Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Should Agents Get Paid More for Depopulating Citizens?

Mar 19 2012 // Office of Insurance Regulation General Counsel Belinda Miller recently asked if there is a way to reward agents for placing policies in the private market as opposed to letting them sit in Citizens year after year.Brian...

E&O Insights: What to Consider When Buying or Selling an Agency

Mar 19 2012 // There is a tremendous amount of mergers and acquisitions activity going on in our industry. Every day, insurance news providers report on insurance acquisitions. The big agencies are not only getting bigger, they seem to...

25 Years in Agency Management

Mar 19 2012 // I have been working with agency owners in one capacity or another for 25 years. During this quarter-century, some aspects of agency management have greatly transformed, while others have not changed at all.Clusters &...

Say Something Nice About Florida P/C Insurance

Mar 19 2012 // There is plenty of negativity about the Florida property/casualty insurance market in the press, living rooms, boardrooms and barrooms across the state-and even among many people outside the state with an interest.The talk...

Low-Cost Online Commercial Lines Quoting Tool for P/C Agents Launched

Mar 19 2012 // The launch of a real-time commercial lines rater that gives agents access to a handful of large carriers was announced recently by a division of Networked Insurance Agents.MyNTrack, a division of Grass Valley, Calif.-based...

Breathing Life into a P/C Agency

Mar 19 2012 // If someone were to hand you a blank check to enhance your bottom line, would you let it sit on your desk and collect dust? Or, would you fill in a number ending with a few zeroes and take some extra cash for doing no extra...

Breathing Life into a P/C Agency

Mar 19 2012 // If someone were to hand you a blank check to enhance your bottom line, would you let it sit on your desk and collect dust? Or, would you fill in a number ending with a few zeroes and take some extra cash for doing no extra...

How Florida Agents Rate Leaders and Prioritize Issues

Mar 19 2012 // There is less consensus when it comes to rating the performance of key players in the state’s insurance marketplace, however. Some public officials get better grades than property/casualty insurance executives as a...

Court Upholds N.Y. Brokers Disclosure Regulation

Mar 19 2012 // Earlier this month, an appeals court in New York agreed with the lower court’s ruling and said the insurance regulators have the authority to require brokers to disclose the source of their compensation. The rule,...

People

Mar 19 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Companies said Vanessa Wittman, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, is leaving to take a senior role at online search giant Google. Wittman is expected to assist...

How to Breathe Life into a P/C Agency

Mar 19 2012 // If someone were to hand you a blank check to enhance your bottom line, would you let it sit on your desk and collect dust? Or would you fill in a number ending with a few zeroes and take some extra cash for doing no extra...

N.Y. Agents Tell Senate Panel of Flood Insurance Claims Hassles

Mar 16 2012 // A director of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York told lawmakers and regulators this week that New Yorkers are dealing with unnecessary hassles when they make flood insurance claims.William Oliver...

Oklahoma Insurance Agent Charged with Embezzlement

Mar 16 2012 // An insurance agent in Oklahoma has been charged with embezzlement, authorities say.Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak and Comanche County District Attorney Fred Smith say an investigation of Amanda Sue Wilson of...

RIMS Commends N.Y. Broker Compensation Disclosure Ruling

Mar 15 2012 // The Risk & Insurance Management Society is applauding the New York appeals court for upholding the broker disclosure rule.“Consumers deserve the same transparency and information from their insurance brokers...

Former South Dakota Deputy, Insurance Agent Sentenced for Fraud

Mar 15 2012 // A South Dakota sheriff’s deputy and former insurance producer who pleaded guilty in an insurance fraud case has been sentenced to about 2 1/2 months in jail and 2 1/2 years of probation. Forty-two-year-old Rob...

Polansky Joins Project CAP as Senior Business Leader

Mar 15 2012 // Brady Polansky has joined Minneapolis, Minn.-based Project CAP — created through alliance of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”), Trusted Choice, state associations...

Do Agency Management Benchmarks Work?

Mar 12 2012 // I have been analyzing agencies for a long time and I believe it is extremely safe to say that no two agencies are the same. At least I have never found two agencies to be the same. This is the problem with so many popular...

Former Agent in Washington Sentenced For Stealing $1 Million-Plus From Clients

Mar 9 2012 // A former insurance agent who stole more than $1 million from elderly clients has been sentenced to 75 months in prison.Jasmine Jamrus-Kassim was arrested in March 2011 after an investigation by the state insurance...

UK Broker BMS Launches New Global Construction Initiative

Mar 9 2012 // Independent global broker BMS Group announced that it has launched a new global construction initiative, to be headed by Gavin Madell, who has over twenty years’ experience in the field.BMS said the new team...

Captives Bring Premium Dollars and Jobs to Missouri

Mar 9 2012 // When it comes to the captive insurance industry, slow and steady growth is just fine with the state of Missouri. But it’s not like the state is reluctant to encourage captives to form or relocate there. Far from...