Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
BrokersLink Changes Status to ‘For Profit’ to Enhance Growth
Oct 17 2013 // BrokersLink, one of the world’s largest independent insurance broker networks, announced that it is “changing its constitution from a not-for-profit association to a for-profit global broking company to...
A.M. Best, Fitch Explain Recent Downgrades of Tower Group
Oct 16 2013 // Rating agencies have downgraded Tower Group following the insurer’s announcement of loss reserve and goodwill charges in excess of what was expected. Tower has said that the company’s board of directors is...
State Regulators Warn on Misleading Health Insurance Websites
Oct 15 2013 // Insurance regulators and an industry trade group are warning that this month’s roll-out of the health insurance marketplaces created by federal law opened the door for bad actors at the same time that it has given...
Rule on Requiring Lenders to Accept Private Flood Insurance Proposed
Oct 15 2013 // Five federal regulatory agencies are considering a rule that could boost sales of private flood insurance. The proposal would require lenders to accept private flood policies to satisfy the mandate that certain homebuyers...
Colorado Agent’s Association Names Wright Executive Vice President
Oct 15 2013 // The Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado named Dot Wright its executive vice president following a national search ongoing since mid-May. Wright starts Nov. 1. She comes to PIIAC from the Arvada Chamber of...
Allstate Sees Increasing Demand in Mass., Plans to Add 130 New Agents
Oct 10 2013 // Allstate Insurance Company announced this week it is planning to appoint more than 130 new insurance agents in Massachusetts by the end of next year. The expansion is in response to what the company described as an...
Oklahoma Investigation Leads to 12 Charges Against Former Agent
Oct 10 2013 // A former Tulsa, Okla., insurance agent with a prior conviction of embezzlement has now been charged with 11 counts of obtaining money by false pretense and one count of violation of the Oklahoma Producer License...
Winning Attitude
Oct 7 2013 // This issue salutes the 2013 Best Independent Insurance Agencies to Work For. They all say it’s an honor to be recognized. Given that employees are the ones doing the rating, it is a well-deserved honor. They all say...
Missteps in Employee Hiring Costly for Agencies: MarshBerry
Oct 7 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...
E&O Insights: How Well Do You Know Your Accounts?
Oct 7 2013 // Professional liability, or errors and omissions as it is also known, is a unique line of business. After all, how many other lines of business have terms like claims made, claims made and reported, retro dates, tail...
Ex-Iowa Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty in Mail Fraud Case
Oct 7 2013 // A Marshalltown, Iowa, insurance agent accused of selling customers fake insurance policies has pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in a plea agreement reached with prosecutors. In exchange for the guilty plea four...
Michigan Earns Outstanding Big ‘I’ Young Agents Committee Award
Oct 7 2013 // The National Young Agents Committee (YAC) of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) presented the Young Agents Council of the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents...
Confie Seguros Buys 2 Agencies in New York, 1 in Texas
Oct 4 2013 // Personal lines insurance brokerage Confie Seguros, has acquired three additional brokers — two in New York and one in Texas. Terms were not disclosed. The insurance brokerages acquired are: James S. Sullivan Agency and...
Fairfax Completes Acquisition of American Safety
Oct 4 2013 // American Safety Insurance Holdings, Ltd. has announced the successful completion of its previously announced acquisition by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. After Fairfax increased its offer, American Safety...
FERMA Offers Trialogue between Risk Managers, Carriers and Brokers – Part 1
Oct 4 2013 // The insurance industry may have given the world a new word – “trialogue,” meaning a three way conversation. Oddly enough the first person to use it at the Federation of European Risk Management...
What to Know About NARAB or National Producer Licensing: Bissett of Big ‘I’
Oct 3 2013 // If and when the federal government resumes operations, a multistate producer licensing reform bill long pushed by the country’s insurance agent lobby could be among the few bipartisan pieces of business Congress...
U.S. Risk, Western World Launch Private D&O, EPL, Fiduciary Liability Program
Oct 3 2013 // U.S. Risk Pro, a division national MGA and surplus lines wholesaler U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc., and Western World Insurance Group have launched a new program for private company directors and officers liability. This...
13 CAA Members Recognized as 2013 ‘Best Practices’ Insurance Agencies
Oct 3 2013 // Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) announced that 13 of its 52 member agencies have been recognized as 2013 “Best Practices” agencies by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of...
Former FERMA President Luzzi Joins Broker MDS for Herco Global
Oct 3 2013 // On the same day that he turned over the presidency of FERMA to Julia Graham, London-based broker MDS announced that “Jorge Luzzi has been appointed as Executive President of Herco Global, the risk management company...
Researchers Question Privacy of Usage-Based Auto Insurance
Oct 2 2013 // A study by a handful of university professors in Colorado claims user-based insurance tracking programs installed in millions of vehicles can collect data that shows where drivers are going, unbeknownst to most users of...
