Latest Agencies Headlines

From Insurance Consumer to Commissioner

Dec 2 2007 // While the position of California Insurance Commissioner is elected and there are already rumblings that he’d make a good gubernatorial candidate in 2010, current California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says...

When Selling Their Business, Brokerage Owners Should Not Go Bare

Dec 2 2007 // How hiring an investment banker who specializes in agency mergers can maximize value for a seller Only the most naive person would say it is not necessary to hire an attorney for a civil litigation. It is that same...

FBI Targets Miss. Lawyer Known for Handling Katrina Insurance Claims

Nov 29 2007 // FBI agents who searched the law offices of Mississippi attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs on Tuesday left with copies of the office’s computer hard drives, a lawyer for the firm said Wednesday. Joey...

Laufer Hired as Senior Broker for Compass Insurance Group of Agencies

Nov 29 2007 // Chatsworth, Calif.-based Compass Insurance Group of Agencies has hired Paul D. Laufer as senior broker to spearhead the growth of Compass Insurance Group of Agencies. Over the past five years, Laufer was with a local...

Colemont Adds Broker in Chicago Office

Nov 27 2007 // Colemont Insurance Brokers recently promoted Matt Carpenter to broker in the company’s Chicago office. “Matt has performed exceptionally well for us already,” said Tom Dillon, president of...

Colemont Atlanta Names Assistant Vice President and Broker

Nov 27 2007 // Colemont Insurance Brokers appointed Matt Baxter to the position of assistant vice president and broker for Colemont-Atlanta. Baxter joined Colemont in 2004. Previous to joining Colemont, he worked for three years as an...

Texas Agent Sentenced for Perjury in Workers’ Comp Case

Nov 27 2007 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that an independent licensed insurance agent pled no contest to a charge of perjury in a workers’ compensation fraud-related case. A Travis County district court sentenced...

Ky. Grand Jury Indicts Insurance Agent on Fraud Charges

Nov 27 2007 // A former Kentucky insurance agent has been indicted on fraud charges after allegedly forging signatures on 114 disability insurance applications. According to court documents, Ray W. Kennedy, 46, of Owensboro, Ky.,...

Agents Alliance Collecting Toys for Holiday Toy Drive

Nov 27 2007 // The Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers based in Sacramento, Calif., will be collecting toys throughout the state to assist Infinity Insurance’s “Infinity Cares” seventh annual holiday toy...

N.C. Insurance Agent Arrested for Allegedly Pocketing Premium Payments

Nov 21 2007 // North Carolina officials arrested a Fayetteville, N.C., woman and charged her with three counts of embezzlement by an insurance agent, according to Insurance Commissioner Jim Long Jessica Rachelle Forde, 32, worked as a...

Indiana Insurance Named Company of the Year by Big I

Nov 21 2007 // Indiana Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, has been named the 2007 Company of the Year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana (IIAI), an honor that the company also received in 2006. The IIAI Company of...

Survey: 96 Million Households Lack Knowledge on Protecting Electronics

Nov 20 2007 // As the holiday shopping season unofficially kicks off this week, about 42 million American households plan to give or receive high-tech electronic products this year. However, about seven out of eight households...

Sibthorp Hired as Agents Alliance Director of Sales

Nov 20 2007 // The California Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers has named John Sibthorp director of sales. He will be responsible for growing Alliance membership and marketing the group’s products and services.

Hanover Among First to Tout Mass. Auto Rates; Vows Agent Appointments

Nov 19 2007 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. was one of the first insurers to tout its competitive rates and product filings at today’s deadline for auto insurers looking to compete in Massachusetts under the new managed...

Best Interests

Nov 18 2007 // A Massachusetts lawmaker who is a former independent agent recently charged that local independent agents opposing some of the state’s auto insurance reforms are only interested in their own agencies’ values...

People

Nov 18 2007 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) elected new officers during its annual meeting in Boston recently. Robert Joyce, chairman and chief executive officer of Westfield Group, was elected as the...

Good Agency-Carrier Relationships Travel a Two-Way Street

Nov 18 2007 // Agents might think they have their hands full trying to attract and retain quality employees but they are not alone. Insurance carriers face challenges getting and keeping quality agents, too. For a company like St. Paul...

Nov 18 2007 // People Lockton Companies LLC appointed Frank Scardino as president of the company’s Dallas property and casualty operation. In his new position, Scardino is responsible for setting the vision and long-term strategies...

People

Nov 18 2007 // Munich Reinsurance America Inc. announced that John P. Phelan will retire as planned on Dec. 31, 2007, after serving nearly six years as chairman and CEO. Anthony J. Kuczinski, who is president of Munich Re America’s...

Congress Considers Disaster Legislation to Alleviate Coastal Insurance Crisis

Nov 18 2007 // House passes measure opposed by Bush and insurance industry remains at odds on best solution Disaster legislation is hot on the minds of congressional leaders this month as a handful of bills made their way to both the...