American Agent & Broker March 2005
Features
E&S marketplace girds itself for greater competition
ONE OF the key roles of the excess and surplus-lines marketplace is to function as a "relief valve" during hard markets. When standard insurers start restricting their underwriting or pull out of certain states or classes of business altogether,
Features
-
Building business with boat and yacht insurance
I HAVE been around boats since I was very young, learning how to water ski on Lake Mead. My parents always owned a boat when I was growing up, and today I have my own. I've brought my interest in boating into my insurance agency by selling boat
-
Insuring small businesses
Many agencies' small-business departments consist of one or two account managers handling overflow accounts that commercial-lines producers don't want. Our agency, however, built a small-business unit with four producers and two account managers who
-
Putting an end to practice quoting
This article was derived from Mr. Redmond's presentation at the 2004 CPCU Society Annual Meeting and Seminars, which was held in October in Los Angeles. EVERY insurance agent has been there: You spend hours developing a great proposal and make a
Columns
-
Policy Issues: Decide in advance how to deal with ethical dilemmas
WELCOME to March, which is National Ethics Month, as sponsored by the CPCU Society and many other fine insurance organizations. In honor of this month, I have a question for you: What's the difference between ethics and morality? Some of you may be
-
For The Manager: Blending Cultures is One Key to a Successful Merger
A LOT has been written about merging cultures when merging companies. Most of what has been written has fallen on deaf ears. Merging cultures is difficult. Just think about your most recent holiday spent with a house full of relatives!Historians
-
Strictly Sales: Placement departments can't fix agency sales problems
"Strictly Sales" is written by the faculty of the Dynamics of Selling program. This month's column is from Tom Barrett, CIC, AAI. A FEW weeks ago, a vice president of a large agency in New England called me to ask for help with her "wacko marketing
-
Automation: Using the Internet to enhance your phone system
OF ALL the equipment in their offices, insurance agents probably use their telephone systems the most and think about them the least. As long as you can reach the people you want to call and they can reach you, the phone system doesn't get much
-
What's Going On: Agents get a win as they head into lobbying season
NEXT MONTH, agents and brokers will head to Washington, D.C., for their annual spring lobbying of legislators as part of conferences conducted by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America and the National Association of Professional
-
Down To Cases
No coverage for sexual assault found in homeowners policy A young girl and her mother filed a complaint against the girl's paternal grandparents and their son (the girl's uncle), alleging that the uncle "sexually abused and sexually exploited" the
