Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Michigan Officials Seek to Force Broker to Remit $1.3 Million Owed to Insurers

Oct 4 2010 // Michigan insurance officials have gone to court to force a Troy insurance broker to remit $1.3 million in premiums he owes to multiple insurance companies.The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation petitioned the...

Some Rezoned Flood Insurance Policyholders Get Price Break

Oct 4 2010 // The nation’s flood insurance program is extending the availability of lower cost policies for some property owners who have been recently remapped into higher-priced areas.Since 2008, many homes and businesses in the...

Florida Concerned Medical Ratio Rule Will Marginalize Agents

Oct 4 2010 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) recently conducted a public hearing with the Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board (FHIAB) to review the impact of the federal Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirements. The...

People

Oct 4 2010 // The Hartford has appointed Lisa Morgan as senior vice president of its Middle Market commercial insurance business. Morgan will lead The Hartford’s $2 billion middle market commercial insurance unit that serves...

People

Oct 4 2010 // Watkins Insurance Group, one of the largest full-service, locally owned independent insurance agencies in central Texas, added agent Andy Webb to its sales team. Webb began his career in the insurance industry in March...

Eligibility for Preferred Risk Flood Insurance Pricing to Be Extended

Oct 4 2010 // Since 2008, many homes and businesses in the United States have been re-zoned on Federal Emergency Management Administration flood hazard maps from low-to-moderate flood risk areas into higher risk areas, and vice versa....

California Modifies Privacy Regulations, Makes Insurance Shopping Easier

Oct 4 2010 // In what’s being called “a major victory for insurance agents and brokers,” the California Department of Insurance has notified the California Office of Administrative Law of its intention to repeal...

People

Oct 4 2010 // Salt Lake City-based The Buckner Co. named Mark A. Oligschlaeger executive vice president/chief operations officer. He joins the insurance firm after having spent the past 12 years working for Leucadia National Corp.,...

Agents to Calif. State Fund: Please Pay Commissions

Oct 4 2010 // Insurance agents and brokers want the California State Compensation Insurance Fund to change its broker of service policy and instead recognize broker of record (BOR) letters.While the policy not to recognize BOR letters...

Eligibility for Preferred Risk Flood Insurance Pricing to Be Extended

Oct 4 2010 // Since 2008, many homes and businesses in the United States have been re-zoned on Federal Emergency Management Administration flood hazard maps from low to moderate flood risk areas into higher risk areas, and vice versa....

For Award Winning CSR, Going ‘Above and Beyond’ is Part of the Job

Oct 4 2010 // What does it take to deliver outstanding customer service? Kimberly J. Muesse, a senior account manager with the Lockton Companies in Houston, should know. She’s won a string of awards during her 25-plus years in the...

Clock is Ticking on Surplus Lines Tax Reform

Oct 4 2010 // The insurance industry called the passage of the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010, a “big win” thanks to provisions in the massive reform bill that would modernize regulation...

A Wonderful Life

Oct 4 2010 // If a creative insurance cinematographer were to capture the story of McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP, it might appear to be a familiar tale. That’s because although times are tough in the national economy, at this...

What’s In the NRRA?

Oct 4 2010 // Reporting, Payment, and Allocation of Premium Taxes: Only the home state of insured may require premium tax payment. States may enter into a compact or other procedures to allocate among the states taxes paid to home...

Specialty Products Manufacturing: Multiple Opportunities for Injury

Oct 4 2010 // In 2007 there were over 10 million consumer-product related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments, according to the National Safety Council. While the statistics reveal injuries from seemingly innocuous...

6 Characteristics of the Best Agencies Today

Oct 4 2010 // The best way to get to the top fast is to do the same things that those who are already there are doing. Essentially, management should practice and emulate the characteristics those top performing competitors have. The...

Surplus Lines Premiums Down in 2009; But Brokers Say Market is Stabilizing

Oct 4 2010 // The surplus lines industry continues to experience a decline in direct premiums written (DPW). For a third consecutive year in 2009, the surplus lines industry’s DPW fell 4.1 percent, an improvement over 2008 where...

16 Brokers to Use New Single-Entry Commercial Lines Insurance Exchange

Oct 4 2010 // Sixteen insurance brokerage firms have agreed to be the first to use a new Internet-based single entry submission system to transact commercial lines business with carriers, a system that will be made available to all...

Syndicates – The Heart of the Market

Oct 4 2010 // As underwriters, syndicates are the heart of the Lloyd’s market. Until the end of the 20th century they were largely funded by wealthy individuals, who pledged their fortunes to back the risks accepted by the...

EU Finance Ministers Seek to End Bank-tax Dispute; Grill Rating Agencies

Oct 1 2010 // European Union finance ministers met on Friday in a fresh attempt to agree a common approach on taxing banks as well as to grill credit rating agencies about how they arrive at their ratings.Three years since the onset of...