Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Illinois Agent Fined $100K for Allegedly Stealing Premiums

Sep 18 2009 // The Illinois Department of Insurance as revoked the license of an agent and his agency, and fined him $100,000 for keeping his clients’ payments and committing several other frauds.Investigators say Earl D. Bertsche,...

San Diego Insurance Broker Pleads Guilty to Theft

Sep 17 2009 // Insurance agent Louise May Batchelor, 55, of San Diego, has pled guilty to two felony counts of grand theft. Her sentencing has been set for November 6, 2009 in San Diego Superior Court.According to California Department...

Dressel Insurance Named Trusted Choice Agency of the Month

Sep 16 2009 // Dressel Insurance Agency Inc. in Saint Bonifacius, Minn., has been named the Trusted Choice Agency of the Month by Trusted Choice, the consumer branding program for independent insurance agents and brokers.“The team...

Text: Senate Finance Committee’s America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009

Sep 16 2009 // Chairman’s Mark America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 Scheduled for Markup By the Senate Committee on Finance On September 22, 2009 America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 TITLE I—HEALTH CARE...

California Insurance Agents Cater to Medical Marijuana Clinics

Sep 14 2009 // Ever since President Barak Obama came into office and his attorney general said the administration would not pursue medical marijuana dispensaries, the number of such businesses has exploded.Now, a few insurance agents are...

U.S. Mulls Liability Standards for Credit Rating Firms

Sep 14 2009 // U.S. securities regulators are roughing out ideas that would make Moody’s Corp., Standard & Poor’s and other credit raters more accountable to investors by potentially exposing the firms to greater...

New York Issues New Draft of Disclosure Rules for Agents

Sep 11 2009 // The New York State Insurance Department released proposed new rules mandating how and what insurance agents must reveal to clients about how they are compensated in the sale of a policy.The so-called transparency rules...

Rhode Island Agencies Form Network

Sep 11 2009 // Two Rhode Island insurance agencies have launched an affiliation group and are searching for potential partners, they said.Hunter Insurance and Loiselle Insurance Agency have created the Trusted Insurance Alliance (TIA) to...

North Carolina Young Insurance Agents Bestow Annual Awards

Sep 10 2009 // The Young Agents Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) recently named its Agent of the Year, Broker of the Year and Company of the Year for 2009.Eric Stevens, of Moore and Johnson Agency...

Louisiana Agent Accused of Pocketing Insurance Premiums

Sep 10 2009 // A Thibodaux, La., insurance agent and his agency have been issued a cease and desist order, summary suspension of licenses and fine notice for 12 counts of alleged misappropriation of premiums, the Louisiana Department of...

Insurance Regulators Vow to Examine Role of Credit Rating Agencies

Sep 9 2009 // The nation’s insurance regulators are looking into the role that credit rating agencies play in the insurance regulatory system.The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said it will hold a public...

North Carolina Diamond Broker Robbed of $1.5 Million Had No Insurance

Sep 8 2009 // The bad news for Peter Kaplan is even worse than first reported.The North Carolina diamond broker, whose $1.5 million inventory was stolen in New Mexico last week, didn’t have insurance. “My business is...

Former Ohio Insurance Agent Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison

Sep 8 2009 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson reported that on Sept. 01, 2009, former Maineville insurance agent William R. Appleton, II, was sentenced in United States District Court to 97 months imprisonment for...

How to Work Better with Brokers

Sep 7 2009 // Sometimes throwaway questions can spark very interesting responses during an interview. In reporting the feature story on the excess & surplus lines industry (See N20), Insurance Journal reporters – just for the...

States Give a ‘Thumbs Up’ to Fingerprinting Insurance Producers

Sep 7 2009 // Don’t be alarmed, but there are convicted criminals roaming around the country acting as insurance producers. They could be robbers, forgers, possibly even rapists.They got their producer licenses in states that did...

People

Sep 7 2009 // CNA Financial Corp. named Bob Lindemann as president and chief operating officer of CNA’s Commercial Lines operations.In this role, Lindemann will be responsible for CNA’s $3.5 billion commercial...

People

Sep 7 2009 // Texas-based Specialty Insurance Managers Inc. appointed several new vice presidents.Karen Ashton was named vice president of the Arlington, Texas, branch. Bonnie Stalkfleet is now vice president of the Granbury branch....

Idaho Agent Knows Job Safety Training and Employee Communication Pay Off

Sep 7 2009 // The best way insurance agents can teach employers about workers’ compensation is to get to know their business.Idaho insurance agent Doug Nielsen vividly remembers the moment he realized the importance of job safety...

Calif.’s Employers Direct Now Wants Agents

Sep 7 2009 // Just a short time after announcing it was leaving the California workers’ compensation insurance market because it was not profitable, direct writing Employers Direct Insurance Co. changed its tune and said it is...

Buyer and Agent Beware

Sep 7 2009 // Just when I really think I understand a coverage I am blind-sided by the reality of what is actually happening in the insurance industry. I remember the good old days when a business owners policy (BOP) was a simple policy...