Business Moves

Jim Buckley, IAS Claim Services

Jim Buckley & Associates of Anaheim, Calif. has been purchased by IAS Claim Services.

Jim Buckley, a regional adjusting firm, which also operated under the name JBA Insurance Adjusters, has offices in California, Arizona and Nevada.

The acquisition gives San Antonio, Texas-based IAS a footprint servicing more than one-third of the U.S. population for day-to-day property and casualty claims and two-thirds of the U.S. population for catastrophic claims, IAS stated.

JBA Insurance Adjusters will begin operating as IAS Claims Services immediately.

USG

National wholesaler and managing general agent USG Insurance Services Inc. has opened a satellite office in San Francisco, Calif. and another in Tempe, Ariz.

The offices are part of USG’s plan to expand operations on the West coast, according to the company.

The San Francisco office will be headed by producer Lorraine Iglesias. Iglesias most recently was a commercial underwriter with CK Specialty Insurance Associates.

The office in Tempe, Ariz. will be run by Chris Kops, who was the branch manager of the Tampa, Fla., office. Kops, who relocated to open the new branch, has 25 years of experience and previously held positions with USG as a senior underwriter/broker, production manager and brokerage manager.

Bell-Anderson, Unico

Renton, Wash.-based Bell-Anderson Agency Inc. has acquired Unico Insurance of Woodinville, Wash. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Bell-Anderson will continue to pursue acquisition opportunities as they become available to us,” Jim Hunt, president and CEO of Bell-Anderson, said in a statement.

Bell-Anderson was formed in 1929 and has offices throughout Washington.

MOC, San Francisco Insurance Center

San Francisco Insurance Center has joined MOC Insurance Services, the two Northern California firms announced.

Van Maroevich, president and CEO of San Francisco-based MOC Insurance Services, and Fred S. Nagle, III, president of San Francisco Insurance Center, said the merger creates an organization of 65 employees servicing business and personal clients with annual premiums exceeding $100 million. The merger was effective Sept. 1.

MOC Insurance Services provides risk management and employee benefits consulting services within specialized industries across the U.S.

“We’re in specialized areas and this adds additional specialization,” Maroevich said. “We’re trying to grow.”

The company’s insurance and risk management services units focus on serving the industries of real estate, entertainment, thoroughbred racing, agriculture and viticulture, marine and aviation.

The Doctors Co., FPIC

The Doctors Co. has completed its previously-announced acquisition of FPIC Insurance Group Inc., a major provider of health care liability insurance in Florida, Texas, Georgia and Arkansas.

FPIC Insurance Group includes First Professionals Insurance Co., Inc.; Advocate, MD; Intermed; and Anesthesiologists Professional Assurance Co.

With the completion of the merger and the addition of 18,000 insureds, The Doctors Co. said it solidifies its position as the nation’s largest insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability, with 71,000 member physicians.

“Combining our two physician-founded companies strengthens our ability to defend, protect, and reward the practice of good medicine,” said Richard E. Anderson, chairman and CEO of The Doctors Co.

FPIC will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of The Doctors Co., and its operations are being integrated with the company’s existing operations.

The company said that it will maintain FPIC’s offices, including its Jacksonville, Florida headquarters, and the office of Advocate, MD that is located in Austin, Texas.

Topics Texas