Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Web Exchange
Aug 1 2011 // Gunning for Business On July 6, InsurnaceJournal.com ran a story about Aaron Merchant, a Farmers Insurance agent in Ahwatukee, Ariz., who in 2008, turned his firearms hobby into a small business, selling guns in a small...
Safe Driving Habits Pay Off for Consumers with Usage-Based Insurance Programs
Aug 1 2011 // The driving habits of personal auto consumers are shaping the way carriers price coverage today. Those carriers providing usage-based insurance (UBI) options, including telematic systems or devices to monitor an...
Essentials: Read the Policy
Aug 1 2011 // The insurance agent told his client to “read the policy.” It was simple but important advice. More likely than not, the client did not heed the advice. When the insurance policy was received it was probably...
Top 100 2011 Privately Held Independent Agencies
Aug 1 2011 // About This Report: Despite lingering economic challenges and the ongoing soft insurance market, the nation’s leading independent insurance agencies fared much better in 2010 than in 2009. Property/casualty premiums...
House Committee Hears Concerns on Surplus Lines Reform Tax Issue
Jul 28 2011 // Just days after the surplus line reform legislation became effective, federal legislators heard comments from industry insiders on concerns regarding the implementation of provisions in the bill, including how states will...
P/C Commercial Prices Showed Modest Increases in Q2: Brokers’ Survey
Jul 28 2011 // Pricing in the U.S. commercial property/casualty market showed modest increases in the second quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter. That’s according to The Council of Insurance Agents &...
CNA Enhances Real Time Quoting System for Small Business Agents
Jul 28 2011 // Chicago-based CNA announced enhancements to its Real Time Quoting system for agent quoting of Small Business accounts. The company said CNA’s newest Real Time Quoting solution enables Small Business agents and...
Lloyd’s America President Watkins Campaigns for Broader Appeal
Jul 27 2011 // Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., smiles like he has a big secret he wants to spill. The history of Lloyd’s of London is no secret: originated in Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop in London;...
Western Insurance Agents Association Names New Chair
Jul 27 2011 // Carol Connors of Ck Specialty Insurance Associates based in San Jose, Calif., was installed as chairman of Western Insurance Agents Association for the 2011-2013 during the association’s annual business meeting held...
Allstate Agents Hope Unionization Sparks Changes at Insurer
Jul 26 2011 // Some unhappy Allstate Insurance agents who say the insurer controls them like employees even though they are independent contractors are moving to affiliate with a union. The National Association of Professional Allstate...
UK Broker BMS Continues Overall Growth
Jul 22 2011 // Specialist insurance broker BMS Group announced that its results for the year ended December 31, 2010, show a “strengthening of financial resources and a share buyback,” which will “support BMS’...
More States Join Surplus Lines Tax Sharing Proposal
Jul 22 2011 // Four new members joined a surplus lines premium tax sharing agreement supported by state regulators this week, even while some predict confusion over a competing proposal may lead to the demise of any surplus lines...
Un-commoditizing Insurance
Jul 21 2011 // What makes you better or different than your competition? Ask every agent that question and you’ll get the same answer. I’m not kidding. Don’t believe it? I’ve worked with hundreds of agencies &...
Ready or Not, New Surplus Lines Law Is Here
Jul 21 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act has arrived. States have been scrambling over the past year to update surplus lines laws that will conform with NRRA requirements, while agents and...
Insurance Broker Lockton Welcomes Associate Into Producer Role
Jul 20 2011 // Lockton Companies LLC a Kansas City-based firm specializing in insurance, risk management and employee benefits, has added Brett Lane to its team of producers. Lane previously was an account executive for health and...
Aon Appoints Head Broker for Construction, Power, Infrastructure in Singapore
Jul 20 2011 // Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management business of Aon Corp., has appointed Nicki Tilney as head broker of construction, power and infrastructure for Aon’s Global Broking Center (GBC) in Singapore, one of...
California Surplus Lines Bill Signed Into Law
Jul 20 2011 // California passed legislation this week that will allow the state to implement provisions in a new federal surplus lines insurance law. The federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA), which becomes...
Florida Returns $12 Million to Policyholders
Jul 20 2011 // Some Florida insurance policyholders stand to recover more than $12 million in refunds thanks to state insurance investigators looking into complaints about unpaid claims and questionable sales. The Division of Agents and...
Combined Agents of America Named State Auto’s Fastest Growing Agency
Jul 19 2011 // Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) has been identified as the fastest growing agency in terms of sales growth and profitability with insurance partner State Auto Insurance Co. CAA is State...
Win Ratio
Jul 18 2011 // A task force of state insurance regulators has recommended that states support legislation to protect agent and broker commissions from the expense cap imposed on health insurers by the new federal healthcare law’s...
