Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Agents Seek Diversified Role in Group Health/Benefits Arena

Jul 5 2012 // In recent years, a growing number of independent property/casualty agencies and brokerage firms have begun offering group health/benefits services to their clients. In interviews with Insurance Journal, agency executives...

Florida Agents, Adjusters Face Continuing Education, Licensing Changes

Jul 5 2012 // A new Florida law seeks to reduce the regulatory burden on agents and adjusters by consolidating some licenses and revamping the education classes they must take to conduct business in the state.Among the changes:...

Neal Honored with Texas Agent Association’s Drex Foreman Award

Jul 5 2012 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) honored former Corpus Christi independent insurance agent Loyd Neal with the Drex Foreman Award presented at IIAT’s 115th Annual Conference and Trade Show in San...

Whitaker Named President-Elect, Arthur to Serve as VP of Texas Agents Association

Jul 3 2012 // Don Whitaker, president and owner of Whitaker Insurance Associates Inc. in San Antonio, has been named president-elect of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) for 2012-201. The association elected Pat Arthur,...

Confie Seguros Adds 3 Agencies; Names Maxwell to M&A Post

Jul 2 2012 // Confie Seguros, a national provider of personal lines insurance focused on the needs of Hispanic consumers, continued its national expansion program with the the addition of three insurance agencies. Confie has completed...

Health, Benefits Market Offers Growth Opportunities for P/C Agents

Jul 2 2012 // For many independent property/casualty agencies, one bright spot of opportunity in an era of otherwise lackluster growth has been the health and benefits market. Over the course of the past four or five years, savvy P/C...

10 Things Agencies Do Right (and Wrong) with Agency Management Systems

Jul 2 2012 // As a volunteer engaged with a network of agency management system vendor clients, I have an opportunity to hear from my peers about their experiences and compare this with what goes on in our own office. While we all find...

Agents Seek Diversified Role in Group Health/Benefits Arena

Jul 2 2012 // In recent years, a growing number of independent property/casualty agencies have begun offering group health/benefits services to their clients. In interviews with Insurance Journal, agency executives in the Northeast...

Business Moves – Southeast

Jul 2 2012 // Gallagher, WhitehavenIllinois-based global insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Whitehaven Insurance Group, Inc. in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.Founded in 1994,...

Some P/C Agencies See Potential in Dynamic Health, Benefits Market

Jul 2 2012 // The South Central region of the country, particularly Texas, has been a hotbed of activity when it comes to mergers and acquisitions of smaller health and benefit agencies. The reason, according to agencies in the region,...

Business Moves – East

Jul 2 2012 // USI, Lynch, Beretta and BucciUSI Insurance Services completed the acquisition of Lynch, Beretta and Bucci Insurance, a Pawtucket, R.I.-based P/C insurance agency that specializes in a wide range of personal lines,...

Benefits: Boon or Bust?

Jul 2 2012 // By the time this edition of Insurance Journal is printed and distributed, the U.S. Supreme Court likely will have issued its ruling on the challenges to federal healthcare reform legislation passed in 2010.No matter how...

Nebraska Insurance Agent Admits Fraud

Jul 2 2012 // One of three former Nebraska insurance agents accused of defrauding more than 250 investors out of $29 million has pleaded guilty and agreed to help prosecutors.The Grand Island Independent reported that Kenneth Mottin, of...

‘One Way or Another’ Agencies See Growth in Group Health

Jul 2 2012 // “One way or another.”Is that the best way to describe a sound investment strategy nowadays? Yes. If you’re talking about the growing number of agencies investing in group health benefits...

Employers Fighting the Rising Cost of Healthcare Turn to Holistic Benefit Planning as a Solution

Jul 2 2012 // The nation’s largest employers don’t anticipate finding cost-relief any time soon when it comes to health and benefits coverage. But they have been listening more and waking up to ideas from their brokers that...

Increasing Agents’ Online Visibility Is Goal of New Internet Marketing Service

Jul 2 2012 // Aiming to provide its independent agent members with an avenue to enhance their online presence, the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has formed a partnership with an Internet marketing firm on...

A Year Later: The Growth and Outlook of the LexisNexis Insurance Exchange

Jul 2 2012 // The LexisNexis Insurance Exchange — an online single-entry submission system that streamlines the flow of application data among agents, brokers and carriers — celebrated its first anniversary in June.The Exchange,...

Agents, Insurers Cheer Congress OK of Flood Insurance Reform Bill

Jun 29 2012 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America today praised Congress for passing the “Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012.” The legislation will extend the National...

Reactions to Healthcare Ruling Coming In; What’s Yours?

Jun 28 2012 // Industry and other reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have been coming in. Readers are encouraged to offer their own reactions in Comments...

The Hartford Enhances Sales Support For Small Business Benefit Brokers

Jun 27 2012 // A new team at The Hartford is offering specialized services for benefits brokers, in order to meet the changing needs of small business owners and their employees.The Hartford recently launched a small business center...