I was recently hired by an agent who had just acquired another agency. The buyer was upset. He said the seller had misrepresented the agency's revenues, liabilities, company relations and growth, among other things. He also said the seller claimed

Binders may seem simple and benign, but it's precisely their innocent appearance that can lead to problems. Agency owners, producers and CSRs believe binders are so basic that nothing can go wrong when they issue one. But in reality plenty can go

Hurricane Katrina, the huge influx of liquidity into financial markets, the investigations into bid-rigging and the precipitous decline in national multiline P&C carriers will significantly affect the way independent agencies operate in coming years.

Someone recently asked me what causes agencies to go out of business. While I can't provide statistical proof, in my experience there are three factors that kill agencies far more frequently than anything else: partnership disputes,

We can buy insurance for just about everything. There's no end to the crazy things people want to insure. Unfortunately, one of the greatest risks facing private businesses, the loss of value resulting from partnership disputes, is not insurable.

As we all know, contingent commissions have come under attack in the wake of investigations by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other state attorneys general. Among other things, those investigations focused on whether such

'Twenty-five percent growth guaranteed!" boast some consultants, Web sites and advertisements. Headlines these days are all about fast growth. Magazine covers tout it, articles walk you through how to achieve it and agency conferences build

An agency recently purchased another for far more than it was worth. My attempt to talk the buyer out of paying so much failed. The "logic" expressed was: "By combining operations, I can eliminate two CSRs, 100% of the seller's rent and other