Latest Agencies Headlines

Negotiating the Highs and Lows in the Oil and Gas Market

Aug 22 2005 // Everything’s negotiable. If that’s not the key operational phrase in the oil and gas sector-both in terms of oil and gas production and insuring that risk-then it comes very close. Contracts rule in the...

Aug 22 2005 // Calabasas, Calif.-based Lionheart Insurance Services has hired Russ McFarren as an excess and surplus broker. He began his insurance career in Ohio and relocated to Los Angeles in 1963 with the Pacific Indemnity Insurance...

Former Insurance Broker Pleads Guilty

Aug 22 2005 // The California Department of Insurance announced that Mark Jerome Gentry of Antioch, Calif., entered a guilty plea on June 23, 2005 to multiple counts of grand theft in the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Gentry was...

News Briefs

Aug 22 2005 // WIAA SUBMITS COMMENTS ON LATEST GARAMENDI AGENDA PROPOSAL: The Western Insurance Agents Association submitted comments to the California Department of Insurance opposing yet another over-reaching proposed regulation...

Broker Disclosure Dominates Western States Surplus Lines Conference

Aug 22 2005 // Brokers should disclose contingent commissions and other incentive agreements to consumers, industry experts said at the Western States Surplus Lines Conference held July 24-26 in San Diego. Participants in the...

Claims History Model Act Now in Hands of State Legislators

Aug 22 2005 // Consumers who initiate a homeowners insurance claim but never receive payment could find that single incident may be used by their insurer to cancel their policy, or raise their premium, under a new claims history model...

Bare market for residential

Aug 22 2005 // As construction development in the United States reaches an all time peak, with overall spending up 7.5 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, agents and brokers writing contractor business are having a tough time locating...

Aug 22 2005 // Brokerage Watch is a new bimonthly Insurance Journal department written by Charlotte, N.C.-based LMC Capital (www.LMCCapital.com), a national investment banking firm focusing exclusively on the insurance industry. Services...

Homeowners Insurance Agent Directory

Aug 22 2005 // InsureMyHouse.com, an informational Web site about homeowners insurance, recently started an online directory of homeowners insurance agents. The directory started in Pennsylvania and is now open to all 50 states....

Seven Steps in Selling Your Agency

Aug 22 2005 // Most agency owners have put their time, energy and heart into building their business. The business is a part of their life. The sale of one’s business is usually a one-time event. It therefore makes sense to take...

Missouri Insurance Agent Sentenced in Tax Scheme

Aug 19 2005 // A former Missouri tax preparer and insurance agent was sentenced in federal court for his role in a scheme that involved phony tax shelters. Donald Hicks, 72, was sentenced to five years of probation by U.S. District Judge...

The Garamendi Agenda: Producer Regulations Version 2.0

Aug 17 2005 // WIAA Calls Latest Set of Regulations “Agency Killer”; Calls on Coalition To Stick Together. Rancho Cordova…Although soundly defeated in the legislature earlier in the year, the Garamendi Agenda remains...

N.Y. Agents Back Financial Information Breach Notification Law

Aug 17 2005 // Businesses must notify New Yorkers when their financial and personal information has been compromised under a measure that has become law in New York. The Information Security Breach and Notification Act, which takes...

Mass. Agents Seek 18% Auto Commission Boost

Aug 16 2005 // Massachusetts insurance agents are asking for an 18 percent boost in private passenger auto insurance commissions for 2006. If approved, the request would raise the average commission from $119.50 to $141.23. The...

Trusted Choice Campaign Hits the Airwaves Again

Aug 16 2005 // Trusted Choice, the consumer marketing brand for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, will again air television ads for a two week run next month, touting the benefits of using the...

S&P: Without Contingent Commissions, Some Insurance Brokers Still Cope

Aug 16 2005 // With the outlooks on Aon Corp. and Willis Group Holdings Ltd. — two of the world’s largest insurance brokers — having recently been revised to stable from negative, the industry is beginning to recover...

WIAA Submits Comments On Latest Garamendi Agenda Proposal

Aug 12 2005 // Requiring insurers to submit written explanations of “for cause” terminations of company appointments is unnecessary and lacks statutory authority Rancho Cordova…The Western Insurance Agents Association,...

Cooper Gay Venture to Strengthen North American Reinsurance Treaty Operations

Aug 10 2005 // London-based Cooper Gay Group and Michael W. Cashman, have joined forces to form Cooper Gay & Cashman, a new reinsurance brokerage firm that will focus on the North American Treaty Reinsurance Brokerage market. The...

American Agents Alliance Comments on CDI’s Amendment of Agency Appointment Regulations

Aug 10 2005 // Thanks to the pressure applied by the American Agents Alliance and its association partners, the California Department of Insurance has amended its proposed regulations dealing with the electronic reporting of agency...

APPEX Adds 10 New Member Agencies

Aug 9 2005 // APPEX (Agency Peak Performance EXchange) has announced that 10 new agencies have joined its membership. The new members include: Christensen Group Insurance Resources International Founded in 1952, CG-IRI, located in...