Latest Agencies Headlines

Industry cannot ignore Hispanic buying power

Jul 24 2006 // As might be expected, diversity was discussed in virtually all lines – employment practices liability insurance, commercial, health, Mexican and life – among other agency management topics at the recent Latin...

Jul 24 2006 // People Minneapolis, Minn.-based ING named Susan Anderson president and CEO of ING Trust USA. Anderson will lead the growth and development of personal trust and directed institutional trusts nationally. She has 15 years of...

Why surplus lines reform makes sense in 2006

Jul 24 2006 // The American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) commends efforts to modernize commercial insurance markets while maintaining the state-based system of insurance regulation and the surplus lines market’s...

Big ‘I’ exec tells agents federal charter is a ‘recipe for disaster’

Jul 24 2006 // If a mandatory or even an optional Federal Charter is implemented in Washington, D.C., it will be a “recipe for disaster,” says Charles E. Symington Jr., Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of...

Getting your commercial producers to prospect

Jul 24 2006 // Some producers never seek out fresh prospects. Instead, their managers employ list services and telemarketers to spoon-feed them their leads. Still, this is the exception in the agency business and not the rule. Most...

Longfellows Lead Independent Insurance Agents of Montana

Jul 24 2006 // Dale Longfellow of Hobson Insurance, Hobson Mont., was elected the 76th President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Montana. He has been an insurance agent for more than 35 years and has been involved with the Montana...

Safeco and Its Agents Ready to Help Stranded Texas Select Customers

Jul 24 2006 // Safeco Insurance is working with its 536 independent Texas agents to provide quality replacement homeowners coverage for customers stranded by the failed Texas Select Lloyds company. “With the clock ticking for...

IIAT honors Fitzhugh for 60 years of state conference attendance

Jul 24 2006 // Third generation Waco agent going strong at 89 Third-generation and longtime Waco independent insurance agent Champe Fitzhugh Jr., was honored in mid-June by his insurance profession’s state association, the...

The excess flood market steps up where NFIP drops off

Jul 24 2006 // The historical lessons learned from Katrina and Rita and looming predictions of a future with bigger and stronger storms highlight more than ever before the importance of flood insurance, even in locations where it was...

Riding out soft and hard market cycles with quality relationships

Jul 24 2006 // Analyzing the economic rhymes and reasons of soft and hard market cycles in the insurance industry would make for a challenging university-level business course. Theories abound on why and when these cycles occur, but no...

Maximizing your agency’s ROI — Return on internet

Jul 24 2006 // Is your insurance agency investing in Web initiatives? If so, you are in the minority. While many independent insurance agents have a virtual presence on their insurance carrier sites, most independent insurance agencies...

Pay less attention to delinquent accounts, call your good customers

Jul 24 2006 // Agents can make a difference in the perception of the insurance business if, instead of tracking and billing delinquent accounts, they turn everything around and call good customers, Kat Davis of Tower Hill Insurance in...

Unitrin Specialty Offering Agents a Tool to Help Plan for Disaster

Jul 23 2006 // Dallas-based Unitrin Specialty announced it is now providing its agents with a new tool that helps small businesses plan for and recover from disaster. Open for Business, an Internet-based disaster recovery and risk...

Insurer Praetorian, Broker Paulk Offer Builder’s Risk in Fla. and Gulf States

Jul 21 2006 // Specialty insurer Praetorian Financial Group has entered into a partnership with Britt Paulk to launch a Builder’s Risk program. The partnership will initially be launched in Florida and the Gulf states, where...

Unitrin Specialty Helps Agents Plan for Disaster

Jul 21 2006 // Dallas, Texas – At least one in four small businesses that close because of a major disaster never reopen. That’s why Unitrin Specialty is providing its agents with a new tool that helps small businesses plan...

Colorado Seizes $5 Million in Collateral from Bail Bond Agent

Jul 20 2006 // Colorado regulators said Tuesday they had seized about $5 million in loan documents and other collateral from a bail bond agent, saying some of it may have been improperly kept from the people who posted it. The state...

Brokers Offer Full Support for Surplus Lines Reform Bill

Jul 20 2006 // The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices offered their full support and applauded the passage of the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006 (H.R. 5637), by the House Financial Services...

Former W.Va. Agent Sentenced for Embezzlement

Jul 20 2006 // Shawn Edwin Linger, a former insurance agent in Clarksburg, W.Va. has been sentenced to one felony count of embezzlement according to Insurance Commissioner, Jane L. Cline. Linger was sentenced July 6 to one to 10 years in...

The Hanover Expands Business Owner’s Policy

Jul 19 2006 // The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. based in Worchester, Mass., has added 81 new classes to the company’s Avenues Business Owner’s Policy. The enhanced Avenues BOP offers coverage for more than 360 BOP classes. In...

Vesta Fire and Subsidiaries Headed for Liquidation in Texas

Jul 19 2006 // Vesta Fire Insurance Company (Vesta Fire) and its Texas subsidiary insurance companies have begun issuing notices to agents to cease writing new and renewal insurance business, including homeowners policies for Texas...