Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Florida Insurance Agent Charged with Diverting $4M in Premiums

Jun 9 2021 // A Pensacola, Florida insurance agent has bee charged with selling fraudulent insurance policies to his clients in exchange for approximately $4 million in insurance premium payments. Jason R. Coody, acting U.S. Attorney...

Cal/OSHA Cites Foster Farms, Agencies for COVID-19 Violations

Jun 7 2021 // Cal/OSHA has cited Foster Poultry Farms Inc. in Livingston, Calif., and four staffing agencies for not protecting workers from COVID-19. Cal/OSHA opened its inspection after receiving notification that an employee had died...

Permissible Broker-Agent Fees: It’s All a Matter of Geography

Jun 7 2021 // Oh, how things vary from state to state. This is particularly true when it comes to insurance laws. As insurance professionals know well, variations in state governance and regulation extend to the insurance space, with...

Canada’s Economical Insurance Launches Platform to Simplify Brokers’ SME Placements

Jun 4 2021 // Economical Insurance has introduced Vyne Commercial, a new digital platform and an expanded product offering, which is designed to simplify the process of insuring small businesses. Broker partners will be able to...

Canadian Fintech Company Ratehub Launches Insurance Brokerage

Jun 4 2021 // Canadian fintech company Ratehub Inc. has launched a property/casualty (P/C) brokerage called RH Insurance. Toronto-based Ratehub, which operates the financial product comparison site Ratehub.ca, said the launch brings the...

Broker Howden Launches World’s 1st Fully Sustainable Insurer, Parhelion

Jun 2 2021 // Howden, the London-based insurance broker, announced it is launching a UK insurer called Parhelion, which it describes as “the world’s first fully sustainable insurer.” Aiming to raise $500 million in...

People Moves: Island Insurance Names Kuioka COO, The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers Adds Newman in California

May 27 2021 // Island Insurance Co. has promoted Scott Kuioka to senior vice president and chief operating officer. Kuioka will continue to serve as chief investment officer and chief risk officer, and oversee the commercial lines-large...

Atlanta Insurance Agents Look to Expand Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Through Coalition

May 26 2021 // A group of Atlanta insurance professionals motivated by the racial justice movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd exactly one year ago have formed a nonprofit with the mission of improving diversity, equity and...

Alabama Prohibits Businesses, Agencies From Requiring Vaccine Passports

May 26 2021 // Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Monday signed a bill that prohibited private businesses and public institutions from requiring COVID-19 “vaccine passports” to access services or refusing those not inoculated...

Insurance Technology: Vertafore Unleashes Analytics for Agencies; MGA Mile Auto Raises $10.3M, Partners With Ford

May 25 2021 // Insurance agency technology firm Vertafore has released a product it says puts the power of data and analytics into the hands of independent agencies. The new offering, MarketTrends, helps agencies identify coverage...

Online Boating Marketplace Boatim Adds Insurance with Marine Broker Partner AMI

May 25 2021 // Boatim Inc., a company offering digital boating products and services, has launched an online boat insurance offering for U.S. customers. Through a partnership with international marine insurance broker American Marine...

Cal/OSHA Cites Foster Farms, Staffing Agencies for COVID-19 Violations

May 24 2021 // Cal/OSHA has cited Foster Poultry Farms Inc. in Livingston, Calif., and four staffing agencies for not protecting workers from COVID-19. Cal/OSHA opened its inspection after receiving notification that an employee had died...

Howden Acquires UK Specialist Broker Medical Professional Risk Solutions (MPRS)

May 19 2021 // Howden Broking announced it has acquired Medical Professional Risk Solutions (MPRS), a specialist insurance broker for the primary care sector, for an undisclosed sum. Howden said the acquisition adds further expertise to...

Cyber Security Is a Conversation Agents Need to Have with Clients

May 17 2021 // Not only are more people working from home than ever before, but entire families are shopping online and using the Internet of Things — Alexa, Siri, Google Home, and other technology embedded with sensors or software...

All Agencies Must Have a Balance Sheet

May 17 2021 // I have written on this subject many times, but I have done an inadequate job of being understood because I keep coming across agency owner after agency owner who does not know they need a balance sheet, and in fact, that...

How Insurance Agencies Find Sales Talent in Small Markets

May 17 2021 // Dear Mary, we are one of the largest insurance agencies in our state. Our plan is to remain independent and grow organically in every office location. Some of our markets are easier to find talent in than others. Our most...

High Street Insurance Partners Acquires Paladin, Richardi-Demola Insurance Agencies

May 14 2021 // High Street Insurance Partners (HSIP), a full-service insurance brokerage platform, has acquired New Jersey-based Paladin Insurance Agency and Richardi-Demola Insurance Agency (RD). Terms of the transaction were not...

Louisiana Insurance Agent Arrested on Fraud Charges

May 12 2021 // A Louisiana insurance agent was arrested on May 10, following an investigation by Louisiana State Police into allegations of insurance fraud. The Louisiana Department of Insurance had revoked the property/casualty producer...

Former California Agent Convicted for Embezzling Insurance Payments

May 11 2021 // Former insurance agent Wendy Judd, 47, of Madera, Calif., pleaded guilty this week to felony grand theft after embezzling over $20,000 of insurance premium payments from consumers. The California Department of Insurance...

Canada’s Riverview Insurance Solutions Merges with Sterling Capital Brokers

May 11 2021 // Riverview Insurance Solutions (RIS), the Alberta, Canada-based middle-market benefit consulting firm, announced it will merge with Sterling Capital Brokers (SCB). The combined company will create the largest independent...