Agency Management

Some regulators believe they are charged with forcing personal lines insurance to be both affordable and widely available

Picture this. An employee laid off last year decides he was a victim of age discrimination. After receiving permission from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, he files suit.

The best and brightest insurance agency technology leaders are usually those who make a long-term commitment of money and brainpower, and constantly upgrade their capabilities to keep ahead of the competition.

While comparisons to mold and asbestos are inevitable, liability insurance exposures arising from the installation of tainted Chinese drywall in Southeast homes will not grow to asbestos-like proportions, legal experts predicted recently.

Subcontractors and builders have not been frequent targets of the lawsuits over defective Chinese drywall so far, but that could soon change, a lawyer said recently.

Years before Warren Buffett suggested in early May that Berkshire-Hathaway might consider offering insurance coverage for flu pandemics, a specialty insurer developed the first property-casualty product related to disease outbreaks in 2006.

RCM&D set out to implement tech solutions that would not only streamline the labor-intensive sales process but also promote teamwork and collaboration.

With independent agencies struggling to survive in this anemic economy, many are looking to join with a bigger operation to bolster their leverage with carriers, gain access to new markets and achieve economies of scale.