Business Moves
Keystone, Latta
Latta Insurance Services Inc. of Henderson, Ky., has become Keystone Insurers Group’s seventeenth franchise partner in Kentucky.Latta Insurance Services President Williams S. Latta announced the new arrangement jointly with Keystone President David Boedker.
Latta Insurance has served western Kentucky since 1885. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Henderson, the agency specializes in commercial coverages.
KIG is owned by its employees and franchise partners in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Each partner is an independent agency. With property/casualty premiums exceeding $1 billion, KIG is ranked sixth on Insurance Journal’s 2009 list of Top 100 Privately-Held Property/Casualty Agencies.
Florida Regulators, Infinity Surety
Florida insurance regulators have ordered a Texas surety insurance firm, Infinity Surety, to halt all business in Florida. Officials say the insurer was never authorized to sell in Florida.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued a cease and desist order to Infinity Surety of Saginaw, Texas, and its president, George D. Black.
OIR investigators said Infinity has never been granted a certificate of authority or license to transact insurance as a surety company in Florida. Investigators said they discovered Infinity sold more than $2 million worth of bonds to Florida contractors for business transactions with cities, counties, utilities and municipalities. Infinity has also faced charges in Louisiana.
MedMal Direct
Jacksonville-based MedMal Direct Insurance Co. has officially launched operations as a medical malpractice insurance company in Florida.
The company will sell insurance directly to physicians without the use of insurance agents or brokers– a strategy it said will save Florida physicians an average of 20 percent on their premiums. The company said its coverage will mirror those currently being offered through the brokerage system.
The four founders of the company are Carter B. Bryan, chairman of the board; Butler Ball, CEO; Timothy R. Bone, president; and Michael J. Wallace, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Vertafore, TPG Capital
Vertafore, a leading provider of software to the insurance industry, is being acquired by investment funds managed by TPG Capital. TPG will purchase the company from Hellman & Friedman and its co-investor JMI Equity for a total consideration of $1.4 billion. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.