Latest Agencies Headlines

Working With Your E&S Wholesaler: Be Nice … You’ll Need Them Again!

Jul 18 2005 // The surplus-lines industry pendulum is now on its backswing into a soft market. A couple years of market restriction and firm pricing brought a temporary prosperity to the industry. The so-called “standard”...

Former Calif. Insurance Agent Sentenced

Jul 18 2005 // Cordell Bunton, of Stockton, California, has been sentenced to six months in the San Joaquin County jail after pleading guilty to 10 felony and two misdemeanor counts that included grand theft, insurance fraud, forgery,...

By George Rothert

Jul 18 2005 // Working With E&S Wholesalers: Be Nice You’ll Need Them Again! The surplus lines industry pendulum is now on its backswing into a soft market. A couple years of market restriction and firm pricing brought a...

More Agencies Expand with Hiring of Staff Risk Managers

Jul 18 2005 // Larger insurance agencies today are more likely than not to employ a director of risk management, a claim specialist and a loss control specialist, according to a recent study. Business Management Group Inc.’s...

Gregg has held a number of executive positions within Liberty Mutual’s commercial insurance operations since joining the

Jul 18 2005 // OneBeacon Insurance Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd., announced that Mike Miller, its current chief operating officer, has been appointed president and chief executive officer....

Producer Development: Learning to Sell

Jul 18 2005 // Beginning this week, 15 insurance agents are returning to Normal, Ill., to do an unusual thing in the world of insurance training: talk with each other about what’s worked and what hasn’t. It’s the third...

Alan A. Smith, Jr. is president/CEO of the Western

Jul 18 2005 // By Alan A. Smith, Jr. Many of our allies in the fight against the Garamendi Agenda were puzzled by IBA West General Counsel Steve Young’s open hostility toward the Western Insurance Agents Association’s...

People

Jul 18 2005 // The Ohio Casualty Insurance Co. announced that Ralph S. Michael III, 50, has been named president and chief operating officer of the company, effective July 25, 2005. Michael comes to the Fairfield, Ohio-based company from...

By George Rothert

Jul 18 2005 // Working With Your E&S Wholesaler: Be Nice You’ll Need Them Again! The surplus lines industry pendulum is now on its backswing into a soft market. A couple years of market restriction and firm pricing brought a...

Agent Leader Hits Hodgepodge of Disclosure Rules by Insurers

Jul 18 2005 // While insurance companies are calling upon state officials to coordinate their responses to the various brokerage compensation and other inquiries, independent insurance agents are worried about how the insurers themselves...

Time Management for Insurance Agents or

Jul 18 2005 // Being busy is never a chore for insurance agents and producers. Being productively busy is the challenge. During a consultancy that spans 25 years, I have had the privilege of visiting well over a thousand agencies,...

Alliance Files Court Briefs On Behalf of Agents, Brokers in E&O Case

Jul 18 2005 // The American Agents Alliance has filed two briefs with the California Supreme Court in an attempt to protect insurance producers from fallout resulting from a recent Appellate Court ruling. On June 30 the state Supreme...

Jul 18 2005 // Majestic Insurance Company announced the appointment of David Porter to the new position of marketing manager for Southern California. Porter has more than 25 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining Majestic,...

Do Your Customers Know What You Did Last Summer?

Jul 18 2005 // Consider this story. Fifty years ago a relatively unknown entrepreneur opened a family-oriented entertainment complex in Southern California. He decided to place signs at each attraction or ride indicating the expected...

How to Use Alternative Markets

Jul 18 2005 // The “hard market” conditions have been gone now for a couple of years. So, usually during “soft market” conditions one expects a lot of competition from the standard markets. This, however, is not...

Homeowners Insurance Agent Web Directory Goes National

Jul 18 2005 // InsureMyHouse.com, an informational Web site about homeowners insurance, started an online directory of homeowners insurance agents two months ago. The directory started in Pennsylvania and is now open to all 50...

More Agencies Expand with Hiring of Staff Risk Managers

Jul 18 2005 // Larger insurance agencies today are more likely than not to employ a director of risk management, a claim specialist and a loss control specialist, according to a recent study. Business Management Group Inc.’s...

Working With E&S Wholesalers: Be Nice … You’ll Need Them Again!

Jul 18 2005 // The surplus lines industry pendulum is now on its backswing into a soft market. A couple years of market restriction and firm pricing brought a temporary prosperity to the industry. The so-called “standard”...

Virginia Big ‘I’ Breaks Ground in Education, Starting with CSR Program

Jul 18 2005 // It’s an age-old problem for agency owners: where to find customer service representatives. Ask agency principals to name their biggest challenges and locating CSRs is right up there at the top of most...

Insurers Balk about Added Burden as N.J. Gov. Codey Signs Bill Restoring Consumer Advocate Office for 2006

Jul 18 2005 // New Jersey has brought back to life the state’s consumer advocate office that was killed more than 10 years ago. New Jersey Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey recently signed into law a bill that restores the Department of...