Training Development - Latest Insurance News

West Virginia’s BrickStreet Faces Competition for Government Accounts

Jul 5 2010 // West Virginia’s state-created workers’ compensation insurers is expecting to lose million of dollars in government agency contracts following the opening of the market to other carriers on July 1. One by one,...

Webinar to Help P&C Agents Benefit from Health Insurance Boom Under Reform Law

Jul 1 2010 // For independent insurance agents, upcoming healthcare reform could be an opportunity to gain a bigger share of the health insurance and benefits market, provided they can properly advise their customers about their...

North Carolina to Issue Temporary Pyrotechnic Licenses for July 4th

Jun 28 2010 // North Carolina will issue temporary one-time pyrotechnic licenses to operators instead of the new standard three-year licenses to meet high demand around the July 4th holiday. The Legislature quickly passed and the...

How to Overcome the Hurdles of Hiring to Smaller ‘Big Cities’

Jun 28 2010 // Regardless of a high unemployment rate, top talent will always be in demand among insurance organizations. If your company is based in a smaller city, you may face obstacles such as a limited local talent pool and...

California Launches Disaster Corps

Jun 28 2010 // California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched the first-in-the-nation Disaster Corps to professionalize, standardize and coordinate trained disaster volunteers statewide. Disaster Corps volunteers will be registered...

Nurturing a Newbie: Developing a Producer Training Program

Jun 24 2010 // Every independent insurance agency wants to find and keep good talent, but how exactly do you do that? Paul Saich, CEO of Thoits Insurance in San Jose, Calif., has a plan. His company developed a formalized program about...

Earthquake, Tornado, Storms Hit Canada’s International Summit Site

Jun 24 2010 // International leaders might be forgiven if they nervously eye the skies above and the ground below as they gather for summits of the Group of Eight and the Group of 20 in Canada’s province of Ontario this weekend. In...

UK Regulatory Consultant Analyzes Financial Services Regime Change

Jun 22 2010 // The UK’s new Chancellor (Finance Minister) George Osborne has announced plans to fundamentally reform the way financial services, including insurance, are to be regulated [See IJ web site –...

Latin Agent Groups Growing, Starting Up, Going ‘Mainstream’

Jun 21 2010 // Florida Group Stresses Educational Offerings, Serving Non-Latin Agents Following the success of agents in Florida and California, a group of New York insurance agents has launched a new trade group for Latin insurance...

Is Your Agency’s Web Site Dangerously Obsolete?

Jun 21 2010 // Letting Your Site Atrophy is Online Suicide With all of the high level hype regarding social media, it’s easy to imagine that your agency’s Web site is as obsolete in cyberspace as Sputnik is in outer space....

North Carolina Might Ease Fireworks Safety Law for July 4th

Jun 18 2010 // A state law passed after the July 4 blast on Ocracoke Island that killed four fireworks handlers mandated safety training for those who prepare the displays, but some warn the rule could limit fireworks shows this...

Strong Brand Leads List of Critical Marketing Factors for Agents

Jun 17 2010 // Carrier marketing support matters to independent agents — and having a strong carrier brand is considered especially important. High brand recognition matters more to agents handling personal lines, but is also...

The National Alliance Awards 24 Scholarships

Jun 17 2010 // The National Alliance recently presented 24 scholarships to National Association of Insurance Women (NAIW) members at its 69th Annual Convention held in Arlington, Va. The CIC, CRM, CISR, and CSRM scholarships were awarded...

Producer Development: Combined Agents of America Keeps It In-House

Jun 14 2010 // Mark Bridges and Bry Ewan got the idea for creating a producer development program within the Combined Agents of America (CAA) while attending a producer school in Florida. Bridges explained that during his first year in...

The Hanover Offers Auto Discount for Crash-Prevention Training

Jun 9 2010 // The Hanover says it will offer Massachusetts drivers a discount on a special course in crash prevention skills and safe-driver techniques. The program, run by In Control Crash Prevention Training, is the only one of its...

Explosion at West Virginia Natural Gas Drilling Site Burns 7

Jun 8 2010 // A fireball and explosion burned seven members of a crew drilling for natural gas at an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia Monday, the second big fire at an energy formation known as the Marcellus Shale in less than a...

How Program Partners Can Help Agents Sell Value

Jun 7 2010 // There is a quote from Warren Buffet that I want to put on my wall and send to all my colleagues: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Agents, brokers and underwriters should heed Mr. Buffet’s...

In Developing Producers, a Little Help From One’s Friends Goes a Long Way

Jun 7 2010 // As John Lennon and Paul McCartney could tell you, sometimes you just need a little help from your friends. And in the insurance agency business – where building relationships are key to success – that friend...

The Right Relationship Chemistry Can Increase Sales, Create Succession Plan