Web Exchange

Article

Gunning for Business

On July 6, InsurnaceJournal.com ran a story about Aaron Merchant, a Farmers Insurance agent in Ahwatukee, Ariz., who in 2008, turned his firearms hobby into a small business, selling guns in a small space inside his insurance agency in the Phoenix suburb. A year ago, he had enough business to open a storefront, Merchant Firearms.

Reader comments included:

Isn’t protection of self/loved ones and property what insurance is all about? As a side note, it is also fun, relaxing and a great family sport. Great story.

Maybe in Arizona it IS good PR.

Not a good PR move by this Farmers agent. I would be surprised if Farmers is OK with this type of venture that was once operated out of their insurance office.

Intoxicating Retrial Bid

On July 19, InsuranceJournal.com ran a story about a repeat drunken driver in Alaska who was convicted of consuming at least a dozen drinks and causing a deadly head-on crash but is now seeking a new trial because of a public service announcement that aired over 1,400 times during her trial. Former oil company executive Lori Phillips was to have been sentenced in March, but her lawyer is seeking a new trial because a public service announcement discouraging drunken driving was broadcast at the same time the trial was under way for more than two weeks in 2010. Prosecutor Clint Campion said the judge was aware of the PSA and instructed jurors to avoid watching it. Butler’s request for a new trial came after it became known how many times the PSA aired on network television and 59 cable stations. The judge now will have to decide whether Phillips deserves a new trial.

This story generated lots of comments, including these:

You drink, you drive, you loose. What part of that doesn’t this repeat offender understand?

You have GOT to be kidding me! The audacity of this woman and her lawyer is unbelievable!

She’s a former oil exec-a lack of accountability and personal responsibility seem to be job pre-requisites…

Good to see another professional victim representing the neo-prohibitionist MADD organization is able to intimidate the judicial system. Guess who funded the campaign used to convict this woman? Your tax dollars to the tune of 35m+ annually. It’s time for MADD to stop using my tax dollars to push their anti-alcohol agenda.

100 Agents in 100 Days

From July 12 through Oct. 12, South Carolina-based Accident Insurance Co. will be looking to sign up new independent agents in 11 states in which it writes. AIC hopes to find new agency partners in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Virginia. The story ran on July 13 at can be viewed online.

Jon Beckham, chief marketing officer at AIC, explains in this Insurance Journal TV podcast…

There were multiple comments from readers, including:

Dear Insurer: Please come to Florida. You will sign 100 agents up in 10 minutes!

Accident’s a good company. I think some of us are getting the wrong idea about the 100 agents in 100 days. I’m sure Accident does want to grow fast, but their appetite is not a ‘snatch and grab’ like we saw over the last couple decades in Florida. They have a specific type of risk in mind and have good underwriting discipline, they’re not CAT exposed and they’ll avoid writing garbage. They just want a wider channel to get their type of risk in the door.

Does anybody else remember companies growing at breakneck speed…then after a year pulling out just as fast, or faster? Hopefully companies and agents have a date or two that develops into a serious long-term relationship … not many things happen that fast and last, don’t you agree?

Insurance Charity Backs 10 More Groups

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Western Division has awarded $52,415 in community grants to 10 non-profit organizations. This is the second round of grant funding for 2011 and increase the IICF Western Division’s yearly grant contributions to $232,915, touching 36 separate non-profit organizations in California. Through the second round, the IICF is supporting the following agencies: