weigh Forming Captive to Insure Customers of Bankrupt Futures Brokers
Nov 17 2013 // Eight private insurers have expressed interest in participating in a fund to provide insurance for losses suffered by customers of futures brokers that go bankrupt as in the cases of MF Global and Peregrine Financial...
Big ‘I’ 2013 Best Practices Study Finds Increases in Specializations, Profitability
Nov 15 2013 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) released its 2013 Best Practices Study which found an increase in agencies with specializations, expansion of technology...
MarshBerry Survey Reveals an Optimistic Marketplace: Part 1
Nov 13 2013 // In June of this year, MarshBerry launched its 28th Annual Market & Financial Outlook Survey in conjunction with Insurance Journal. The survey compiled anonymous general independent agency information along with...
U.S. Risk Rebrands PL Division, Launches Program for Texas Lawyers
Nov 12 2013 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc., a nationwide managing general agency and surplus lines, has launched a new program for Texas lawyers’ professional liability through its U.S. Risk Pro division. This admitted program,...
Audit: Numerous Factors Aided MNsure Agent Data Breach
Nov 12 2013 // Leaders of Minnesota’s new health insurance exchange could have done more to prevent the disclosure of Social Security numbers belonging to about 1,600 insurance agents, the state legislative auditor reported. The...
Jimcor Agencies in New Jersey Appoints Divisional Manager
Nov 12 2013 // Jimcor Agencies announced the appointment of Alan G. Belthoff to the position of divisional manager. Belthoff has worked with international carriers in various positions with increasing levels of responsibility. At Jimcor...
