Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Top 10 Technical Fouls to Avoid When Filing Environmental Claims

May 15 2017 // Benzinger is chief broking officer and managing director at Aon Risk Solutions Environmental Practice.Claims are where the rubber meets the road for an insurance policy. For some lines of coverage, like workers’...

Organic Growth Under Pressure: Agencies Show Weakest Growth Since 2011, Reagan Consulting Reports

May 15 2017 // Agencies and brokerage firms reported that their organic growth fell to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the weakest growth rate since 2011.According to Reagan Consulting’s Organic Growth and Profitability...

Wholesale Associations NAPSLO, AAMGA Merging to Form WSIA

May 15 2017 // Things are moving forward for a new insurance industry trade association for the wholesale, specialty and surplus lines insurance industry.The new Wholesale and Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) is being formed by the...

Tech Talk: How to Use Digital Body Language

May 15 2017 // “When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.” — Ralph Waldo EmersonAgents pride themselves on their sales skills — to meet a prospect...

Producer Compliance in California: The Top Three Regulatory Danger Zones

May 15 2017 // Like Big Brother, California’s Department of Insurance is watching you.Okay, perhaps not literally — and certainly not all of you, but the department definitely has its antennae up when it comes to the business...

American Family Disagrees with Jury Finding that Agents Are Employees

May 15 2017 // A federal jury in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 18 determined that thousands of agents with Madison, Wisconsin-based (AmFam) are employees, not independent contractors.The insurer stands by its classification practice and says...

Illinois’ Árachas Group Joins Keystone Insurers Group

May 12 2017 // Árachas Group of Bartlett, Illinois, created by the merger of two local insurance agencies, has joined Keystone Insurers Group, becoming the network’s 18th partner in the state. Sullivan & Associates, led by...

Texas Public Safety Agencies Embracing Drone Use

May 12 2017 // Government use of aerial drones became much easier when the Federal Aviation Administration flipped the switch on new regulations last year.The Austin American-Statesman reports since then, a number of Austin-area public...

TMK Offers Construction Insurance in UK, Ireland via Online Broker Portal

May 12 2017 // Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK), the international specialist insurance business, has added construction to its One TMK broker portal.The tailor-made construction insurance product is underwritten through a fully automated...

BIG Independent Group Names 2017 Biggie Award Winners

May 12 2017 // Indian Wells, CA, May 12, 2017- The BIG Independent Group, a leading association of independent agent and brokers, was pleased to bestow its BIGGIE Awards for the 8th year in a row. The 2017 awards, distributed at the...

Bunker, Startup Broker for Small Business, Contractor Insurance, Raises $6 Million

May 11 2017 // Bunker, a startup digital insurance broker focused on independent contractors and small businesses, has raised $6 million in Series A funding that will help fuel product development and expansion. Hiscox and American...

TWFG Taps Cordone in New Jersey to Lead Expansion Efforts

May 11 2017 // The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG), a national agency based in The Woodlands, Texas, is launching an effort to expand into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.Vic Cordone, a...

‘Poaching’ Suits Like Aon v. Alliant: Nothing Personal, Just Routine Business

May 11 2017 // An ongoing legal battle between two large national insurance brokerage firms over employee poaching is a byproduct of a hazard faced in the financial services industries where relationships and knowledge of business...

Wells Fargo Weighing Sale of Insurance Brokerage Business: Bloomberg

May 9 2017 // Wells Fargo & Co. is weighing a sale of its insurance brokerage business, which could fetch about $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said.The San Francisco-based lender has begun reaching out to private equity...

New Jersey Agent Stults Honored with Woodworth Memorial Award

May 9 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers (IIABA or the Big “I”) has awarded Charles “Cappy” Stults with the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one of its...

Agency Organic Growth Fell in Q1: Reagan

May 8 2017 // Agencies and brokerage firms reported that their organic growth fell to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the weakest growth rate since 2011.According to Reagan Consulting’s Organic Growth and Profitability...

Louisiana’s Schilling and Texas’ Shepard Receive Big ‘I’ Awards

May 5 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) honored two agents from South Central states with awards at the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference.Lee Schilling...

Aon Buys International Benefits Brokerage Portfolio of Mayfair Group

May 5 2017 // Aon plc announced it has completed its acquisition of the international health and benefits brokerage portfolio of Mayfair Group, a solutions provider to Indian multinational companies.Terms of the transaction were not...

Rhode Island’s Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Hires Hillberg

May 4 2017 // Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., an East Providence, R.I.-headquartered independent insurance agency and insurance brokerage, has hired Tim Hillberg as a commercial lines sales producer.Hillberg’s...

Most Commercial Insurance Premiums Up in April: IVANS Index

May 3 2017 // Most standard commercial lines products saw an uptick in premiums at renewal in April, with workers’ compensation being the main exception, according to the IVANS Index.Business owners and commercial property...