Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Massachusetts Agents Seek Ballot Measure to Ban Insurers’ Use of Credit Scores

Aug 4 2011 // Massachusetts independent insurance agents who oppose the use of credit scores, occupation and education level in auto insurance pricing by the insurance companies they represent are pushing to put a petition to ban such...

When Rating Agencies Judge the World – an Analysis

Aug 3 2011 // The man who holds in his hands the fate of U.S. credit, and with it potentially the global economy, favors small tie knots, sports a bushy mustache and smokes his fair share of cigarettes. Beyond that, he is a mystery,...

Insurance Journal Searches for the Best Agencies to Work For

Aug 2 2011 // Is your independent insurance agency or brokerage firm a great place to work? Insurance Journal is on the search again for the best independent insurance agencies in the United States to work for and we hope you will...

Two Big Southern California Agencies Merge

Aug 1 2011 // Two independent insurance brokers announced today they are joining forces to become one of the largest insurance brokerages in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The August 1st agreement combines Northridge Insurance Agency...

SEC Seeks More Disclosure by AIG on Credit Ratings

Aug 1 2011 // The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked insurer American International Group (AIG) to provide more disclosure about how and why it assigns credit ratings to investments in its portfolio, according to letters...

Organic 100

Aug 1 2011 // It’s that time of year again, when the nation’s leading privately held independent insurance agencies are put in the spotlight. Welcome to Insurance Journal‘s exclusive Top 100 Independent...

Insurer Wants to Sign 100 Agents in 100 Days

Aug 1 2011 // A commercial lines insurer is on a mission to sign a number of independent agents – as many as 100 of them – within 100 days. From July 12 through October 12, South Carolina-based Accident Insurance Co. (AIC)...

Surplus Lines Law In Effect; Taxes Up in Air

Aug 1 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act arrived on July 21. States have been scrambling over the past year to update their surplus lines laws to comply with NRRA requirements and to...

Declarations

Aug 1 2011 // 100 Agents “We’ve got a lot coming out in 2012.” —Jon Beckham, chief marketing officer at South Carolina-based Accident Insurance Co., who said the company is looking to add 100 agents in the 100 days...

Agency Satisfaction With Insurers Not Driven by Price, Compensation

Aug 1 2011 // Insurance agents tend to give a greater share of their business to insurers with whom they are highly satisfied, according to a J.D. Power and Associates Insurance Agency Satisfaction Study-Personal Lines. The study, based...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Tim Brady, chairman and former CEO of Brady, Chapman, Holland and Associates in Houston, was named the 2011 Drex Foreman Award winner at the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas 114th Annual Conference & Trade Show...

Agents Question GM Free Car Insurance Deal With MetLife Auto

Aug 1 2011 // Independent insurance agents are raising concerns over a General Motors promotion that offers car buyers in the Pacific Northwest a year of free liability and damage insurance from MetLife Auto & Home. Hoping to put...

Surplus Lines Law In Effect; Taxes Up in Air

Aug 1 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act arrived on July 21. States have been scrambling over the past year to update their surplus lines laws to comply with NRRA requirements and to...

Denialism: It’s a Win-Win Situation

Aug 1 2011 // Within confines, people can succeed without accepting reality. The Western church succeeded in building itself into a hugely successful entity while denying the world was round for 1,000 or so years. Many banks and bankers...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Wholesale insurance broker AmWINS Group Inc. is expanding its operations with a new office location in Morehead City, North Carolina. Karen G. Toler, formerly of Burns & Wilcox, has joined AmWINS to lead this new...

Agents for Logging Industry Hang On in Downturn

Aug 1 2011 // The logging and forestry industry has suffered dramatically since 2006, with the amount of lumber being harvested dropping by half to 5 billion from 10 billion board feet since then. Underwriters in this class agree that...

Declarations

Aug 1 2011 // 100 Agents We’ve got a lot coming out in 2012.” —Jon Beckham, chief marketing officer at South Carolina-based Accident Insurance Co., who said the company is looking to add 100 agents in the 100 days through...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Joseph Waked was named CEO of Buena Park, Calif.-based Freeway Insurance, a subsidiary of New York-based Confie Seguros. He will have responsibility for California, Texas and Arizona. Waked replaces Freeway’s former...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Wholesaler Swett & Crawford has added Ricky Dawson to its casualty staff in New York. Dawson, who has a background in both insurance wholesale brokerage and underwriting, previously served as a wholesale broker with...

Allstate Agents Hope Unionization Sparks Changes at Insurer

Aug 1 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...