Some IJ Firsts

This issue marks another new venture for Insurance Journal magazine. For the first time ever, we have compiled a list of the nation’s top 100 independent property/casualty brokerages ranked by premium volume.

This list is the first of its kind to appear in Insurance Journal, and we compiled our list with information provided voluntarily by agencies and brokerages via the Internet or through mail or fax. Turn to page X to see the complete list.

If your name isn’t on our list, don’t fret, as there will be another chance to make it next year! To submit a listing for future reports, please visit www.insurancejournal.com.

Running alongside our inaugural top 100 list is the feature “Market Report: Independent Agency System Shows Growth, Opportunity,” by Madelyn Flannagan, of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, and Jeff Yates, with the Agents Council for Technology. Together, Flannagan and Yates provide an in-depth study of the status of the independent agency system, providing market share comparisons between independent agents and brokers, captive agents and the direct response companies.

Another new addition to Insurance Journal is the Webmail department. We’ve compiled reader feedback in response to stories posted on our Web site and printed in our magazine. Flip to page 56 to read the comments from your peers.

Now on to agency management. We’ve been working hard to gather some informative and newsworthy feature articles for your benefit. Our Midwest editor Kevin O’Reilly brings us up to speed on the latest developments in the world of XML—will re-keying data over and over ever become a thing of the past? Unfortunately, probably not any time soon. Turn to page IV of our National section to find out.

And Gary Normington, executive director of RiskProNet International, gives us the latest on carrier integration with agency management systems, and the challenges agents face in dealing with integration on page 46.

In other news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signed a bill designed to overhaul California’s workers’ compensation system. Among the reforms included in the package, which goes into effect immediately, are caps to temporary disability benefits, return-to-work incentives and definitive guidelines for medically necessary treatment.

Will these changes in the system add up to big savings for employers as the governor has promised? Turn to page 8 for the full story.

We’d like to hear your thoughts on California’s workers’ compensation reform package. Do you think it will provide relief to the system and why? Send us your thoughts.