Articles by Amy O'Connor

O'Connor is the Southeast editor for Insurance Journal and associate editor of MyNewMarkets.com.

CoreLogic: More Than 600K Homes in Carolinas Could Be At Risk from Dorian

The wrath of Hurricane Dorian isn’t over yet and many more communities in its path are at risk and are bracing for the storm after it demolished the Bahamas earlier this week. The extremely slow-moving hurricane is finally reaching the …

Atlanta-Based INSUREtrust Adds Ottaviano as Account Manager

Atlanta-based INSUREtrust has added Josh Ottaviano as an account manager in Georgia. Ottaviano previously worked in sales at Coca-Cola Bottling Company United prior to starting at INSUREtrust. He also previously interned in the Operations Department at Highland Capital Brokerage. INSUREtrust, …

AAA Carolinas to Offer Home Concierge Service for Homeowners Claims

AAA Carolinas Insurance has partnered with digital marketplace HomeAdvisor to help members repair, replace and recover after they’ve received payment for a homeowners insurance claim. Home Concierge, powered by HomeAdvisor, connects claim recipients with a project manager to help them …

Update: Florida Prepares for Hurricane Dorian; CoreLogic Cites $145B Exposure

Hurricane Dorian has set its sights on the Southeast coast, with Florida likely to be the state that feels the biggest impact when it makes its U.S. landfall sometime over the weekend or early next week, according to forecasters. Disaster …

5 Insurtechs Working to Improve Agency Processes, Efficiency

Independent insurance agents can find sifting through the many insurtech products to pinpoint ones suited to their needs is a daunting assignment. But it’s an assignment they must tackle, according to agency consultant Chris Burand, founder of Chris Burand & …

Why Agencies Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Insurtech and Need to Adopt It – Now

There’s been a barrage of insurtech products hitting the market for several years now, creating confusion for some agency owners trying to decipher what is relevant to them, how to implement these products and whether to wait for new agency …

Florida Supreme Court Dismisses Long-Awaited Case on AOB Policy Language

The Florida Supreme Court has reversed course and decided not to hear a controversial case regarding the validity of certain language around assignment of benefit agreements, instead ruling that a law passed by the Florida Legislature this session, which took …

Saunders Joins Jackson Sumner & Associates as South Carolina Marketing Rep

Jackson Sumner & Associates (JSA) has added Brantley Saunders to the Marketing team as the South Carolina Marketing Representative. Saunders is a South Carolina native with 10 years of experience in the insurance industry in various capacities, including E&S underwriting. …

Empire Underwriters Expands Programs into Hawaii

Empire Underwriters, an MGA, surplus lines broker and wholesaler in business insurance underwriting and services, has launched new programs available in the State of Hawaii. The new programs include its Main Street Workers Comp as well as Hard to Place …

North Carolina’s Order for Duke Energy to Excavate Coal Ash Can Move Forward

A North Carolina hearing officer says a state agency can order the country’s largest electric company to excavate all its coal ash pits by 2030 so that they quit polluting neighboring rivers. A state administrative judge on Friday dismissed claims …