Agency Management

American Family Insurance said it is providing new cell phone applications customers can use to file a claim, pay insurance bills, check their accounts and locate the nearest American Family agent.

Willis Group Holdings said it has named Brian Curtis, formerly with Aon Ireland, as chief executive officer, Willis Risk Services (Ireland) Ltd.

Insurance companies need to work on communications with agents and beef up their technology, according to more than 1,200 agents polled by state trade groups.

Demand will increase for in-house risk managers and exploration of enterprise risk management opportunities and better risk data will characterize the future risk world, Aon insurance brokerage forecasted.

Despite the current soft market and economic challenges, the best-run larger insurance agencies are hiring new personnel and increasing their staff size, a trade group report said.

A new section of a health care reform legislation proposal would let agents sell insurance to individuals and businesses purchasing health insurance through the health exchanges being proposed.

An agent's association said it believes certain insurance companies are demanding confidential information about independent agents' books of business so it can bypass them on sales.

The world's two major insurance brokers earned a 100 percent positive rating on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) issues from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.