Commercial Lines

For P&C Agencies looking to expand into selling Life & Health, one alternative to hiring a full-time Life producer is working with a consulting firm.

One of the major changes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will be the mandated creation of state insurance exchanges by 2014. The exchanges will be able to craft plans for individuals and small businesses that were previously paying higher premiums or unable to afford coverage.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has brought a degree of uncertainty to property and casualty independent agencies sale of employees benefits, but some experts say it may also be a time of opportunity for them as clients learn to navigate the new health care benefits landscape.

A convective storm front on Wednesday caused six tornado touchdowns in Alabama and Arkansas and hail and wind damage in several other states, reports EQECAT, but 2012 has seen fewer of these storm systems than last year, forecasters say.

Companies shopping in the $237 billion U.S. commercial-insurance market are purchasing liability products more than any other type of coverage, a recent study shows.

Specialty program manager Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. says it expects to add more than $31 million to its reserves to handle higher-than-expected loss activity from accident years 2009, 2010 and 2011.