Latest Agencies Headlines

Collaboration With Insurance Agents Aids in State Regulation

Nov 5 2008 // The property/casualty insurance marketplace could not function without insurance agents and brokers. Consequently, it’s important for state regulators to work with agents within their states. Recently, several...

Willis Expands UK Independent Broker Network

Nov 5 2008 // Willis Group Holdings announced that 10 new members have joined its Commercial Network, a partnership with local, independent insurance brokers in the UK. Including the new members who joined this year, total membership is...

SoCal Insurance Agent Gets 10 Years for Scam

Nov 5 2008 // A Southern California insurance agent has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a $2.5 million fraud scheme. Prosecutors say Anthony Medina, who operated Prompt Insurance Agency in Newport Beach,...

Survey: Agents Report Rise in Agency E&O Premiums

Nov 5 2008 // A near majority of agents and brokers responding to the 2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey said they experienced increases in their agency’s errors and omissions premium this year. Some 44.1 percent of...

A Winning E&O Defensive Strategy: How Agents Can Block Claims

Nov 4 2008 // In sports, the best offense is a great defense, right? When it comes to preventing errors and omissions claims defensive measures are also the best offense in protecting an insurance agency. Defensive strategies, or risk...

Program Administrators Earn Best Practices Honor

Nov 3 2008 // The Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) awarded member agencies, Willis Programs, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Oryx Insurance Brokers, and Synergy Professional Associates the Association’s Best...

Custom Video Generates More Traffic to Agent Websites

Nov 3 2008 // SAN DIEGO – (November 3, 2008) – Online video is booming. By 2012 nearly 50 percent of all Internet traffic will be to online videos, according to Cisco Systems. This online video boom can be a benefit to...

Two New York Agencies Named Top Performers

Nov 2 2008 // Reagan Consulting and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) announced the Best Practices Agencies for 2008-2009. A total of 189 agencies from around the country maintained their...

Opportunity Management

Nov 2 2008 // As the impact of the global economic crisis takes hold, a quarter of large U.S. employers say they expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months. However, most companies are focusing on increased employee communication and...

People

Nov 2 2008 // Tonya I. Sylvester has been named a sales executive at Rogers & Gray Insurance Agency Inc. of Massachusetts. Sylvester will specialize in personal lines sales, and work out of the agency’s Canton and Plymouth...

Mass. Agents Contribute $1.9B to the State’s Economy

Nov 2 2008 // As employers, taxpayers, consumers and charitable contributors, Massachusetts’ independent insurance agents make a $1.9 billion cumulative contribution to the Bay State’s economy last year, according to a new...

Brooke Corp. Troubles Continue as Stock is Sold

Nov 2 2008 // Kansas Franchise Group Faces Lawsuits in Multiple States Amid the flurry of lawsuits leveled by franchisees, now an Illinois company connected to a bank involved in the lawsuit of the parent company of Brooke Corp. has...

Declarations

Nov 2 2008 // Formaldehyde Concerns “Only mobile homes and only park models that fell below (the state’s formaldehyde threshold) and validated through that testing were provided to the state of Iowa.” —Assistant...

People

Nov 2 2008 // Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina named Kelley L. Erstine chief executive officer. Erstine assumed the association’s CEO responsibilities Oct. 15 and replaces Bob Bird upon his retirement after 25 years...

Opportunity Management

Nov 2 2008 // As the impact of the global economic crisis takes hold, a quarter of large U.S. employers say they expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months. However, most companies are focusing on increased employee communication and...

Kentucky Weathering AIG and Ike Hurricanes

Nov 2 2008 // Sharon P. Clark, a 17-year veteran of Kentucky state government, was appointed commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Insurance (DOI) in June. Clark’s experience includes five years as director of the Consumer...

Alabama, Mississippi Agencies Among 6 Named Top Performers by Big ‘I’

Nov 2 2008 // Reagan Consulting and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) announced the Best Practices Agencies for 2008-2009. A total of 189 agencies from around the country maintained their...

Nov 2 2008 // Tom Hughston, executive vice president of North Texas-based Roach Howard Smith & Barton (RHSB), has been named to the board of directors of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, a trade association...

Joe and Jo, Intrepid Agents

Nov 2 2008 // First there was GI Joe, then Joe the plumber. Now, though, there’s Insurance Agent Joe, or Josephine (Jo), if you prefer. Participating in the exclusive 2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey, Joe and Jo had a...

Bright Spots and Challenges Go Hand in Hand in Louisiana

Nov 2 2008 // Despite the challenges faced by the state of Louisiana since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrought their havoc in 2005, there are bright spots in the state’s property casualty insurance industry, says Louisiana...