Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Revolution or Evolution’ The Internet Goes Mainstream
Mar 11 2002 // At last, the gap between potential and reality is shrinking as agents explore their online options. The insurance industry is notoriously reluctant to change. So it was little surprise that the Internet—a tool that has...
ASP-hosted Technology-Trend or Fad’
Mar 11 2002 // Many vendors now offer agency management systems via ASP (Application Service Provider). The ASP model moves the agency database and management system software from the agency to a data center, and agency personnel access...
Revolution or Evolution’ The Internet Goes Mainstream
Mar 11 2002 // At last, the gap between potential and reality is shrinking as agents explore their online options. The insurance industry is notoriously reluctant to change. So it was little surprise that the Internet—a tool that has...
Global-Reinsurance Industry Foresees Growth in Online Services
Mar 11 2002 // If anyone needs proof that the Internet is no longer a curiosity, the reinsurance industry is a good place to start looking. Reinsurance companies aren’t generally known for the rapidity with which they adopt...
Web Enables Agents to Cut Processing Time for Small Business Accounts
Mar 11 2002 // When the prospect of selling insurance over the Internet first reared its head, one of the initial impressions it left was that it posed a threat to independent insurance agents and brokers. Futurists proclaimed a new...
La. Agents Charged, Suspended
Mar 11 2002 // Two insurance agents in Lafayette were arrested and their licenses suspended after they allegedly submitted fraudulent documents and misappropriated insurance funds, according to acting Louisiana Insurance Commissioner J....
Getting Ahead by Outsourcing E-Mail
Mar 11 2002 // As the insurance industry continues to face increasing challenges, including intense competition and ongoing consolidation, many brokers are forced to meet the challenge of retaining and obtaining customers. Agents are...
ASP-hosted Technology-Trend or Fad’
Mar 11 2002 // Many vendors now offer agency management systems via ASP (Application Service Provider). The ASP model moves the agency database and management system software from the agency to a data center, and agency personnel access...
NAPSLO Mid-Year Meeting Largest in Association’s History
Mar 11 2002 // The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) held its mid-year meeting Feb. 24-27 in San Antonio, Texas—the largest such meeting in the history of the association. Originally scheduled for last...
Citizens, Hanover Unveil USADATA Direct Mail Portal for Agents
Mar 7 2002 // Allmerica Financial’s two regional property and casualty insurers, Citizens Insurance Company of America and The Hanover Insurance Company, have launched an Internet-based direct mail portal ™ for its independent...
The St. Paul Companies Launches New Tool for Small Commercial Products
Mar 6 2002 // The St. Paul Companies announced the launch of a new web-based tool to assist agents with obtaining single entry, real-time quotes for small commercial products. The tool was developed to be compatible with the quoting...
Wife of Convicted Former Ohio Agent told She Will Lose License
Mar 4 2002 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Lee Covington notified Connie Houser, wife of former insurance agent Harry D. Houser Sr. of Beverly, Ohio, that he intends to revoke her license as an insurance agent. According to the...
CDI Fines Broker-Agent $100,000
Mar 1 2002 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) recently issued an Order of Monetary Penalty and Reprimand ordering broker-agent Bonding & Insurance Specialists Agency, Inc. to pay a fine of $100,000. The Illinois-based...
Hard DnO Market Tests Relationships of Underwriters, Brokers and Insureds
Feb 28 2002 // The hardening market for Directors and Officers liability coverage is forcing brokers and their clients to accept higher rates, less coverage and larger retentions, panelists told a recent PLUS D&O Symposium. These...
Mutual of Enumclaw Migrates Personal Lines onto Internet-based Sales Platform
Feb 27 2002 // Washington-based Mutual of Enumclaw announced that all personal lines products have migrated onto an Internet-based sales platform from IBQ Systems. Mutual of Enumclaw agents can now quote, rate, complete an application...
CDI Urged to Wait before Implementing Proposed Privacy Regulations
Feb 25 2002 // We strongly encourage the Department to wait before they actually promulgate these regulations.” That sentiment was offered during testimony given Feb. 8, by Steve Young, senior vice president and general counsel for...
Catastrophe Modeling-Feeding the Risk Transfer Food Chain
Feb 25 2002 // The increasingly sophisticated business of constructing catastrophe models is driven by three main imperatives: what are the chances of a given event happening; what are the upper and lower limits of a catastrophic...
What Does it Mean to Own Expirations’ Lawsuit Aims to Find Out
Feb 25 2002 // At the heart of a lawsuit filed against Allstate Insurance Company by an independent agent in Garza County, Texas, are the issues of who owns the right to renew policies of customers of an independent agent; what it means...
The View from Up There-Insurers Embrace Space Age Technologies
Feb 25 2002 // In the summer of 2001, a U.S. District judge in Arkansas ruled against several farmers accused of filing false crop insurance claims totaling approximately $244,000. Key evidence in the lawsuit—filed on behalf of the...
Caught in the Middle: When Agent Representations Lead to Liability
Feb 25 2002 // Questions often arise as to the context and circumstances in which an agent can be liable for misrepresenting coverage, or failing to obtain adequate or appropriate coverage for a customer. When an “all-risk”...
