Latest Agencies Headlines

S. Fla. Agent Arrested for Switching Policies, Defrauding Seniors

Aug 22 2005 // An insurance agent who targeted victims between the ages of 72 and 86 and fed on their fears about aging has been arrested for allegedly defrauding at least nine South Florida senior citizens by offering them a quote for...

Bill Stiglitz Tells AIIA, Compensation System Under Attack

Aug 22 2005 // Our compensation system is under attack, independent agents put about $2 billion in their pockets due to profit sharing and it is under attack, there is no doubt about it,” Bill Stiglitz, Independent Insurance Agents...

Looyenga Outlines Major Hurricane Policy Changes

Aug 22 2005 // Open Market System Suggested: It’s essential to prepare now in case that one-in-10,000 major hurricane hits the Southern United States, Roger Looyenga, CEO of Auto-Owners Ins-urance said at the Florida Assoc-iation...

The Four C’s of Risk Management for the Oil and Gas Operator

Aug 22 2005 // The primary reason lawsuits occur is because the broker/ agent did not fulfill his responsibility of knowing his clients exposures and addressing them properly. In what seems a lifetime of handling risk management and...

Marcus Humphrey

Aug 22 2005 // McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP (MHBT), based in Dallas, recently named Marcus Humphrey vice president and leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits group. As vice president, Humphrey’s primary responsibilities...

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...

The Four C’s of Risk Management for the Oil and Gas Operator

Aug 22 2005 // The primary reason lawsuits occur is because the broker/ agent did not fulfill his responsibility of knowing his clients exposures and addressing them properly. In what seems a lifetime of handling risk management and...

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...