Latest Agencies Headlines

Renewal Rights Agreement Bolsters Narragansett Bay in New York

Oct 7 2008 // Narragansett Bay Insurance Co. has entered into a renewal rights agreement with Adirondack Insurance Exchange that should bring to the company 4,500 Long Island homeowner’s policies with approximately $10 million in...

Sullivan Group Forms Sullivan Brokers Wholesale Insurance Solutions

Oct 6 2008 // The Los Angeles-based Sullivan Group has announced the formation of Sullivan Brokers, Wholesale Insurance Solutions Inc., a national wholesale brokerage firm with an emphasis on professional, management and health care...

North Dakota Agent Pleads Not Guilty to 78 Counts of Fraud

Oct 6 2008 // A Fargo insurance agent has pleaded not guilty to stealing more than $5 million from clients. Larry Atkins is charged with 78 felony counts, including engaging in fraudulent practices and selling unregistered securities....

People

Oct 6 2008 // National insurance program administrator Venture Insurance Programs named Michael DeMarco executive vice president for its Preferred Club Program. He will be responsible for the overall success of the insurance program for...

People

Oct 6 2008 // National insurance program administrator Venture Insurance Programs named Michael DeMarco executive vice president for its Preferred Club Program. He will be responsible for the overall success of the insurance program for...

In Case of North Carolina Agent Charged with Murder, Autopsy is Inconclusive

Oct 6 2008 // An autopsy says the body of a North Carolina insurance investigator that was found in South Carolina in May was so badly decomposed that medical examiners can’t determine how she died. The autopsy report released...

Oct 6 2008 // Albert Betts, former Texas Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation, joined Thompson Coe Cousins & Irons LLP as a partner in the Insurance Law and Governmental and Legislative Advocacy Sections, effective Oct. 1,...

Soft Market Challenges

Oct 6 2008 // Relationships, Recruiting, Training Key to Survival Soft market conditions could last for another nine months to five years, predict representatives from the agent, broker, carrier, reinsurance, and excess and surplus...

California Governor Signs Agent-Broker Bill

Oct 6 2008 // California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed Assembly Bill 2956, clarifying the duties of an agent versus those of a broker. The bill, Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West explained, establishes four situations in...

Cracking Under Pressure

Oct 6 2008 // The Chips Fall: Agents, Customers, Competitors Pick Up the Pieces Old, New Business Breaking Away The financial woes of American International Group (AIG), a giant insurer that does considerable business with thousands of...

It Pays To Specialize

Oct 6 2008 // How Program Managers Beat the Commodity Trend and Soft Market Despite challenging soft market conditions, today’s program administrators should be able to seize the day’s market opportunities thanks to their...

Competitors Offer to Fill the Gaps

Oct 6 2008 // There have been some subtle and not-so-subtle moves by competitors in reaction to AIG’s troubles. Navigators Pro increased its capacity for directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance, citing the...

Technology: A Brave New World

Oct 6 2008 // Agents Must Expand Their Technology Horizon to Exploit the ‘Value Gap’ MarketScout presented its second eInsurance Symposium in Dallas, Texas, in September 2008. The symposium was preceded by hurricane Ike by a...

Lurking Cyber Risks

Oct 6 2008 // Agents Can Become a Trusted Expert for Unaware Businesses A family-run crafts store opens in a strip mall and, after much hard work and long hours, begins to flourish. The store takes credit cards, contracting with a...

For Agents, Their Carriers’ Claims Service is Top Performance Measure

Oct 6 2008 // Independent insurance agents want their property/casualty insurance carriers to provide quality claims service above all else, according to an exclusive survey of agents’ attitudes about the insurers their agencies...

Fractured Loyalty: Customer Versus Company

Oct 6 2008 // A producer’s response to request to move AIG business could depend on whether that producer is an agent or a broker. “If the producer is a broker, working only for the client with no agency agreement with the...

New Jersey Agent Elected to PIA’s Board of Directors

Oct 3 2008 // The former president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey has been elected to the board of directors for the trade group’s national association. Andrew C. Harris will represent New Jersey’s...

Habay Joins Reinsurance Broker Collins in New York

Oct 2 2008 // Gregory Habay, a New York-based reinsurance broker, has joined Collins as senior vice president, Robert Kimmel, executive vice president and co-leader of Collins’ broker force, announced. Habay most recently was a...

Madden to Serve as President of Dallas Independent Agents Group

Oct 2 2008 // Darleen Madden has been elected to serve as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas (IIAD) for a term beginning Sept.1, 2008, through August 2009. Madden is co-owner of Glenn-Madden & Associates...

Texas-based Combined Agents of America Adds 37th Member

Oct 1 2008 // Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) announced it added EFGI Insurance & Bonds LCC of San Antonio as its 37th member agency. EFGI is the fourth agency to join CAA this year. EFGI Insurance &...