People – South Central

The Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. elected Penny Restrepo president of the organization for the coming year, along with other officers and directors at its annual meeting in Austin on Nov. 10. Restrepo is vice president/director of commercial lines at Delta General Agency Corp., Houston.

Other new officers are: Vice President Shawn Fabors, president at RISC Inc., a member of the AmWINS Group, Dallas; and Secretary/Treasurer Teri Brinson, executive vice president at M.D. Jensvold & Co. Inc., Houston.

New directors are: Jennifer Mier with AmWINS Brokerage of Texas; Linda Reed with AUI Inc.; and Veronica Smith with Myron Steves.

The TSLA Executive Committee consists of the current officers and the immediate Past President Lorrie Cheshier with McClelland & Hine Inc.

Managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler, U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., has named Keith Doan a vice president in the Dallas office of U.S. Risk Brokers Inc.

Doan has more than 24 years of experience in the insurance industry. He specializes in executive risk, management liability, and traditional property and casualty.

At U.S. Risk, Doan will focus on executive risk/management liability lines of coverage including Cyber, D&O, EPLI, Fiduciary Liability, Crime, KR&E, Miscellaneous E&O, A&E, Title Agents, Educators Legal, Insurance Agents E&O and Lawyers Professional.

Workers’ compensation carrier, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., announced that Curtis Johnson Jr. has been appointed vice president of claim operations.

In this role he oversees all claim operations, including special claim services, employers’ liability, subrogation, regional claim operations, medical bill audit, claim adjustment and specialized catastrophic claim handling.

Johnson has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and most recently held the position of regional claims manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Irving, Texas. He previously served in managerial positions at America First Insurance, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. and Travelers Insurance.

Johnson has earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.

The Hanover Insurance Group named Richard Lavey as president of personal lines coverage. He’s a veteran executive of the Massachusetts-based U.S. property/casualty insurer who initially came on board a decade ago.

Lavey’s responsibilities will include homeowners, automobile and related insurance coverage for individuals and families.

At the same time, he’ll keep his previous job with the company as The Hanover’s chief marketing officer.

Lavey first joined The Hanover in 2004 and has served in additional positions including president, field operations and head of The Hanover’s northeast region. Lavey also has strategic marketing experience from previous stints at The Hartford and Travelers.

The Woodlands, Texas-based TWFG Insurance Services is expanding with 15 more branch locations in Texas, two additional in California, and another in Washington state.

In Texas TWFG added: Felipe Mejia, Houston; Thai Hoang, Wichita Falls; Michael Trinh, Houston; Kimberly Zimmerman, Spring; Bentley Fitch, Carrollton; Erika Miranda, San Antonio; Alla Mokritsky, Houston; Chris Holland, Montgomery; Clayton Rote, Dallas; Mason Grillo, Beaumont; David Deases, Sinton; Jatinder Kaur, Union City; Wendy Tran, Houston; Cherie Johnson, Donie; and Douglas Rodriguez, Houston.

In California TWFG added Robert Diaz, Daly City, and Robert Wells, Redlands.

In Washington, TWFG added Michael Pedrelli, Gig Harbor.

TWFG Insurance specializes in products and services for homeowners, auto and small business insurance needs. TWFG has 320 retail branches operating in 21 states and affiliations with 3,000 independent agents serving 38 states. The company writes policies in 49 U.S. states from its headquarters in The Woodlands.

Commercial insurer Zurich North America has named Mark Shults regional executive for the South in marketing, distribution and regional management. His office is in Atlanta.

In his new role, Shults will lead the Zurich Regional Leadership Team in achieving profitability and growth targets for the South region. He will oversee new and renewal business, along with customer and distribution strategies. Shults will work directly with select brokers to provide insurance and risk management services for Zurich’s customers in the South.

Since 2010, Shults had been Zurich’s Houston-area executive, leading operations in southern Texas and Louisiana. He joined Zurich in 2008 as the regional sales director for the South region with responsibility for sales and distribution.