Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Calif. Commissioner Proposes New Broker Regulations, AG Steps In

Nov 8 2004 // In response to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s charges against super brokerage Marsh McLennan, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi proposed new regulations for agents and brokers Oct. 20 which...

Agents Watching Spitzer Broker Fraud Charges Closely

Nov 8 2004 // New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s filing on Oct. 14 of charges against giant insurance broker Marsh for alleged commercial account steering and bid rigging has already had significant impact on Marsh and is...

ASCnet Conferees Hear How to Manage a Profitable Business

Nov 8 2004 // The latest technologies that allow independent agents and brokers to efficiently manage and ensure a profitable business were presented to more than 1,800 conferees attending the Annual Technology, Education and Networking...

Big “I” Takes Proactive Approach to Issues in the Spitzer Investigation

Nov 8 2004 // By now, you probably are aware that insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. and Marsh Inc. (collectively Marsh) were sued in New York on Oct. 14 based on allegations of engaging in certain illegal business...

Fla. AG Launches Widespread Anti-Trust Probe, 10 Subpoenas Issued

Nov 6 2004 // Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has issued subpoenas seeking documents and records from 10 firms and anticipates sending six more subpoenas out next week as insurance industry investigations widen. Crist is...

‘Wall Street’ Insurance Broker Scandal Hurting ‘Main Street’ Agents, Conn. Big ‘I’ Leader Fears

Nov 5 2004 // “We are Main Street agents. This problem was created on Wall Street.” A Connecticut independent agent leader hopes the reality behind those words will help protect independent agents from being grouped with...

Former Bay Area Insurance Agent to Serve Jail Time

Nov 5 2004 // On Oct. 27, Herbert Amos Jones, of Bethel Island, Calif., pled guilty in Contra Costa Superior Court to one felony count of grand theft. Jones, a former California-licensed insurance agent and regional vice president of...

Big ‘I’ Congratulates Winners, Looks to Future

Nov 4 2004 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) has congratulated President George W. Bush and all of the winners in House and Senate races, and looks forward to working with all of the...

Pair of Ga. Agents Arrested

Nov 4 2004 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said an investigation by his office resulted in the arrest of two insurance agents in Albany, Ga. Arrested were sisters Tiawanna Thomas Moore and Kimberly Thomas Goodman....

Hub Acquires Canadian Broker TILCO

Nov 3 2004 // Hub International Limited announced that its Canadian life and financial services wholesale brokerage, Hub Financial, Inc., has acquired TILCO Financial Services Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia. Terms of the cash...

NAIC Task Force of 13 States to Lead Broker Investigations, Develop Model Disclosure Law

Nov 2 2004 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced that it has recently formed the NAIC Executive Task Force on Broker Activities to gather facts and coordinate activities to address alleged criminal...

Republican Candidates Win ‘Big Time’ in Insurance Industry Political Giving in Federal Races

Nov 2 2004 // The late U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill (D-Mass.) is famous for insisting, “All politics is local.” Apparently, O’Neill wasn’t counting the money. When it comes to...

N.J. Inquires into Brokers’ Contracts, Commissions

Nov 2 2004 // Continuing New Jersey’s inquiry into recent national allegations of wrongdoing by segments of the insurance industry, Commissioner Holly C. Bakke has issued an order seeking information from major New Jersey brokers....

K&B Brokerage Opens for Business in Virginia

Nov 2 2004 // Retail insurance agents have a new brokerage resource: K&B Underwriters, LLC, of Fairfax, Va. Founded by insurance veteran Bryan Baird, K&B is a wholesale brokerage. Baird notes that K&B’s initial...

Independent Agents Unsure About Florida Amendment 3

Nov 2 2004 // With all the publicity about the presidential race, Florida’s Amendment 3 and other amendments on the ballot have taken a backseat and how they are decided could have far-reaching effects on the insurance agents...

Ala. Agents Plead Guilty in Bribery Case

Nov 2 2004 // Two insurance agents have pleaded guilty in Birmingham, Ala. to giving money to Cherokee County elected officials in exchange for the county’s insurance business, the latest corruption case to surface in the...

Mercury Insurance Loses Appeal in Broker Fees Case

Nov 2 2004 // Mercury Insurance Company producers acting as brokers are considered agents and not brokers, and thus are not entitled to collect any broker fees, according to the California Court of Appeal’s ruling in Krumme v....

Roderick Named EVP at Lockton Insurance Brokers

Nov 2 2004 // Lockton Insurance Brokers, Inc., a commercial insurance brokerage firm with offices in Irvine and downtown Los Angeles, recently announced Richard Roderick as executive vice president. Roderick, who joined Lockton in 1996,...

Pa. AG Sues 16 Including Attorneys Over Alleged Widespread ‘Living Trust’ Sales Scam

Oct 29 2004 // Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert has filed a civil lawsuit in Commonwealth Court accusing 16 defendants of engaging in an elaborate statewide living trust sales scheme, that deceived older Pennsylvanians into...

Alabama’s DOI On A Fact-finding Mission to Interview Brokers, Companies

Oct 29 2004 // The Alabama Department of Insurance is interviewing brokers and companies that are tied to entities that have attracted the attention of prosecutors in New York and other states. “There have been serious allegations...