Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rating Agencies Win Dismissal of Ohio Funds Lawsuit
Sep 28 2011 // The three major credit-rating agencies won the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that five Ohio pension funds lost hundreds of millions of dollars on risky mortgage debt because they relied on flawed ratings that made the...
Federal Agents Raid Settlement Payments Firm Imperial Holdings
Sep 28 2011 // Imperial Holdings’ shares plunged as much as 75 percent Wednesday, a day after federal investigators raided the offices of the company, which makes lump-sum payments to buy life insurance policies and structured...
Louisiana Agent Arrested for Alleged Insurance Fraud
Sep 27 2011 // A Metairie, La., insurance agent has been arrested for insurance fraud, state officials say. The Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Unit arrested Angela Bodenheimer, 49, on one count of insurance fraud, the...
Michigan Earns Outstanding Big ‘I’ Young Agents Award
Sep 27 2011 // The National Young Agents Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big ‘I’) has named its state counterpart in Michigan as the 2011 Outstanding Young Agents Committee...
Burns & Wilcox Promotes LaLonde to Manager, Insurance Solutions
Sep 26 2011 // James LaLonde has been promoted to manager of insurance solutions at Burns & Wilcox. LaLonde previously served as an insurance solutions analyst II in the insurance solutions group of the IT department. He is the lead...
Former Head of Liberty Title in N.Y. Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison
Sep 26 2011 // Former president and co-founder of title insurance agency Liberty Title, Brian Madden, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for misappropriating and embezzling escrow and other client funds from Liberty Title and two...
Washington, D.C.-based Broker Ames & Gough Promotes Four Executives
Sep 22 2011 // Ames & Gough, an insurance broker and risk management consultant specializing in serving design professionals, law firms and other professional organizations and consulting firms, has promoted four officers. Ames &...
Central Insurance Honored With Big ‘I’ Best Practices Award
Sep 21 2011 // The Central Insurance Companies, headquartered in Van Wert, Ohio, was recently awarded the 2010 Best Practices Award of Excellence from the National Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big...
U.S. RE Executive Joins N.Y. Reinsurance Broker Holborn
Sep 21 2011 // Independent reinsurance broker Holborn Corp. has appointed Arthur Dougherty as a senior vice president in the firm’s New York City headquarters. Dougherty is an industry veteran, having worked more than three decades...
Ex-Insurance Agent in Pennsylvania Sentenced for Fraud
Sep 21 2011 // A former northeastern Pennsylvania insurance executive has been sentenced to 5 1/2 to 16 1/2 years in state prison in what prosecutors said was a pyramid scheme worth at least $7 million. Brian Murray, 68, former head of...
Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford: A Global Broker Pioneers a New Path
Sep 21 2011 // Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC) is the largest independent (i.e. privately owned by its employees and private equity funds) global wholesale and reinsurance broker. Over 1,400 professionals work in some 60 offices...
Best Agency to Work For – South Central
Sep 19 2011 // Houston, Texas HARCO Insurance Services “We already knew we were the best place to work. We just wanted to let everyone else know, too.” Gerri Rougeau is echoing what she and her team of 24 staff, 8 producers,...
People
Sep 19 2011 // XL Insurance has made six key appointments to its North America Construction team. The latest additions to XL Insurance’s North America construction team include: Lawrence Lejfer — Vice president and senior...
Best Agency to Work For – East
Sep 19 2011 // Belchertown, Mass. Bell & Hudson “Our boss is the bomb,” says Michelle Tetrault, her voice barely above a whisper as if she’s afraid of revealing a closely guarded secret. “They broke the mold...
The Votes Are In… America’s Best Independent Agencies to Work For
Sep 19 2011 // Salaries and Benefits Lead but Quality of People and Relationships Win Votes, Too The results are in from the 2011 Best Independent Insurance Agency to Work For survey by Insurance Journal. THE WINNERS...
Mass. Agents’ Underwriting Ban Passes First Ballot Test
Sep 19 2011 // Nearly all of the proposed questions for Massachusetts’ 2012 state ballot have been given preliminary approval including one that would ban insurers from using credit scores and socioeconomic factors in pricing auto...
People
Sep 19 2011 // Brady R. Kelley has been named the executive director of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO). Kelley replaces Richard M. Bouhan who will be retiring from the organization after 30 years...
Be a Casual Specialist Instead of a ‘Sell Everything’ Generalist
Sep 19 2011 // Six Informal Ways to Target Commercial Lines There are still plenty of generalist insurance agencies around. These overly polite offices consist of accommodating professionals who earn their living by generously quoting...
Enhanced Technology, Workflows Contribute to Workplace Satisfaction
Sep 19 2011 // Over the years, I’ve engaged with thousands of independent insurance agents and brokers. Today, my work centers on enhanced technology and workflows. It sounds dry, but nothing could be further from the truth,...
N.Y. Agents Appeal Compensation Disclosure Ruling
Sep 19 2011 // Two agent groups in New York have filed a formal appeal of a trial court ruling that upheld a controversial state regulation requiring insurance producers to disclose their compensation. The Independent Insurance Agents...
