Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
States Urged to Prepare for Catastrophes by Enforcing Smarter Land Use
Dec 18 2005 // The country needs to consider where and how it builds if it is to avoid the worst effects of another Hurricane Katrina or Sept. 11 attack, according to experts at the recent National Conference of Insurance Legislators...
Settlement Proposed in Insurance Agent Class Action Against ChoicePoint
Dec 18 2005 // Insurance agents and agencies who provided personal information regarding potential or actual insureds to ChoicePoint Services Inc. between Jan. 1 1997, and Aug. 9, 2005, may be entitled to money and other benefits as a...
People
Dec 18 2005 // Clint Bothwell has been named Southeast regional president for Harleysville Insurance and will work in its new Atlanta regional office. The company also named other regional field organization leaders as it realigned the...
Editor’s Note: Opportunity Knocks
Dec 18 2005 // As 2005 draws to a close it marks the end of the second tumultuous year for the industry. After the multiple hurricanes of 2004, everyone was hoping 2005 would be calmer, but we ended up having an even more catastrophic...
The Industry Goes to School: Universities that Offer Insurance Degrees
Dec 18 2005 // Twenty years ago, it was nearly impossible to find colleges and universities offering degrees in insurance. Now there are many programs across the nation that offer bachelor’s degrees, concentrations, certifications,...
News Briefs
Dec 18 2005 // Louisiana Gov. Urged to Veto Flooded Vehicles Bill The Property Casualty Insurers Association of Amer-ica called upon Louisiana Gov. Kath-leen Blanco to veto a bill that would require all vehicles that are declared...
Update from the Gulf Coast: A Policyholder’s Perspective Which Came First: the Chicken, the Egg
Dec 18 2005 // While debates wax and wane in newspaper headlines, the harsh reality for thousands of policyholders in the wake of Hurricane Katrina centers around an age-old issue: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or in this...
From Pinstripes to Prison Stripes: Near North’s Segal on Life Behind Bars
Dec 18 2005 // Former Chicago Insurance Broker Serving Time for Fraud Appears on TV; Is Movie Next? Once you get over the fear…you find that people are just people,” Michael “Mickey” Segal, 63, told an ABC-TV news...
A Katrina Diary: On the Road to Recovery
Dec 18 2005 // A co-worker and I journeyed to the Gulf Coast region to document the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. What follows are some notes from our five days in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama filming and talking with people who...
By Dave Thomas
Dec 18 2005 // Residents in many areas of the Gulf Coast watched their lives change forever on Aug. 29, 2005. When all was said and done, Hurricane Katrina went in the record books as the country’s worst natural disaster, leaving a...
Words Mean a Lot in Vows Between Program Administrators and Carriers
Dec 18 2005 // As in a marriage, if you’re in a good relationship, you never have to consider the contract. But if things go badly, words mean everything,” Greg Thompson, president of THOMCO brokerage in Kennesaw, Ga., told...
News Briefs
Dec 18 2005 // Massachusetts Auto Producer Reassignments Delayed: Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has asked that a plan for reassignment of auto insurance producers doing business with the state’s residual...
S.D. Court Follows Others in Striking Down Countersignature Law
Dec 18 2005 // A federal district court judge in South Dakota ruled that the state’s countersignature law is unconstitutional. The ruling means that 50 states have taken action to eliminate the countersignature requirement,...
Technology Can Enhance Agent-Carrier Relations
Dec 18 2005 // Technology, often derided as harmful to human relations in business, may actually hold the key to the insurance industry remaining a “people business,” including helping improve relationships between carriers...
How to Choose the Right Bank for Your Agency
Dec 18 2005 // As an independent agent or agency owner, you have unique financial needs. Unfortunately, few banks truly understand those needs. Worse yet, it has become the norm for banks to also sell insurance, meaning they actually...
CNA Launches New Small Business Product Combining Former Policies
Dec 15 2005 // CNA has introduced a new product, CNA Connect, for small business customers that will combine the company’s former business owners policy and commercial package policies into one broad flexible product. CNA Connect...
Sheppard Named S.C. Big ‘I’ President; Ruef Retiring Dec. 31
Dec 15 2005 // G. Frank Sheppard has been named president of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of South Carolina, assuming the leadership role from Leland C. Ruef, president, who retires Dec. 31. As chief staff member,...
Segal’s Near North Brokerage Firm Fined $1.4 million
Dec 15 2005 // The brokerage firm from which a former insurance mogul siphoned millions of dollars was ordered Tuesday by a federal judge to pay a fine of $1.4 million, according to an Associated Press account this week. The politically...
Calif. Latin American Agents Association Names Auto Market of the Year
Dec 15 2005 // The California-based Latin American Agents Association has awarded Birmingham, Ala.-based Infinity Property and Casualty Corp. its “Auto Market of the Year.” This was the second time in five years that Infinity...
National Producer Registry Appoints Big ‘I’ Exec as Vice President
Dec 14 2005 // Wesley Bissett, vice president for government affairs and state relations for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America has been elected vice president of the National Insurance Producer Registry. Bissett...
