Latest Independent Agencies Headlines

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

Michigan Agency Receives Trusted Choice Community Involvement Award

May 8 2018 // Trusted Choice has awarded the annual Dan Fulwider Award for Community Involvement to Alliance Financial & Insurance in Lowell, Michigan. In recognition of Fulwider’s community involvement, Trusted Choice...

American Family, Main Street America Reveal Plan to Merge

May 4 2018 // Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance group and Florida-based The Main Street America Group will pursue a merger, the companies announced today. The combined equity of the merged entities is expected to be more than $9...

Nationwide Switching to Independent Agency Distribution Model by 2020

Apr 16 2018 // Independent agents take note – Nationwide may be on your side. Nationwide on Monday announced its intention to shift to an independent agency distribution model over the next two years. The Columbus, Ohio-based carrier,...

2018 Young Agents Survey: Straight Talk From Young Agents

Apr 16 2018 // Young agents want change. They want more diversity in the agency sales ranks. They want better paths to grow in their careers. They want other agents to adhere to professional standards and ethics. They want faster and...

Startup Agency Gabi CEO: ‘We Don’t Want to Eliminate Agents’

Mar 20 2018 // Editor’s Note: On Feb. 21, Insurance Journal reported on online personal lines insurance startup Gabi’s latest fundraising. (Personal Insurance Site Gabi Raises $9.5 Million; Now Selling in 6 States). In its...

Independent Agencies Post Gains in Organic Growth, Profitability in Q4: Reagan Consulting

Mar 5 2018 // Insurance agencies and brokerage firms ended 2017 with gains in organic growth and profitability in the fourth quarter. The 175 midsize and large agencies and brokerages participating in Reagan Consulting’s Organic...

Satisfied Independent Agents Are Growth Engines for P/C Carriers: J.D. Power

Feb 19 2018 // Despite the growth of both technology-based and direct-to-customer sales channels in the property/casualty (P/C) insurance industry, independent agents still control the lion’s share of P/C premiums and represent a...

Why Independent Agents Remain Alive and Well

Feb 5 2018 // When I began my career as a journalist covering the insurance industry back in 1981, many of my early stories reported on dire warnings in a series of studies and expert pronouncements predicting the imminent demise of the...

Satisfied Independent Agents Are Growth Engines for P/C Carriers: J.D. Power

Jan 26 2018 // Despite the growth of both technology-based and direct-to-customer sales channels in the property/casualty (P/C) insurance industry, independent agents still control the lion’s share of P/C premiums and represent a...

Independent Insurance Agents of Plainview, Texas, Merges with Higginbotham

Jan 9 2018 // Fort Worth, Texas-based retail insurance broker, Higginbotham, and Independent Insurance Agents of Plainview (IIAP) have merged operations. With the addition of IIAP in Plainview, Higginbotham now has 27 offices in...

2018 Insurance Industry Meetings & Events Directory

Jan 8 2018 // CIWA Industry Days Jan 8-10 Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines La Jolla, Calif. California Insurance Wholesalers Association (CIWA) Contact: Thomas Shovlin, thomas@ciwa.net The 19th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference Jan...

What They Are Saying About Effects of Trump Tax Cuts on Insurance Industry

Dec 22 2017 // Congress has passed and President Donald Trump has signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (HR1) into law. It is the biggest tax change in 30 years. Under the legislation, insurers, agencies and other businesses organized as C...

New Law Requires Notice of Workers’ Comp Premium Hikes in New York

Dec 20 2017 // New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed Assembly Bill No. 1620 into law yesterday, requiring insurance companies to notify employers in advance of some workers’ compensation insurance premium increases. The law was...

After the Storms: The Insurance Industry to the Rescue

Dec 18 2017 // When disaster strikes, the insurance industry plays a critical role in helping affected individuals, businesses and communities get back on their feet. After all, an insurance policy is a promise to pay when tragedy and...

6 Industry Trends to Exploit for 2018

Dec 18 2017 // To prepare for the future, business owners need to observe what trends are occurring and then evaluate how those trends could impact their business. It is a guessing game, but an educated guess is usually proven to be...

Margraves Serves as President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston

Dec 11 2017 // Scott Margraves has been elected to serve as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston (IIAH) for a term that expires Aug. 31, 2018. Margraves is a commercial lines producer for TDECU Insurance Agency LLC....

Associated Risk Managers’ Easley Named President of Indiana Big ‘I’

Dec 1 2017 // Greg Easley has been elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana (Indiana Big “I”). Easley currently serves as chairman of Associated Risk Managers International (ARM), and previously has...

People

Nov 6 2017 // Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia (IIAG) announced that John Barbour, formerly vice president of Governmental Affairs, was chosen to serve as new chief executive officer. Barbour began leading the association on...

Chubb Taps Hiscox’s Hosking, Promotes Bear to UK Middle Market Broker Roles

Oct 3 2017 // Chubb has announced the appointment of two new positions within its Middle Market Independent Broker segment. Hannah Hosking has been appointed as Head of Distribution – Independent Brokers UK&I, while Steve Bear has...

New Association for Insurance Agency Networks Forming

Oct 2 2017 // An insurance industry lender is among those touting a new association for insurance agency networks. The lender, Live Oak Bancshares Inc., says it will not have ownership in the new group, Insurance Networks Alliance...