A U.S. consumer group has made claims that Geico Corp. uses rate-making methods that directly base eligibility and premiums solely upon the educational background and occupation of consumers. The Consumer Federation of America says that it uncovered a Geico underwriting …
With the eyes of Congress turning to insurance reform, most commentators are focused on how change might affect the overall insurance industry and agents. But the often-overlooked surplus lines segment of the industry could end up looking different, maybe even …
Excess and surplus lines experts expect to see steady premium growth in 2006, with commercial property and contractors business leading the way, according to an exclusive Insurance Journal survey. Nearly 85% of survey respondents anticipate that their firm’s premium volume …
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 answering customer calls via electronic means. Customers, frustrated and confused, press one, two, …
Hurricanes, Capital, Agents and Technology Feed the Product Process Looking for a new market? Most people in the industry are, including those who get paid to come up with new insurance products. According to these product idea experts, what ends …
Smaller, Regional and Start-Up Programs Sweat It Out Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger, today’s strongest and most successful insurance programs started out as scrawny and klutzy kids. Hard work along with nurturing from wise and patient carriers helped them build muscle …
Burns & Wilcox, one of the nation’s largest wholesale brokerage firms, announced it will no longer market the company’s personal lines business as Service General, but instead will conduct all personal lines business as “Burns & Wilcox Personal Lines.” The …
With more than 3,200 people in attendance, the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices’ annual convention convened in San Francisco, Calif., last month to address the “changing tides” in today’s insurance industry. While the conference’s theme focused on the …
The devastation left by Hurricane Katrina stirred up familiar talk in the insurance industry and beyond about the need for a federal catastrophe risk program. And less than a month after Katrina, insurance regulators from the nation’s largest states announced …
Nearly five years ago, a group of program specialists gathered in Tempe, Ariz., for the first summit meeting of a budding industry organization called the Target Markets Program Administrators Association. The brainchild of Glenn Clark, owner and president of Wilmington, …
