California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that workers' compensation insurance rates in the state will be relatively stable and increase by an average of only 4 percent in 2010.

An insurance agent or broker is obligated to immediately advise the insurer of a suit served upon its insured. The insured is, similarly, obligated to advise the agent or the insurer, immediately upon being served.

Have you ever taken some clients out for golf? Do you periodically send your customers and prospects newsletters that offer tips on safety, ways to save on premiums or information on new products? Well, that's all social networking.

Why pay producers 35 percent on new business rather than the 30 percent an agency might pay for renewals?