Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
La., Miss. Relief Agencies to Share $125K in Aid from Council Foundation
Dec 28 2005 // The Foundation for Agency Management Excellence (FAME), an insurance industry educational foundation of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, has identified the three relief agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi...
Ill.’s Euclid to Purchase Environmental Insurance Brokers
Dec 28 2005 // Euclid Insurance Services, Inc. in Itasca, Ill., plans to acquire McHenry, Ill.-based Environmental Insurance Brokers, Inc., a commercial insurance agency that specializes in serving the waste-hauling and transportation...
Four Key 2006 Goals Outlined by Florida Big ‘I’ President
Dec 28 2005 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents has four key goals to accomplish in 2006 according to Jeff Grady, FAIA president and CEO, first, to pass its property insurance market proposal; second, to pass FAIA’s...
Ill. Agents,Companies Plan Annual Insurance Industry Legislative Day
Dec 27 2005 // The Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois, in conjunction with the Illinois Insurance Association, Illinois Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Illinois State Association of Health Underwriters...
Michigan Agents Push for Improved Smoke Detector Use
Dec 22 2005 // Michigan insurance agents are calling for more use of smoke detectors in Michigan homes as the peak fire season approaches. Last year, 119 people died in Michigan house fires. Only 16 percent of the homes where a fire...
S. Fla. Insurance Agent Arrested for Bilking His Elderly Clients
Dec 22 2005 // A South Florida insurance agent, Thomas A. Masciarelli, was arrested Tuesday by state insurance fraud detectives for bilking elderly clients in an unregistered securities scheme. Masciarelli, 48, was charged with three...
N.Y. Permits Agents to Recover Costs for Bad Checks in Reversal of Opinion
Dec 21 2005 // New York insurance agents will have the same rights that other businesses have to recover costs when customers write bad checks, according to a new opinion issued December 19 by the New York Insurance Department. The...
Pensacola Agent’s License Revoked for Multiple Violations
Dec 20 2005 // Darrell E. Stidham, a Pensacola, Fla. agent has had his license revoked due to multiple violations, including scamming a blind client according to an announcement by Tom Gallagher, Florida’s CFO. Stidham, 54, has...
Texas-based CAA Member Agencies to Participate in Big ‘I’ Best Practices Study
Dec 20 2005 // Bigham-Kliewer-Chapman-Watts and Bosworth & Associates, two member agencies of Combined Agents of America, have been selected to be a part of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America “Best...
From Pinstripes to Prison Stripes: Near North’s Segal on Life Behind Bars
Dec 19 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...
Update from the Gulf Coast: A Policyholder’s Perspective
Dec 19 2005 // Which Came First: the Chicken, the Egg or the Hurricane? 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:...
States Urged to Prepare for Catastrophes by Enforcing Smarter Land Use
Dec 19 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...
S.D. Court Strikes Down Countersignature Law
Dec 19 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,...
AGENT NOT LIABLE FOR NON-DISCLOSURE:
Dec 19 2005 // The Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau, has reversed a lower court decision that found an insurance agent could potentially be held responsible for misrepresentations in a life insurance application....
Opportunity Knocks
Dec 19 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...
How to Choose the Right Bank for Your Agency
Dec 19 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...
A Katrina Diary: On the Road to Recovery
Dec 19 2005 // One Man’s Perspective on Hurricane Katrina’s Destruction 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...
IIAT SURVEY SHOWS IMPROVEMENTS
Dec 19 2005 // Independent insurance agents in Texas report improved homeowners insurance coverage and lower premium prices for both homeowners and auto insurance as the year comes to an end. A survey of more than 1,800 member agencies...
Independent Agents Feel Hurricane Katrina’s Full Force
Dec 19 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...
PIA of Fla. Board Presents Achievement Awards to Three Members
Dec 19 2005 // Ed Langston, Donald McMahon and Phil Zelman have been honored with awards for their achievements by the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida board of directors. Mark O’Connell, PIA of Florida CEO, presented...