Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Excess, Surplus & Specialty
Jan 22 2006 // Main Street E&S: Why independent agents like backyard brokers In today’s business world, it’s rare to hear a live voice on the other end of a phone call. Most companies, small and large, have succumbed to...
CLOSER LOOK: Excess, Surplus & Specialty
Jan 22 2006 // XL, Rockhill and GMAC RE jockey for market share with established surplus lines writers Katrina-sized catastrophes put added pressure on admitted carriers, which increases the demand for greater capacity in excess and...
Fitch Predicts Stable Outlook for Broker Industry in 2006
Jan 20 2006 // New York-Chicago-based Fitch Ratings is predicting stability and growth for the broker industry in 2006, while admitting that earnings will be down in 2005 because of litigation connected to New York Attorney General Eliot...
AUGIE Launches Agency Survey
Jan 20 2006 // The ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) reported its benchmark Agency Technology Survey is now available to complete and encourages independent insurance agents and brokers to participate. The Florida...
CII Survey Examines Changes in Broker/Insurer Relations
Jan 20 2006 // The U.K.’s Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) Faculty of Insurance Broking, in conjunction with Oracle, the enterprise software company, has issued a new study – ” Opinion Leader Research: Broker...
La. Agent Charged with Pocketing Customer Premiums
Jan 19 2006 // A Bogalusa, La., insurance agent was arrested and issued a cease and desist order for alleged felony theft and withholding of insurance premiums, the Louisiana Department of Insurance said. The DOI ordered Patricia...
Agents’ Game Plan Helped Save Contingent Commissions
Jan 18 2006 // Independent insurance agents approached the criticisms from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other officials with a measured game plan that has worked to preserve contingency commissions in agencies across the...
Gallagher Joins RJF Agencies as Director of Marketing/Commercial Lines
Jan 18 2006 // Minnesota-based RJF Agencies Inc. reported that Tim Gallagher was hired as its director of Marketing/Commercial Lines. In this role, Gallagher will oversee the marketing of commercial insurance risks, design risk...
Big ‘I’ Katrina Relief Fund Donations Top $400,000
Jan 17 2006 // The Big “I” Katrina Relief Fund has awarded grants to more than 70 applicants from the Gulf Coast insurance community. With more than $400,000 in the fund from more than 470 contributors, the Big...
Lloyd’s Brokers Respond to Piracy Threats Against Ships’ Crews
Jan 17 2006 // Specialist intermediary Seacurus and Lloyd’s broker Cooper Gay have launched “CrewSEACURE,” a new type of marine cover underwritten within Lloyd’s, which addressees the rising instances of piracy,...
Newly Formed Mercator Risk Services Names Executive Appointments
Jan 17 2006 // Mercator Risk Services, the newly formed, independent wholesale insurance broker has named several senior leadership appointments. Michael S. Ryan has been named chief operating officer. In this role Ryan will be...
Barney & Barney’s Shea Elected President of IIBAA of San Diego
Jan 17 2006 // Steve Shea, account executive with the commercial insurance department at Barney & Barney has been elected president of the board of directors of the Independent Insurance Brokers & Agents Association of San...
Calif. Court Says Broker Owes Duty of Care to Third Party
Jan 16 2006 // California’s Second District Court of Appeals has decided that an insurance broker owed a legal duty of care to a third-party after an insurer refused to pay claims under an express policy exclusion. The case,...
Massachusetts Agent’s Body Found in Garage; Aronson Insurance Victim Shot to Death
Jan 15 2006 // An insurance agent, described by neighbors as friendly and generous, was fatally shot in the head when he parked his car next to his Newton office last Friday morning, authorities said. Edward Schiller, 39, of Framingham,...
Allianz’ “eZine” Electronic Magazine a Success with Irish Brokers
Jan 13 2006 // Allianz Ireland’s “Allianz Broker eZine,” a monthly electronic magazine, has found success with Irish brokers. The subsidiary of Germany’s Allianz launched the site to “streamline its...
Ind. Farm Bureau Insurance Co. Supports Victims of Fraud: Agent Arraigned this Week
Jan 13 2006 // Indiana Farm Bureau’s Chief Executive Officer, Jerry Canada, recently voiced the company’s steadfast commitment to continue to work with investigators as well as to support policyholders who were victims of...
Apollo Agencies Appoints Marti Simons VP of Sales Development
Jan 13 2006 // Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Apollo Agencies Inc., a subsidiary of Kinecta Federal Credit Union, has named Marti Simons to serve as vice president of sales development. She will oversee the growth of Apollo’s...
Insurance Skills Center, IBA West Team on Agent-Broker Disclosure Classes
Jan 12 2006 // Insurance Skills Center will be offering Broker-Agent Disclosure Classes beginning in January. The class will be taught by Steve Young, vice president and counsel general for IBA West. He will provide broker-agents with...
First Acceptance Purchases Assets of Chicago Non-Standard Auto Agencies
Jan 12 2006 // First Acceptance Corporation, a provider of private passenger non-standard automobile insurance, has acquired certain assets of Insurance Plus Agency II Inc. and Yale International Insurance Agency Inc. These agencies sell...
FSA Insurance Head Reasserts Commitment to Contract Certainty
Jan 11 2006 // David Strachan, The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority’s Insurance Sector Leader, in a speech to the Insurance Institute of London, reiterated the FSA’s commitment “to finding an end to the...
