All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Dec 28 2012 // The vast majority of commercial insurance buyers renewing their policies appear willing to accept coverage adjustments, moderate price increases, or both, according to a new survey.Still, the survey of risk managers and...
Dec 28 2012 // The 100-plus year-old independent agency distribution system is expanding, according to Future One’s 2012 Agency Universe Study. The number of independent agencies, it states, has recently increased to 38,500.Still,...
Dec 27 2012 // A group of Farmers Group Inc. agents have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging the Los Angeles, Calif.-based carrier has undercut them by sharing their data with a competing subsidiary and several...
Dec 27 2012 // Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. said today it has completed its previously announced acquisition of USI Insurance Services from Goldman Sachs Group’s GS Capital Partners for approximately $2.3 billion. The...
Dec 26 2012 // Federal authorities announced last week that a North Carolina farmer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud on the federal crop insurance program for payments worth over $1 million.According to authorities, Harry...
Dec 20 2012 // The Utah Insurance Department’s fraud division has filed criminal charges against former insurance agent Stewart Ian Rodgers.Rodgers has been operating under the name “SIR Insurance Group Online.” The...
Dec 20 2012 // Keystone Insurers Group announced the addition of two independent agencies in Georgia to its franchise business for a total of 10 in the state. The new franchise partners are Jowers-Sklar Insurance and The Harbin Agency....
Dec 19 2012 // The Insurance Agents & Brokers of Pennsylvania announced Joseph Pastor, CEO of Barr’s Insurance in Oil City, Penn., has joined the association’s statewide board.Joseph PastorThe Insurance Agents &...
Dec 19 2012 // Swiss bank UBS swallowed a $1.5 billion fine and admitted to fraud on Wednesday after a global probe revealed its staff orchestrated the manipulation of benchmark interest rates over three continents.UBS traders colluded...
Dec 18 2012 // AssuredPartners Inc., based in Lake Mary, Fla., recently announced the acquisition of two independent insurance agencies.In its first significant expansion west of the Mississippi River, AssuredPartners acquired...
Dec 18 2012 // The family of a slain Arizona Border Patrol agent has sued federal officials over the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation, claiming they should have known it created a risk to law enforcement...
Dec 17 2012 // This post is part of a series on insurance marketing and training sponsored by Astonish.It’s almost maddening how many sales opportunities are lost by insurance agents, CSRs, producers, or even receptionists who...
Dec 17 2012 // New entrants into the insurance industry are often triggered by the market showing signs of hardening. After all, these “newbies” have a better chance of securing a healthy rate by not having to pay for...
Dec 17 2012 // Associated Agencies Inc., based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has promoted Joshua Herz to president, making him the fourth person in the same family to hold the position.Herz succeeds his cousin, Max (Skip) R. Schrayer, who...
Dec 14 2012 // Officials of Florida’s policyholder-back insurer have decided not to pursue a plan to loan private insurers part of its surplus in exchange for removing policies citing the fact that as currently envisioned no...
Dec 13 2012 // This post is part of a series on insurance marketing and training sponsored by Astonish.Selling insurance isn’t like it used to be. Not many people just walk-in or call ready to do business anymore. And when they do,...
Dec 12 2012 // An insurance broker already headed to prison for funneling bribes to a former Toms River, N.J., school superintendent now faces an additional sentence for swindling the city of Perth Amboy in New Jersey.A state judge in...
Dec 11 2012 // This post is part of a series on insurance marketing and training sponsored by Astonish.After personally helping install hundreds of marketing systems in insurance agencies across the country, I can’t express enough...
Dec 11 2012 // Officials say the record number of insurance-fraud allegations in Ohio this year can be partly attributed to better reporting of suspected incidents and difficult economic times that push some people into illegal...
Dec 10 2012 // Long-derided as unsuitable for sophisticated futures markets, insurance is getting a surge of attention heading into the new year as the industry works to patch itself up after the stunning collapse of brokerage MF Global...