Agency Management

Regulatory initiatives dealing with implementation of the financial services reform law, and such old business as providing certainty to the NFIP will keep p&c insurance industry lobbyists extremely busy this year.

Three major themes of the challenges facing property and casualty insurance agents in 2011 come under the headings of managing finances, technology and political mandates.

With each new year, there is the hope that the previous year's problems will fade into the distant past. Often, however, the reality is that those issues remain present challenges.

Passage of landmark health care reform legislation last March is forcing participants in the insurance industry, especially agents, to mobilize in efforts to secure changes to the legislation that ensure they have a role in the industry going forward.

With the pace of economic recovery slow in mature insurance markets, property and casualty carriers have set their sights beyond the United States and Western Europe.

A recent report by Celent called “What Insurance Customers Really Think: An IT Service Provider Report Card” explores customer feedback about satisfaction and the types of services being outsourced. Overall, insurers seem to be positive about their existing relationships.