All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jul 28 2014 // Insurance agent, insurance carrier and real estate lobbyists praised federal regulators in charge of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) last week on Capitol Hill, agreeing that the process of issuing flood...
Jul 25 2014 // Retail insurance agents in Texas are allowed to charge certain fees in addition to a commission in relation to selling an insurance policy, but those fees must be disclosed to the customer.“Texas is one of the few...
Jul 24 2014 // Allstate Insurance Co. plans to add several local agency owners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii in 2014.Allstate’s plan is to recruit 51 new exclusive agents, 13 financial specialists and the company...
Jul 23 2014 // LevelFirst, a wholesale broker and managing general agency based in Dallas, Texas, announced Ryan Taylor has joined the company as a senior underwriter/broker. Taylor brings 10 years of wholesale experience to the company....
Jul 23 2014 // Wyatt Stewart has joined the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) Capitol Hill team as director of federal government affairs.Stewart, a native of Washington, D.C., joins a bipartisan...
Jul 23 2014 // Dallas, TX – July 23, 2014 – U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. (www.usrisk.com), the eighth largest managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler in the nation, announced that it has named Jonathan Hagan an...
Jul 22 2014 // The Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance, or SIAA, signed 204 new member agencies in the first six months of 2014, including its 5,000th member agency since its inception in 1995.SIAA also reached $5 billion in in-force...
Jul 21 2014 // What are the rules governing insurance agents in Texas on rebates, referrals and rewards, and why do they matter?For starters, at a minimum, an agent could lose their license for violating rules regarding such activities....
Jul 21 2014 // Hard market or soft, having an active relationship with at least a couple of excess and surplus lines (E&S) wholesalers is typically required for agencies to be successful. For as long as insurance has been part of...
Jul 21 2014 // A former Des Moines, Iowa, insurance agent was sentenced to 41 months in prison for insurance fraud.Melissa Ilene Williams, of Dike, Iowa, also was ordered to pay restitution for fabricating and submitting life insurance...
Jul 21 2014 // Many independent insurance agents say that tablet devices are going to be more important in the next couple of years – particularly for sales presentations and accessing carrier-based training. This is among the many...
Jul 21 2014 // An agent’s technological plate is so full it may seem impossible to decide where to start. Experts agree that embracing mobile needs to take top priority for two critical tasks: to mobile-optimize the agency website...
Jul 21 2014 // The combination of Validus Holdings and Western World Insurance Group fills in “missing pieces” for both organizations, Validus’ chairman said in late June, detailing finer points of a $690 million deal...
Jul 21 2014 // Hurricane season 2014 had barely begun when Hurricane Arthur formed and wreaked havoc along the East Coast during the 4th of July weekend. Whether the 2014 hurricane season proves to be highly active or normal remains to...
Jul 21 2014 // Insurance consumer interest in Trusted Choice, the national brand created for the members of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or Big “I”) is growing, according the...
Jul 21 2014 // Things have changed a bit for the surplus lines industry since the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, (NRRA) part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation, passed in 2010.The NRRA’s implementation has...
Jul 17 2014 // In a 93-4 vote, the Senate today passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 (S. 2244 ) that extends the federal reinsurance program for seven years.In addition to extending the Terrorism Risk...
Jul 17 2014 // A federal judge will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the bulk of a wide-ranging indictment accusing a former Kansas insurance agent with stealing nearly $2 million from policyholders.U.S. District Judge J. Thomas...
Jul 17 2014 // Ridesharing services are becoming increasingly popular among consumers looking for a more convenient alternative to taxis or other forms of public transportation, and new ridesharing companies have been cropping up...
Jul 16 2014 // How are agencies targeting new business today? Will historical growth rates be sustainable? And just how much do agencies need to reinvest to achieve desired growth and enable perpetuation? These are some of the questions...