Articles by Constance Parten

E-Signature Legislation Takes Effect; Industry will be Slow to Change

It was the dawning of a new era in e-commerce Oct. 1 as the U.S. digital signature law went into effect. But much of the insurance industry is still stretching, scratching its head and rubbing its eyes, trying to determine …

GuideOne to Shed Recent Acquisitions; Former Owners to Repurchase Companies

Just 10 months after selling his company to Des Moines, Iowa-based insurer GuideOne, Clifton Robinson is buying it back. Robinson, the previous owner of National Lloyds Insurance Co. in Waco, Tex. signed a definitive agreement with GuideOne a few weeks …

The Pioneering Women of TEXAS: How a generation of insurance women was born

On June 2, 1944 at 9:30 a.m. in the roof garden of the Hotel Adolphus in Dallas, the first meeting of the Insurance Women of Texas was opened by call to order by Mrs. Ruth A. Fredde, president of the …

Reliance Staves Off Bankruptcy For Now

Reliance Group Holdings Inc. was granted more time from creditors late last month to deal with repaying $237.5 million in bank debt. The troubled insurer said bankers extended the due date to Nov. 10 from Aug. 31. No information was …

Reliance Staves Off Bankruptcy; Troubles Remain

Reliance Group Holdings Inc. was grant- ed more time from creditors late last month to deal with repaying $237.5 million in bank debt. The troubled insurer said bankers extended the due date to Nov. 10 from Aug. 31. No information …

Roundabouts: A Way Around Costly Accidents’

The Insurance Industry’s Increased Interest in Auto Safety Has Produced Research that Provides Compelling Reasons to Send Our Traffic in Circles Each year in the United States more than 800 people die and an estimated 200,000-plus are injured in crashes …

Comparative Raters Re-Offer DOS Format

They were supposed to make multi-tasking quotes a cinch for auto insurance agents, but the recent releases of Windows-based comparative raters by QuickQuote and TurboRater weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Conversions from the former DOS operating systems …

Personal Auto Profits Plummet

As Losses Top 66 Percent Will Texas Soon Bench the Benchmark System? Personal auto losses increased last year in 35 of 51 markets across the country, making for an average pure loss ratio of 65.6 percent, the highest level since …

Davis Appoints California Insurance Commissioner

On July 31, California Gov. Gray Davis appointed retired Court of Appeal Justice Harry Low to replace former Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush who resigned from office last month. The 69-year-old Democrat served as a judge in the San Francisco area …

Davis Appoints California Insurance Commissioner

On July 31, California Gov. Gray Davis appointed retired Court of Appeal Justice Harry Low to replace former Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush who resigned from office last month. The 69-year-old Democrat served as a judge in the San Francisco area …