Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Health of Agents

May 2 2011 // The role of health insurance agents under the new federal healthcare law is under review, again, by state and federal policymakers.Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith says the law’s medical loss ratio (MLR)...

People

May 2 2011 // Dallas-based insurance brokerage firm Roach Howard Smith & Barton (RHSB) appointed Tom A. Hughston as its new CEO.Hughston, previously the company’s executive vice president, is an established leader in the...

Georgia Regulates Certificates of Insurance

May 2 2011 // Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is expected to sign into law a bill requiring that certificate of insurance forms be filed with and approved by the state insurance commissioner.Agent groups and insurance companies have had...

People

May 2 2011 // Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. named Andrea James vice president, national sales leader. She will lead the National Broker team. This role establishes engagement and relationships at multiple...

Agents: Tread Carefully When Providing Workplace Safety Advice

May 2 2011 // Woe to the employer who is not attentive and actively engaged in health and safety.” That’s the warning the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is giving employers in the Golden...

Bragging About an Agent’s Book of Business May Create a Greater Legal Duty of Care

May 2 2011 // It has often been said that every attorney has a little larceny in his heart. In similar fashion, it could be said that every insurance agent has a little puffery in his heart regarding his book of business, background and...

Officials Target ‘Rebating’ in Federal Crop Insurance Sales

May 2 2011 // Farmers and insurance agents who sell federal crop insurance policies may soon be required to certify that they are not participating any rebating or incentive schemes related to the sales of those policies.The 2008...

E&O for Agents – A Necessity Even if Mistakes Don’t Happen

May 2 2011 // Errors and omissions insurance is available, and necessary, not just because mistakes happen. A customer’s perception can be that the reason a loss was not covered, valid or not, was the result of an agent’s...

100 Years of Relationships

May 2 2011 // Top 100 Agency Profile Rank: No. 18* Agency Name: Moreton & Co. Main Office: Salt Lake City, Utah Additional Locations: Sandy, Utah; Boise, Idaho; Denver, Colo.; Johnson, R.I. Year Founded: 1910 No. of Employees:...

A Third of Large U.S. Firms Show Business Interruption From Japan Disaster

Apr 29 2011 // More than a quarter of large U.S. based businesses are experiencing disruptions to their supply chains or contingent business interruptions as a result of the March earthquake in Japan, says a new report.A new Greenwich...

Louisiana Insurance Agent Gets Prison in Fraud Case

Apr 29 2011 // A 67-year-old Plaquemine, La., insurance agent has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for mail fraud that cost several of his insurance clients nearly $1.4 million.U.S. District Judge Brian A....

The Future of the Independent Agency (Has Nothing to Do with Age)

Apr 29 2011 // For the last 20 years, at least, consultants, associations and publications have been worrying about the future of the independent agency system because the average age of agency owners has been in the late 50s. The same...

New York Agents Want Say in State Health Exchange

Apr 29 2011 // Insurance agents in the Empire State are calling on lawmakers to ensure that brokers and producers have a role in the creation of the state-based health exchange mandated by federal health care reform.Those calls come...

Lloyd’s Market Association Questions Aspects of FSA Regulatory Reform

Apr 29 2011 // In a response to the proposals to restructure the UK’s financial regulations the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) has taken issue with some of the proposals, which, in its view are “over-engineered”...

Markel Programs, Burns & Wilcox Partner to Offer Real Estate E&O Program

Apr 28 2011 // Markel has partnered with Burns & Wilcox to offer a Real Estate Errors & Omissions program to a range of residential and commercial real estate industry accounts. This Markel Programs/Burns & Wilcox product...

Young Agents Survey Shows Strong Family Ties

Apr 28 2011 // Bryan Hanes grew up in the family business listening to stories about life in a small town. He heard his grandfather and then father sharing cheerful conversations with local towns folk about personal relationships, local...

Brodbeck Named Trusted Choice Hometown Hero in Texas

Apr 28 2011 // The Indpendent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) has named Randy Brodbeck of the Adams Insurance Agency in Johnson City as its newest Trusted Choice Hometown Hero. The Hometown Hero program recognizes Trusted Choice...

Lockton Dubai Names Dawes Specialist Financial Lines Broker

Apr 28 2011 // Lockton in Dubai announced the appointment of Neil Dawes as a specialist financial lines broker providing (re)insurance and risk management expertise to clients in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.He has more...

XS Brokers Hires Finneran

Apr 27 2011 // XS Brokers Insurance Agency has added David Finneran to the firm’s professional lines practice. Finneran most recently worked with DeCotis Insurance Associates and The Keating Group before joining Quincy,...

Spring Flooding Renews Concerns over Flood Program

Apr 27 2011 // For agents across much of the Northeast, the last month has brought spates of spring flooding and storms — and has served as a reminder for what is poised to become a political battle this year over frequent lapses and...