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Keeping Small Business Insurance Customers
Are property/casualty insurers facing a potential retention problem with small business customers?
According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study, just 55% of customers say they “definitely will” renew with their current insurer, down six percentage points from a year ago.
The downturn in customer loyalty comes as premiums have been rising, and that could explain why some customers indicate they may jump ship.
But it’s not all about premiums, the survey found. A good percentage (16%) of customers point to a positive service experience as a reason for sticking with their current insurer—and that’s a stronger influence than price, coverage options, or reputation.
“Interestingly, the drop in retention is not solely attributable to higher premiums,” said Stephen Crewdson, managing director of global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “In fact, insurers that communicate well and provide a higher level of service can make huge inroads toward keeping customers.”
According to Crewdson, satisfaction is at an identical level among customers who understand why their premium is increasing as it is among those whose premiums are not increasing at all, which he believes “puts a huge onus on insurers to bolster their outreach around rate increases.”
The J.D. Power survey measures overall customer satisfaction among small commercial insurance customers with 50 or fewer employees. It rates insurers on trust, price for coverage, product/coverage offerings, ease of doing business, people, problem resolution, and digital channels.
‘The downturn in customer loyalty comes as premiums have been rising, and that could explain why some customers indicate they may jump ship.’
Following are some key findings of the 2025 study.
Retention declines across the board: After several years of improvement and stability, intended retention has dropped significantly among customers across virtually all demographic groups. The largest dip is among Millennials (-12 percentage points).
Service sets tone for retention: Competitive pricing is a key reason customers select and stay with an insurer—but service is just as important. Overall, 16% of customers say good service experience is the most common driver of retention, beating out price, coverage options, and reputation.
Communication about rate increases is vital to satisfaction: Overall satisfaction, which is 722 (on a 1,000-point scale) among customers who say they completely understand why their premiums increased, is identical to that among customers who have no increase at all.
But independent agents know that retention is not just about the carrier or even the pricing. Happy customers begin with good customer service from agency staff.
Andrea Wells V.P. of Content
Chairman of the Board Mark Wells | mwells@wellsmedia.com
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EDITORIAL
V.P. of Content Andrea Wells | awells@insurancejournal.com
Executive Editor Emeritus
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Columnists & Contributors
Contributors: Christopher Boggs, Sarah Morris, Ed Reis, Charles Symington Jr., Daniel Wiessner
Columnists: Mary Newgard, Catherine Oak, Bill Schoeffler
SALES / MARKETING
Chief Marketing Officer
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South Central Sales
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East Sales (NY, PA and CT only)
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Insurance Markets Manager
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Sr. Sales & Marketing Coordinator
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Videographer/Editor
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ACADEMY OF INSURANCE
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News & Markets
US P/C Insurance Industry First-Half Underwriting Profit Triples
The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry recorded a net underwriting gain of $11.5 billion and net income of $49.1 billion for the first half of 2025, according to a new report.
“The lack of any significant natural catastrophes in the second quarter helped offset the record-breaking catastrophe losses related to the California wildfires and severe convective storms impacting Texas and Georgia earlier in the year,” said Robert Gordon, senior vice president, policy, research and international at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, in a statement released by APCIA and Verisk.
The underwriting profit figure is three-times the $3.8 billion that APCIA and Verisk reported for first-half 2024.
Net income, however, came in at nearly half of last year’s six-month net income total of $94.3 billion, with a precipitous drop in realized investment gains explaining much of the drop. Last year’s net income figure was inflated by over $50 billion in capital gains realized by one insurer. Excluding that impact, firsthalf net income of $49.1 million is more in line with an adjusted net income figure of roughly $45 billion for first-half 2024.
Based on information from annual statements submitted to insurance regulators by insurers representing roughly 97% of private U.S. property/casualty market insurers, Verisk and APCIA reported that net written premiums grew just under 2% to $472.5 billion.
The 1.9% increase is compared to 10.6%
increase in net written premiums recorded for first-half 2024 over the prior-year six-month period.
First-half 2025 losses and loss adjustment expenses rose at about the same pace, up 2.1% over first-half 2024, but earned premiums rose 3.9%, fueling more than a 1.3-point drop in the industry loss and LAE ratio.
With the expense ratio inching up slightly, the combined ratio for the first half of this year is estimated to be 96.4 compared to 97.6 for last year’s first half, and 104.2 for first-half 2023.
The combined ratio “edged down slightly from this time last year, reflecting underwriting discipline, but escalating catastrophe losses—most notably January’s unprecedented California wildfires—underscore the volatility ahead,” said Saurabh Khemka, co-president of underwriting solutions at Verisk.
“While some lines are showing signs of improvement, the broader industry continues to walk a fine line,” Khemka said.
The Verisk/ APCIA report noted
that private U.S. property/casualty insurers during the first half of this year experienced losses in line with the escalated levels seen in recent years.
“First-quarter losses, driven largely by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, outpaced historical averages but did not carry over at the same magnitude in the second quarter,” said APCIA and Verisk in the report.
During the first half, surplus levels remained historically high at about $1.08 trillion, up slightly from $1.07 trillion at mid-year 2024.
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Don’t Leave Your Choice of a Network to Luck
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The amount of energy a simple AI prompt, such as “Tell me the capital of France,” uses versus the energy used for the same question typed into Google without its AI Overview feature. A complex prompt, such as “Tell me the number of gummy bears that could fit in the Pacific Ocean,” uses 210 times more energy than the AI-free Google search.
$25,000
The amount of money the state of Minnesota is seeking for each instance in which a Minnesota child has accessed TikTok. Minnesota is seeking a declaration that TikTok’s practices are deceptive, unfair, or unconscionable under state law, and seeks a permanent injunction against those practices.
200
The number of horses still in carriage service in Central Park, New York City. There are currently 68 licensed carriage owners with 170 drivers, according to the Transport Workers Union. The Central Park Conservancy argued in an August letter to the City Council that horse carriages have an outsized impact on public safety and road infrastructure in the increasingly crowded park. Other major cities have eliminated or are phasing out similar services.
840,000
The number of homes built in floodplains between 2001 and 2019, according to a 2024 University of Miami study. Construction continues in part because the federally subsidized National Flood Insurance Program will repeatedly pay to rebuild, no matter how high the risk.
Declarations
Sowing Uncertainty
“Farming in the U.S. will change. The fields will all be green. The question is: What grows? And for what purpose? And at what price? It takes time for those chess pieces to move around the board, and we’re kind of in that period today.”
— Gerrit Marx at the annual Farm Progress Show in Illinois. Marx, chief executive officer of CNH Industrial NV, noted that growers are trying to figure out how to adapt to shifting conditions as tariff tensions are making the North American farm market the most uncertain in the world, even as conditions in Europe and Asia start to improve.
Safety Efforts Derailed
“We had an opportunity as a group to make things better and make things safer, and we didn’t do it. Think about how much better and how much safer it could be if we could add all of those 120,000 employees into the mix and all of those operations of hundreds and hundreds of trains a day all across the country.”
— Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the advocacy organization Rail Passengers Association, commenting after none of the nation’s largest freight railroads joined a voluntary federal close call program designed to prevent accidents. Amtrak and smaller freight and passenger railroads do participate, reducing accidents by approximately 20%.
Water Flowing Underground
“If you build a smaller tunnel, OK, it’ll be cheaper, but it can carry less water, so what have you saved? Have you reduced the flooding upstream by an inch? And are you going to spend multimillions of dollars to do that? Well, maybe that’s not worth it.”
— Larry Dunbar, a veteran water resources engineer who has advised Houston, Texasarea governmental agencies on drainage issues, commenting on an initiative to hire Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build two 12-foot tunnels at a cost of $760 million. Initial proposals for the flood mitigation project suggested 30- to 40-foot diameter tunnels.
Sand, Surf, and Stability
“It’s like a toothpick in wet sand or even a beach umbrella. The deeper you put it, the more likely it is to stand up straight and resist leaning over. But if you only put it down a few inches, it doesn’t take much wind for that umbrella to start leaning. And it starts to tip over.”
— David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, commenting on beach homes collapsing along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Some areas lose up to 15 feet of beachfront a year, and two homes recently fell during Hurricane Erin. At least 11 other houses have toppled into the surf over the past five years.
Turbine Turmoil
“A ‘stop-work order’ is the fancy bureaucratic term, but it means one thing: throwing skilled American workers off the job after they’ve spent a decade training, building, and delivering.”
— Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), reacting to the Trump administration’s order to halt work on a nearly completed wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. NABTU said the order affected the jobs of 1,000 members. ISO New England, which operates the grid for 15 million people in six states, said the company has included the project in its analysis of near-term and future grid reliability.
Feel the Heat
“It’s very easy to underestimate how dangerous heat is. People are usually used to thinking of heat as something that makes them uncomfortable, and that they can tough it out. This type of heat will kill.”
— Abby Wines, Death Valley National Park’s acting deputy superintendent commenting on park visitors seeking out the extreme heat. Death Valley holds the record for the hottest temperature ever officially recorded—134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913—although some experts say the record was 130 F (54.4 C) in July 2021. In the U.S., heat kills more people than all other weather events combined, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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News & Markets
Cyber Outlook Report Finds Gaps, Outlines Holistic Approach to Protections
By Jahna Jacobson
As the cyber market matures, it’s increasingly evident that fighting off cyberattacks is going to be an ongoing team effort. Brokers, carriers, cybersecurity organizations, and insureds all play a role, from security to training to assessing adequate coverage.
According to the latest Cyber Insurance Outlook report from Arctic Wolf, the risk of cyberattack has become part of daily operational concern for many organizations. Yet growing awareness of how organizations can protect themselves from attacks and loss still poses a challenge to the insurance industry.
Seventy percent of insurance professionals responding to this most recent survey (77% of brokers and 63% of carriers) expect the number of new cyber claims to increase, mainly because of steadily growing threat activity.
The Cyber Coverage Gap
One figure the Arctic Wolf report highlights is the discrepancy between cyber coverage figures provided by brokers and those supplied by businesses. While brokers estimate 47% of organizations have the coverage they need, 65% of responding organizations claim they are covered in the event of a cyberattack.
The report hypothesizes that businesses are unaware of the extent of their coverage or what specifically is needed. This 20% gap could represent an opportunity for brokers to reassess clients’ needs and make recommendations for additional protection and mitigation.
Insurers may also initially reject clients for cyber coverage because they have inadequate security controls in place (26%), lack financial stability (21%), or can’t supply the insurer with enough information (21%). While brokers are most likely to reject a client because of financial instability (23%), carriers are more likely to ding potential insureds for missing security protocols (32%).
Cautious Cyber Claimants
In the past year, 12% of clients with cyber insurance made claims, with ransomware accounting for 18% of those claims. Other common claims included data breaches, theft of funds, and phishing incidents, including business email compromise.
However, clients who make claims may find that their rate increases because of a claim (66%) or that they face increased scrutiny during the renewal process (56%). Seven percent reported that they were asked to implement additional controls as a condition of renewal, which could include additional training, upgraded security, or other measures.
Insureds may also have claims rejected because they fall outside the terms of their policy (25% of rejections), their coverage was less than the total claim (19%), the incident fell below the client’s self-insured retention (18%), the incident failed to disclose risk on the client’s application (17%), or the incident was deemed gross negligence.
Fear of higher rates and cancellation drives some insureds to ignore issues that don’t seem to pose a significant financial, security, or “worst case scenario” threat, the report said.
And prices are increasing, with 53% of insurers saying they have seen an overall increase in cyber insurance rates in the
Proactive Protections
North America is considered the global leader in the cyber insurance market. Insurance brokers in North America are more likely to offer both cyber risk control tools and services (73%) compared to the global market (68%). North American brokers are also more likely to have a designated cyber practice (49%) than global counterparts (43%).
However, only 45% of organizations in the North American region have the necessary cyber coverage compared to higher rates in some European countries. Regulatory requirements in places like the U.K. and Ireland incentivize organizations to mitigate cyber risk, with cyber insurance serving as a part of those strategies.
Globally, cyber insurers are proactive with their clients to mitigate damage and loss, with 71% of insurance brokers partnering with cybersecurity providers to better serve clients, while 94% offer ongoing assistance or support to clients.
The majority (69%) also offer in-house cyber risk control tools and services, with 45% charging separately for these services. Another 25% of insurers refer clients to certain cyber risk vendors, with about half of those (12%) negotiating prearranged discounts or terms with the vendors.
last 12 months.
Business Moves
National
Sompo Holdings, Aspen Insurance Holdings
Sompo Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sompo International Holdings, has an agreement in place to acquire Aspen Insurance Holdings for about $3.5 billion to further its geographical reach outside of its home territory.
With Aspen, Sompo gets a specialty and reinsurance franchise with over $4.6 billion in annual gross written premiums in lines of business such as cyber, credit and political risk, inland marine, U.K. property and construction, and U.S. management liability.
Sompo also gains Aspen’s experience in global casualty, property, property catastrophe, and specialty reinsurance lines. Aspen Lloyd’s syndicate provides access to complex risks and reinsurance licensing across markets untapped by Sompo in the Americas, the U.K., Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2026. The companies’ boards have each unanimously approved the transaction.
Midwest
WalkerHughes Insurance, S&R Insurance
WalkerHughes Insurance acquired S&R Insurance, a retail insurance brokerage headquartered in St. Robert, Missouri. This marks WalkerHughes’ first presence in south-central Missouri. S&R Insurance brings a portfolio of personal and commer-
cial lines, built on decades of relationships and services tailored to local needs. With offices in St. Robert and Houston, Missouri, the agency offers reach into the heart of south-central Missouri.
South Central
AvonRisk, AS&G Claims Administration, Care Logic Inc.
AvonRisk, a national provider of risk management, claims administration, and managed care services, acquired AS&G Claims Administration Inc. and Care Logic Inc., a Houston, Texas-based third-party administrator specializing in workers’ compensation, auto liability, general liability, and medical bill review services. AS&G will continue to operate under its current name, with its existing leadership team remaining in place.
The acquisition gives AvonRisk access to new markets across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, deepening its expertise in public entity workers’ compensation and general liability.
Southeast Vision Insurance Exchange Moves Into Florida
Regulators have tentatively approved another new property insurer for the Florida market: Vision Insurance Exchange, led by former Florida Peninsula Insurance CEO Roger Desjadon. Vision is based in Cape Coral, Florida.
If a license is granted, Vision would be at least the 14th property/casualty firm to set
up shop in Florida since state lawmakers approved landmark changes that have reduced what many in the industry had called excessive and frivolous claims litigation.
Vision plans to participate in takeouts of policies held by the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp. However, the firm is not on the OIR list of companies approved for takeouts in 2025.
Mark Berset, who was at one time the CEO of Comegys Insurance, is chairman of the Vision exchange oversight committee. Ronald Scalzo Jr., previously with Flagler Insurance Agency, is chief operating officer. Frank Lattanzio is the chief financial officer.
Marsh McLennan Agency, Robins Insurance
Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA), a business of Marsh headquartered in White Plains, New York, acquired Robins Insurance, a Nashville, Tennessee-based independent insurance agency. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Founded in 1976, Robins primarily provides business insurance and personal lines expertise to clients in the region, with niche expertise in real estate, construction, hospitality, community associations, and manufacturing. All Robins employees, including CEO Van Robins, will work out of their existing Nashville office.
West
Wealthspire Advisors, Marin Financial Advisors
Wealthspire Advisors LLC, an NFP company, has entered into an agreement to acquire Marin Financial Advisors in Larkspur, California. NFP is an Aon company.
Marin Financial Advisors has provided individuals and families with financial services since 1987. The firm is led by Principal Colin Drake, who will continue serving clients alongside Christine Cione, client service director.
Wealthspire Advisors is an independent registered investment advisor with a reported $31 billion in assets under management and 25 U.S. offices.
News & Markets
DOJ Drops Defense of Ban on Employee ‘Non-compete’ Agreements
By Daniel Wiessner
President Donald Trump’s administration has abandoned the U.S. government’s legal defense of a rule adopted under former President Joe Biden that had banned agreements commonly signed by workers not to join rivals of their employers or launch competing businesses.
The U.S. Justice Department filed motions in federal appeals courts in New Orleans and Atlanta to dismiss separate appeals of rulings by two judges that struck down the 2024 U.S. Federal Trade Commission rule concerning “non-compete” agreements. Republicans and business groups have criticized the rule.
The move was expected after FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who was appointed to the post by Trump and had previously criticized the rule, said in February the agency was reviewing it. The appeals involve legal challenges to the rule by a marketing firm and a real estate devel-
oper, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.
Dropping the appeals means the courts will not have a chance to address the novel question of whether the commission, which enforces federal antitrust laws, can adopt sweeping regulations such as its nationwide ban on “non-compete” agreements.
More than 20% of U.S. workers have signed non-compete agreements, according to the FTC. The agency, in adopting the rule, had said the agreements limit worker mobility and suppress wages and competition for labor.
Ferguson and other Republicans on the commission have said the FTC has limited rulemaking powers and cannot adopt blanket bans on what it views as anticompetitive conduct.
selves were not.
During Trump’s first term as president, his administration had argued in court that while specific provisions of non-competes can be unlawful, the agreements them-
The FTC on September 4 announced its first legal action of Trump’s second term related to non-compete agreements, a settlement barring the largest U.S. pet cremation business from enforcing these agreements with 1,800 workers. The agency in that case said the company’s broad agreements, signed even by low-level employees, unlawfully suppressed competitors’ entry into the pet cremation market.
Copyright 2025 Reuters.
US Commercial Lines Prices Increase 3.8%, Falling From Up 6% in Previous Quarters
U.S. commercial insurance rates increased 3.8% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the latest WTW Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).
WTW said the price increase has been very close to 6% over the past six quarters. Carriers reported an aggregate price increase of 5.3% during the first three months of 2025—down from increases of 5.6% and 6.1% for the fourth and third quarters of 2024, respectively.
“Amidst the ongoing general upward trend, our latest data from the second quarter of 2025 shows a moderation in commercial insurance pricing,” said Yi Jing, senior director of insurance consulting and technology (ICT), WTW. “While some lines con-
tinued to see increases, others remained stable or slightly declined, reflecting a period of more measured rate growth across the market.”
Commercial property saw prices decrease during Q2 2025. Data for most lines continues to indicate moderate to significant price increases in the second quarter of 2025, with the exception of workers’ compensation, directors’ and officers’ liability, commercial property, and cyber.
The largest price increases continued to come from excess/ umbrella liability, with double-digit price increases also seen in commercial auto, reported WTW.
The survey compared prices charged on policies written during the second quarter of 2025, with the prices charged for the same coverage during Q2 2024. Forty-two participating insurers participated in the survey, representing about 20% of the U.S. commercial insurance market.
National
CFC, a specialist insurance provider headquartered in London, appointed Kyle Laudadio as healthcare practice leader in the U.S.
Kyle Laudadio
Laudadio has over 15 years of industry experience and joins CFC from the Great American Insurance Group, where he was divisional vice president. Before that, he worked as an underwriter at Beazley USA.
named James C. Riviezzo head of North American distribution and strategy. Riviezzo has over 25 years of industry experience, joining Resilience from At-Bay, where he was head of national broker relations.
Before At-Bay, Riviezzo held leadership roles at Briza, American International Group (AIG), Safety National Casualty Corporation, and Marsh, USA.
East
Rosenberg & Parker (R&P), headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, named three new owner/partners.
Lawley Medicare Solutions team in Rochester, New York.
Ames & Gough, headquartered in Washington, D.C., appointed equity partners Allison Barefoot and Marguerite Parent as senior vice presidents.
Liberty Global Transaction Solutions (GTS), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, promoted Jason Remsen to head of East, Americas.
Remsen, based in New York City, previously served as a corporate associate at Pepper Hamilton LLP and practiced at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
Amwins, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, appointed Bob Black as national property practice leader within its brokerage division. Black has over 20 years of experience with Amwins as a member of the Georgia leadership team.
Adam Terry assumes the role of national real estate practice leader (property).
Resilience, headquartered in New York City,
New partner President Jack Rosenberg joined R&P as a producer in 2018 after beginning his career at Susquehanna International Group.
James DiSciullo, director of advisory and productions and energy practice leader, joined R&P as a producer in 2019 from Exelon.
Financial Sponsors Practice Leader Harry G. Rosenberg joined R&P as a producer in 2021 following five years at The Blackstone Group on the capital markets team for the private equity and energy groups.
Lawley, headquartered in Buffalo, New York, named Anto Almasian as a surety executive in the Buffalo office. He has expertise in managing a diverse portfolio of clients and an understanding of risk evaluation, operational strategy, and client management.
Andrew Edbauer, employee benefits consultant, also joins the Buffalo office.
Kevin Campbell, insurance advisor, joins the team in Darien, Connecticut.
Evonne Pomerantz, Medicare and individual health insurance consultant, joins the
Barefoot, based in Washington, D.C., has nearly 25 years of insurance brokerage experience, joining Ames & Gough in 2013. Previously, she was a commercial lines account executive and team leader with USI Insurance Services.
Based in the Boston, Massachusetts, office, Parent has 25 years of experience in insurance brokerage and risk management consulting. She joined Ames & Gough in 2006, after having served with William Gallagher Associates in Boston, where she was creator and manager of the emerging client group.
Insurance Services of New England (ISNE), headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, named Mike Chamberlain as manager of membership and sales.
With close to two decades of experience working with independent agents, Chamberlain has held positions at The Hanover and The Concord Group Insurance.
Chamberlain assumes the role following the retirement of Ed Ruhl, who served for over 40 years in the insurance industry.
Kingstone Companies Inc., headquartered in Kingston, New York, appointed Randy L. Patten as chief financial officer (CFO). Patten joins Kingstone Companies, Inc. from NEXT Insurance Inc., most recently serving as vice president, chief accounting officer and treasurer. He also held the position of CFO for the company’s U.S. insurance carrier subsidiary.
Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, hired Brooke Bass as chief operating officer (COO) and Dale Brooks as chief claims officer (CCO). Bass has over 20 years of experience, most recently serving as senior vice president of auto physical damage claims for U.S. retail markets at Liberty Mutual.
Brooks has over 30 years of experience, previously serving in executive roles at Progressive Insurance, including leadership for claims operations in New York and Florida.
Midwest
DOXA, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, hired Sean Curry as executive vice president of its brokerage vertical. Curry has nearly 20 years of insurance experience in the brokerage market, previously serving as executive/head of brokerage and flood programs for Kraft
Jason Remsen
James C. Riviezzo
Marguerite Parent
Allison Barefoot
Randy L. Patten
Sean Curry
AAA – The Auto Club Group (ACG), headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, added three senior leaders.
Vincent Fusco joined ACG as executive vice president, chief distribution officer.
Brian Savage joined ACG as senior vice president, chief financial officer (CFO). Savage leads ACG’s treasury, accounting, investments, real estate, and financial planning teams. Savage has over 25 years of industry experience, previously serving as CFO of personal lines at Kemper and product vice president at Allstate.
hired Pete Sayer as a senior vice president in its national property practice.
Based in South Florida, Sayer has over two decades of industry experience, most recently serving as an executive vice president at RT Specialty.
Brown & Riding also named Lauren Root as vice president of its national property practice. Based in the firm’s Houston, Texas, office, Root most recently served as Houston branch manager at Southwest Risk, L.P.
Southeast
in Miami, Florida, Luis has over 30 years of insurance experience, specializing in surety and construction. He previously served as head of bonding for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and most recently, as an advisor at the Baldwin Group.
The Liberty Company also named Michael Spirakis as national sales training and development leader. With more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, Spirakis most recently served as president of Producer Activity LLC.
for the West region. Yim is the Northern California executive director for the Asian American Insurance Network (AAIN).
Georgina Flores joined ACG as senior vice president, chief marketing officer. She will oversee all aspects of ACG’s marketing, branding, customer engagement, and growth strategies. Flores previously served as chief marketing officer at Encore, vice president of marketing at Aetna, and vice president of consumer marketing at Allstate.
South Central
Brown & Riding, headquartered in Dallas, Texas,
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, named Guillermo “Guillo” Luis as vice president, producer. Based Lake Insurance Agency.
Amwins, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, hired Ben Tasse to the newly created role of head of distribution and growth for Amwins’ Underwriting division.
Tasse has nearly two decades of experience, joining Amwins from Sompo North America, where he most recently served as SVP of wholesale business development. He has also served in leadership and underwriting roles at Axis Insurance.
Steven Money joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, as an assistant vice president within its employee benefits group. With over 20 years of industry experience, Money, based in Atlanta, Georgia, most recently served as a senior account executive at Marsh McLennan Agency.
Scott McCleary joined Alliant Insurance Services as senior vice president within its employee benefits group, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before joining Alliant, McCleary served as senior vice president at NFP and previously served as vice president, national accounts at HFCB.
West
Aon, with U.S. headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, named Shelley Yim as Northern California market leader. Yim has over 15 years of experience at Aon, currently serving as chief client officer
Crest Insurance Group, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, hired Easton Gibbs as a commercial lines broker. Gibbs previously played professional football with the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He most recently served as a screening solutions specialist at Exact Sciences.
Crest also named Matt Muehlebach as general counsel. Based in Crest’s Tucson, Arizona, headquarters, Muehlebach most recently served as general counsel and senior vice president of 5Lights LLC and Genius Avenue. Muehlebach has 17 years of experience, with 13 years as a partner at Hecker and Muehlebach, PLLC. He also served as a college basketball analyst for Fox Sports, FS1, ESPN and Pac-12 Networks.
Jennifer Gibbs joined Crest in its San Diego, California, headquarters as relationship development manager for Crest’s personal lines division. Gibbs has over 20 years of leadership experience. Before joining Crest, she held senior roles with 3 Peaks Energy, Hellenic Petroleum, and Kiva Energy.
Vincent Fusco
Brian Savage
Georgina Flores
Pete Sayer
Lauren Root
Ben Tasse
Guillermo Luis
Michael Spirakis
Easton Gibbs
Matt Muehlebach
Jennifer Gibbs
Special Report: Agency Partnerships
By Andrea Wells
Organic growth is a key barometer of an organization’s success in any industry. And it’s critical when it comes to an independent agency’s profitability in a changing market cycle like today.
While no one is predicting a return to “soft market” pricing in 2026, there are noticeable
trends pointing to a changing market, including increased appetite from carriers in many sectors of the insurance business and a declining trend in rate increases across most lines of coverage. Average premium renewal rate changes for all major commercial lines of business except workers’ compensation are up year over year, according to Ivans’ Q2 2025 Index. However,
compared to Q1 2025, Q2 2025 revealed a decrease in average premium renewal rate changes except in general liability.
Most carriers are back to making money, said Keith Captain, president of FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company. “They’re back to making an underwriting profit, and so you’re starting to hear talk now about the need to deploy capital, meaning they
need to invest in growth,” he said. “You’re actually starting to see certain lines of business where there’s been some rate decreases or carriers are opening up a new company line in order to be able to grow.” Still, that trend depends heavily on the individual carrier’s own appetite and the geography of the risk, he added.
No one is seeing any insurcontinued on page 22
Special Report: Agency Partnerships
Insurance Journal's Top 20 Agency Partnerships
This list includes agency partnerships such as networks, aggregators, clusters, and franchise organizations, all of which play an important role in the independent agency system today.
3
Special Report: Agency Partnerships
continued from page 20
ance carrier return to “full growth mode,” he said. But instead, insurers are drilling down into specific areas where they want to grow—and grow profitably, Captain said. That might mean targeting specific counties in one state rather than opening up to the entire state. What they really learned over the past few years on the road back to profitability is they need to be really focused on exactly where they want to grow, he said.
There have been lessons learned during this market cycle for both the carriers and their agents, Matt Masiello, CEO of SIAA, said. “This was a really difficult market cycle. I think it was more dramatic than any of us thought it was going to be, and it’s been longer and more dramatic in pricing changes,” Masiello said. “And it’s not over yet.”
problems. “What can we do to help agents and carriers solve problems for customers?” Masiello asked.
One future problem in a changing market is growing in a market where pricing might start trending down. That’s why growth-minded agencies, and their agency network partners, will need to re-focus their efforts on growing organically in 2026, Captain predicts.
“That’s the biggest thing people are talking about right now—growth,” Captain said. Not just any growth but organic growth, he added. “I think a lot of agents—not all, but a lot of agents— got comfortable growing through rate increases [throughout the hard market cycle],” he said. “Those agencies had a very retention mindset.”
in 2026, and he sees agency networks as the ideal way for retail agencies to boost organic growth trends next year.
Now is the time to grow, he said. “Competition’s coming back into the market, and that’s good for everybody,” he said. “Independent agents benefit from carrier competition in the marketplace, and we as a network get the benefit of that as well,” he added.
Caldwell sees additional interest from carriers looking to networks for distribution and organic growth through that distribution. He also sees new agencies looking to networks to help them grow.
“So, the more we show we can be an organic growth engine for our carrier partners, the more opportunities we [agency networks] will have next year.”
Despite the challenges, the property/casualty market is in a healthier place, he added. “I think that agencies are better and stronger for having come through a hard market like this,” Masiello said. It’s been good because those dramatic rate adjustments improved the health of insurance carriers today. “We need our carriers to be strong, healthy, and profitable so they have the ability to support our customers and our agencies.”
One of the things this hard market cycle has created is the opportunity for agency networks, like SIAA, to solve
But next year agencies should be focused on changing that retention mindset to an organic growth mindset. “They need to be thinking about, ‘How do I go actually get new storefronts, get new policies?’ Because what we’ve seen over the past few years is a lot of flattening of organic growth,” Captain said. “That’s going to be a really big conversation piece because carriers are asking for it now.”
Now Is the Time
At SmartChoice, new agent recruitment is at an alltime high, Caldwell said. “We’ve added 1,450 new agents over the last year and just had our largest month on record—162 agents in August alone,” he said. “I would say in the last three months of this year, we will appoint more agents than we did in the last two years combined.”
Agency networks are now a proven and profitable distribution model for the independent agency channel, according to Caldwell and others. “We’re a known entity. I’m not explaining what a network is anymore, whereas eight years ago, we all were explaining to an Allstate and Nationwide agency why they should come over to the independent side. We’re not doing that today,” he said. “People have figured out this is the winning side, at least for now,” he added.
“There is such a tremendous opportunity for us and our competitors to take market share, and we have got to take advantage of that,” Caldwell said. “For 2026, the opportunity to grow has never been better. It’s never been better.”
Growth Strategies
Andrew Caldwell, president of Smart Choice, agrees that organic growth will be a focus
Conversations with carrier partners have changed in the last three months as well, he said. Those preferred carriers that for the last two or three years have been very conservative on appointments and capacity are changing the conversation, Caldwell said. “From our meetings with carriers, there’s a ton more saying, now it’s time to grow,” he added.
Like their independent agency members, the largest agency networks and franchise groups listed on Insurance Journal’s Top 20 Agency Partnerships ranking (see page 21) experienced significant growth during the hard market cycle. In aggregate, the total property/casualty revenue of Insurance’s Top 20 Agency Partnerships list grew by $2,681,164,782 in total P/C revenue from the 2024 ranking to the 2025 ranking. Growth strategies in the agency partnerships world are
continued on page 24
Andrew Caldwell
Keith Captain
Matt Masiello
FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company, caters to insurance agency owners who want to create a path forward through strategic planning, technology enablement, market tools, and education & resources to build their business. Recognized as the #1 top agency partner by Insurance Journal, FirstChoice is available nationwide.
Special Report: Agency Partnerships
continued from page 22
as diverse as the organizations themselves. Some grew by adding hundreds of new member agencies; others grew through mergers and acquisitions; and some grew by both membership numbers and M&A activity.
Renaissance has been active in the acquisition of smaller agency networks in several states in recent years.
Robert A. Bondi, CEO of Renaissance, told Insurance Journal that he sees the strategy as a win for both Renaissance and smaller networks that once acquired have been able to benefit from the scale of a larger group. Like other smaller insurance organizations in the U.S., smaller agency networks are beginning to struggle in today’s competitive environment, he said.
as fragmented as the independent agencies were,” he said. “A little bit of combination is going to make us all stronger, better, and maybe more effective,” he said.
“It’s a very exciting time to be a part of a network, particularly as we all, myself included, are trying to create a more professional, more valuable enterprise that supports agencies and helps them connect better with carriers.”
He believes the evolution of agency networks and how they serve the independent agency channel is only beginning. “We’re still in the beginning of the game on how to actually help independent agencies thrive, and that’s what we’re excited about,” he said.
Previously, most ISU agency members had to be at $1.5 million or more in total revenue. “We had some agencies under that threshold, but it was not easy to do,” he said. McCarthy said the lower threshold for revenue will allow more members to join.
Currently, ISU Steadfast has agency members in 40 states with about 24% of the business written in California. McCarthy said the new ISU Steadfast model will allow for members to access
some products and services on an à la carte basis. “You don’t have to buy the full services at ISU Steadfast. You can come in and say, ‘I just want this,’ for example,” he said.
“We think that the joining of their members with our framework really creates a winwin situation for the members, and for these smaller network owners, who are struggling a bit to try to get carriers to work with them in a constructive way,” he said. Access to certain insurance carriers, products, and services can be more challenging for a smaller organization, he said.
Bondi expects the M&A activity in the agency network world to continue both for Renaissance and other networks. “I don’t think we’re going to end up with only a handful of agency networks, but I do think that the networks in general were just
Other networks like ISU Steadfast and Indium have been on the other side of the M&A game—both were acquired by larger entities but not larger networks.
In October 2023, Steadfast Group, the largest general insurance broker network and underwriting agency group in Australasia, acquired California’s ISU Group to expand the organization into the U.S. Now called ISU Steadfast, the 40-plus-year-old agency network is making a few changes to grow the network and to help additional independent agency members, said Dan McCarthy, CEO of ISU Steadfast.
One big change is that the agency network will be opening membership to smaller agencies with revenues as low as $250,000, McCarthy said.
its current 30 specialist MGA and wholesale solutions to ISU Steadfast and the broader U.S. market. Additionally, with the financial backing of Steadfast Group, McCarthy said there could be perpetuation opportunities for some member agencies as well, either through a fractional purchase or 100% purchase when it makes sense. “They have the capital to do it, and they want to help the agency perpetuate independently,” he said.
McCarthy also said as its new owner continues to make moves into the U.S. market, ISU Steadfast members will see added products and services to help independent agents remain independent. For example, one recent acquisition will help move the Australia-based company’s proprietary programs into the U.S. market.
In early September, Steadfast Group announced its acquisition of a majority stake in U.S.-based specialty managing general agency and wholesale brokerage Novum Underwriting Partners LLC, including the organization’s technology platform, Novum Online. Novum will serve as Steadfast’s program development and management platform in the United States.
McCarthy said the move will help Steadfast bring some of
Columbus, Ohio-based Indium has also grown substantially, partly by being acquired. At the end of 2023, Assurex Global entered the agency network world with their partner firms by acquiring Indium. Katherine Ternes, president of Indium, said the acquisition has led to numerous Assurex Global agencies joining the network. “That was a big part of our increase from 2022 to 2023, the first few [agencies] started participating in 2023, and more have joined since,” she said.
Outlook Bright
Despite changing market trends, the outlook for independent agencies and their network partners is good, Masiello said. “Industry-wise, it’s really a great time to be an independent agency, great time to open new agencies or to run established agencies,” he said. “I think coming out of what we’ve been through over the last 24 to 36 months, the industry should be healthy. And I think that’s good for all of us. It’s an exciting time.”
Dan McCarthy
Bob Bondi
10:46
ISU Steadfast Members
Sam (the new member)
Thanks for welcoming me to the network! Excited to be part of ISU Steadfast.
Carrie (Hanson & Ryan)
Welcome! ISU Steadfast is a game changer! Our profit shares jumped significantly.
Mark - Olson Duncan
You’ve joined the best in the country! We gained access to markets in all 50 states Best decision we ever made.
Jeff - Smith Davis
Ryan - ARMAC
It’s not just business here. It’s a community that genuinely cares about your success. 20 years in, and still thriving. Market access + profit sharing = growth.
Spotlight: Contractors
How Contractor Networks Help to Reduce Repair Costs, Improve Timeliness
The commercial property insurance market is navigating a constantly evolving landscape in 2025, in which rising costs, labor shortages, and the ever-present threat of business interruption are reshaping how claims are managed.
In response, many insurers and risk managers are moving away from ad hoc contractor relationships and toward managed repair models that emphasize trusted networks, transparent pricing, and proactive project oversight.
Commercial claims are an intricate puzzle, and the pressures of today’s market only magnify their complexity.
According to Verisk, U.S. commercial reconstruction costs climbed 5.7% year over year through Q2 2025, driven by material spikes—with concrete alone rising 9.3%—and compounded by persistent labor shortages, with nearly 900,000 skilled trade jobs still unfilled. Turner Construction’s cost index shows a similar 3.8% increase in non-residential building expenses, underscoring how inflationary pressures continue to ripple through the sector.
Against this backdrop, insurers and policyholders alike
face a critical question: How can they adapt now to avoid being overwhelmed by the compounding costs and delays that threaten every claim?
Commercial property claims present a vastly different set of challenges than residential ones. While homeowners insurance claims often involve standardized materials and straightforward repairs, commercial losses need to consider specialized systems, strict regulatory requirements, and the very real risk of business interruption. A hospital may need temporary power solutions and phased repairs to keep critical areas operational; a restaurant may require specialized equipment replacement; a hotel faces immense financial strain if rooms are unavailable for extended periods; a manufacturing
facility may be unable to fulfill contracts until production lines are restored.
And this doesn’t even include how large-scale events continue to test the resilience of claims operations and cost models. For an idea, Lloyd’s estimates it incurred $2.3 billion in losses from the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles alone, highlighting how quickly risks can escalate.
These challenges are compounded by the fact that commercial facilities typically already have pre-existing ties with local contractors, often built through routine maintenance or renovations. These relationships can become liabilities in both the renovations and claims process as local contractors may lack the labor capacity, supply chain access, or restoration expertise
to handle large-scale damage. This can result in delays, higher costs, and substandard workmanship that requires rework and extends the claims process.
However, commercial property owners, insurers, and claims professionals do have routes to faster repairs and expedited claims processes.
Step one is to have a broader, and thoroughly vetted, contractor network. This allows all parties involved to leverage a wide pool of pre-qualified contractors, ensuring capacity is available when it’s needed most. This broader pool would also allow relevant parties to identify contractors that are the best fit for the job, rather than defaulting to whoever is closest.
Step two is approaching the job with a smarter pricing
continued on page 27
By Ed Reis and
Sarah Morris
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News & Markets
California Labor Commissioner Cites L.A. Restaurant $680K
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office cited J BBQ, a Koreatown restaurant, more than $680,000 for wage theft violations.
A total of 48 workers were impacted by the violations, which included unpaid wages, denied breaks, and inaccurate wage statements, according to the LCO.
The L CO reportedly found that J BBQ, a restaurant operated by Midri Inc. and its owner, Byung Kwan Lee, frequently failed to pay employees all wages owed, denied their legally required meal and rest breaks, and provided incomplete or inaccurate wage statements.
Some workers were reportedly denied rest periods and were required to remain on the premises even during lunch breaks to help customers. Additionally, staff reportedly worked split shifts without receiving premium pay as required by law.
This investigation was launched by a referral from the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, a community organization that advocates for restaurant and retail employees.
The total amount cited by the LCO is $680,238, of which $538,638 is payable to the workers. The LCO is a division of the Department of Industrial Relations.
3 Hyundai and 2 GM Products on Mercury’s Most Affordable New EVs to Insure List
California-based Mercury Insurance compiled a list of the most affordable electric vehicles to insure. The list includes 2025 and 2026 model-year vehicles. Factors examined for the list include claims on similar vehicles, costs to repair and vehicle safety records. Mercury examined EVs available at car dealerships today.
This is the 10th year that Mercury has published this list.
The top 10 EVs that are the most affordable to insure, beginning with the most affordable make, are:
• Chevrolet Blazer EV
• Chevrolet Equinox EV
• Nissan Leaf
• Kia Niro EV
• Ford F-150 Lightning
• Hyundai Kona EV
• MINI Cooper SE
• Hyundai IONIQ EV (all models)
• Fiat 500e
• Subaru Solterra/Toyota BZ4X
Mercury put together a list of the most affordable trucks and SUVs to insure earlier in August. Hyundai and GM were also well represented on that list. Two Chevrolets and a Hyundai topped the list of the most affordable new trucks and SUVs to insure for 2025.
SAIF in Oregon Declares $50 Million Dividend
SAIF’s board of directors has declared a $50 million dividend for more than 50,000 workers’ compensation policyholders.
In October, 50,757 policyholders are set to receive the dividend, which will be calculated based on the premium for policies that ended in 2024.
current economic uncertainty and the rising trends in medical costs. However, despite the challenges, SAIF’s strong
This is the 16th consecutive dividend given to SAIF policyholders.
According to Chip Terhune, president and CEO of SAIF, the organization considered the
fiscal position, effective claims handling and proactive safety programs made this year’s dividend possible.
SAIF is Oregon’s notfor-profit workers’ comp insurance company.
California Labor Commissioner Cites LA Developers $2.3M
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office issued citations totaling more than $2.3 million to multiple developers and operators of construction projects at sites in Los Angeles.
The citations stem from an investigation showing there was wage theft and other labor law violations impacting 124 construction workers.
Investigators found workers were being denied overtime pay despite regularly working more than eight hours a day or 40 hours per week. Many were also paid below the Los Angeles minimum wage and were never provided with required sick leave or accurate itemized wage statements, according to the LCO.
Workers frequently received
multiple pay stubs from different corporate entities, despite reporting to the same supervisors, and working on overlapping projects, in a scheme the LCO says was an attempt to evade paying legally mandated overtime and minimum wage.
The investigation also revealed additional violations, including failure to provide workers with paid sick leave and supplemental paid sick leave during the pandemic.
The citations total $2.3 million, including more than $2.1 million in unpaid wages and damages, along with more than $165,000 in accrued interest. The exact amount owed to each worker varies, but the total averages $18,900 per person.
News & Markets
Oregon Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Rate Dropping
Oregon employers on average would pay 87 cents per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation costs in 2026, down from 91 cents this year, under a new proposal.
The Oregon Department of Consumer
and Business Services called for the decline in costs, which would mark 13 years of average decreases in the pure premium rate.
The DCBS credits the cost decrease to the success of Oregon’s workers’ comp
system, as well as positive, long-term trends. Fewer claims are entering the system over time, along with claims being generally less severe, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
The pure premium rate would drop by an average 3.3% under the proposal. The pure premium per $100 of payroll will have declined by 46.5%, according to the DCBS.
The reduction in costs is due to fewer claims entering the system over time, along with claims being generally less severe, according to NCCI.
Employers’ total cost for workers’ comp insurance includes the pure premium and insurer profit and expenses, plus the premium assessment. Employers also pay at least half of the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, which is a cents-per-hourworked rate.
The decrease in the pure premium of 3.3% percent is an average, so individual employers may see larger or smaller decrease, no change or an increase.
The premium assessment, a percentage of the workers’ comp premium employers pay, is added to the premium. It would remain at 9.8% in 2026, the same as 2025, under the DCBS proposal.
The decrease in the pure premium will be effective Jan. 1, 2026, but employers will see the changes when they renew their policies in 2026.
continued from page 26
model. Traditional unit pricing often fails to scale for large commercial losses, leading to significant overpayment. Meanwhile, time-and-material models offer a more accurate reflection of actual labor and material costs while simultaneously capturing economies of scale. For example, Verisk data shows that smarter review models can reduce inflated bills by 20% to 27% on commercial claims, an amount of savings that can make a measurable difference across a portfolio of losses.
Next comes proactive project management and pre-loss agreements. It’s pertinent to remember that managing a commercial repair effectively requires both strong project
oversight during the claim and smart planning before a loss ever occurs. Having established pre-loss agreements lays down clear expectations from the very beginning for pricing, emergency protocols, and response times so when a catastrophe happens, everyone is aligned and mobilization is immediate.
Then once the work begins, proactive project management ensures contractors are held accountable to those agreements. Dedicated repair specialists or virtual project managers can then monitor timelines, coordinate resources strategically, and keep all stakeholders informed as the projects progress.
In tandem with each other, these ideas and practices will
provide both insurers and policyholders with a clearer path forward. As U.S. commercial insurance rates increased 2.8% in the second quarter, according to Novatae Risk Group’s quarterly Market Barometer, organizations can take control of outcomes by adopting solutions that emphasize consistency, transparency, and speed, rather than being overwhelmed by the mounting costs and delays that too often define commercial property claims.
The reality is that the challenges of rising costs, labor shortages, and business interruption aren’t going anywhere any time soon. However, that doesn’t mean these trends have to dictate the trajectory of every claims process. For those
who embrace structured repair models and invest in proactive planning as the commercial property insurance space continues to evolve, they will be the ones better positioned to contain expenses, reduce downtime, and deliver better results for clients.
The message is simple: Prepare now. Build the right relationships, put the right oversight in place, and invest where you can make the loss response as seamless as possible and everybody wins.
Reis is president of managed repair networks at Sedgwick.
Morris is an estimate review consultant at Sedgwick.
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Welcome to Insurance Journal’s 2025 Professional Liability Directory. We’ve compiled this directory of professional liability providers to assist independent agents and brokers in their search for markets. In today’s highly litigious world, professional liability coverages have become critical insurance for many businesses. This directory has been designed to serve as a quick reference guide that allows users to locate carriers, wholesale brokers and managing general agencies offering professional liability coverage. The information published in this directory was submitted directly by the providers and includes their contact information, Web site and states where coverage is available. For a complete listing of markets offered by providers named in this directory, visit: www.insurancejournal. com/directories and type in “professional liability” under the Excess & Surplus, “find a market” option. To submit a listing for future directories, e-mail Kristine Honey at: khoney@insurancejournal.com. We hope you find IJ’s Professional Liability Directory to be a useful tool. To comment on this directory, or any other IJ resource, please e-mail: editorial@insurancejournal.com.
Indemnity
Johnson
Landy Insurance Agency
Inc.
M.J. Hall & Company Insurance Brokers
Markel
MAXIMUM
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO)
Monarch E&S Insurance
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division
of Specialty Program Group, LLC
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Costanza Insurance Agency, Inc.
DC MD NC PA SC VA WV
Most States
All States (for Security Industry)
Coterie 38 States
CRC Insurance Services
CRES A Gallagher Company
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
DUAL North America
All States
All States
All States
All States
Eaton Professional Insurance Services CA
Elite Underwriters CA FL CT NY
EMaxx Assurance Group of Companies, Inc.
All States
Executive Insurance Professionals, PLLC CA NM OK TX
First Choice Insurance Intermediaries, Inc. Most States
Gorst & Compass Insurance
Hudson Insurance Group / Hudson Pro
CA
All States
Insurance Agents & Brokers Service Group, Inc. DE MD PA (for Ins. Agents & Brokers only)
Irwin Siegel Agency
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages
J.E. Brown & Associates
All States
All States
All States
James Klein Insurance Service, Inc. Most States
Jamison Risk Services
Johnson & Johnson
All States except AK NV
All States
Kevin Dahlke Insurance Brokerage, Inc. Most States
Keystroke Underwriters
Kinsale Insurance Company
Landy Insurance Agency
All States except HI
All States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
All States except AK
M.J. Hall & Company Insurance Brokers AK AZ CA HI NV OR WA
Markel
Maverick Commercial Insurance Services
All States
All States
National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA) All States
Negley Associates
All States
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
New England Excess Exchange CT DC DE MA MD ME NC NH NJ NY OH PA RI VA VT
NEXT Insurance
All States
Norman-Spencer International, Inc. All States
Novatae Risk Group
OREP Insurance Services, LLC
Philadelphia Insurance Companies
PL Risk Advisors, Inc.
Prime Insurance Company
Professional Governmental Underwriters
Professional Insurance Concepts
Professional Liability Ins. Svcs - Underwriting Facilities
All States
All States
All States except LA
All States
All States
All States
All States
All States (250+ Misc Classes: Vinyard/Farm)
ProLawyer from C&R Insurance Services LLC DC DE MD NJ NY PA VA
Quadrant Insurance Managers
R.E. Chaix & Assoc. CA
States
Roush Insurance Services, Inc. IA IL IN MN ND OH SD WI
RPS Technology & Cyber All States
RT Specialty All States
Sabal Insurance Group, Inc. All States
Select Risk Services, Inc. AR AZ CA CO LA MS NM PA TX
Smart Choice Express Markets All States except AK & HI
SPG ExecuPro All States
STRAVA Specialty All States
Sun Coast General Insurance Agency AZ CA CO NV OR UT
SWBC TX
Synergy Professional Associates, Inc. All States
Target Professional Programs All States
The Hanover Insurance Group Most States
Tokio Marine HCC Professional Lines Group All States
Tokio Marine/HCC All States
U.S. E&O Brokers, a Division of Innovation
Growth Partners Specialty, LLC All States
United Educators All States
USG Insurance Services, Inc. All States
Veracity Insurance Solutions, LLC All States
Victor Insurance Managers LLC All States
Wholesure All States
Woodlands Insurance Services, LLC Most States
Access
Access One80
Alliant Insurance Services
Allsouth Professional Liability
AMIS/Alliance Marketing & Insurance Services
Amwins - 150+ Offices Nationwide
ARC West Coast Excess & Surplus Brokerage, LLC
a CRC Group Company
Artex Risk Solutions, Inc.
Ascendant Insurance Solutions
Ashley General Agency
Aura Risk Management & Insurance Services
Axis Insurance Services, LLC
Bailey Special Risks, Inc.
Baker Insurance and Bonds, LLC
Berkley Select | a Berkley Company
Braishfield Associates, Inc.
Brooks Insurance Agency
Brown & Riding
CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company
CID Insurance Programs, Inc.
Ck Specialty Insurance Associates
Cochrane and Company
Commercial Sector Insurance Brokers, LLC
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division of Specialty Program Group, LLC
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Costanza Insurance Agency, Inc.
CRC Insurance Services
CRES A Gallagher Company
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
Eaton Professional Insurance Services
Elite Specialty & Wholesale Insurance Services
Executive Insurance Professionals, PLLC
Gateway Specialty Insurance
Gorst & Compass Insurance
Great American Ins. Group - Executive Liab. Division
States (for Security Industry)
Indemnity Excess & Surplus Agency, Inc. Western States
Insurance Agents & Brokers Service Group, Inc.
IPA Risk Management, LLC
Irwin Siegel Agency
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages
J.E. Brown & Associates
James River Insurance Company
Jamison Risk Services
Jencap - Locations Nationwide
Jimcor Agencies
Johnson & Johnson
Joseph Krar & Associates, Inc.
States
States
States
States
States
States except AK NV
States
Brokers only)
States except AK HI IA NE SD WY
States
MA ME NH RI VT
Kevin Dahlke Insurance Brokerage, Inc. Most States
Kinsale Insurance Company All States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
M.J. Hall & Company Insurance Brokers AK AZ CA HI NV OR WA
Markel All States
Maverick Commercial Insurance Services All States
MAXIMUM All States
Monarch E&S Insurance Services Nationwide
Negley Associates
States
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc.
New England Excess Exchange
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
Novatae Risk Group
States
RT Specialty
Sabal Insurance Group, Inc.
Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary, Inc.
Southern Insurance Underwriters, Inc.
Ascendant
Axis
Balance Partners
Berkley Select | a Berkley Company
Brooks Insurance Agency
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Gaddis
Fiduciary
Brooks Insurance Agency
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
CRES A Gallagher Company
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
Elite Specialty & Wholesale Insurance Services
First Choice Insurance Intermediaries, Inc.
Hudson Insurance Group / Hudson Pro
IPA Risk Management, LLC
Johnson & Johnson
Kevin Dahlke Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
Kinsale Insurance Company
Markel
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO)
National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA)
States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
States
States
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
Novatae Risk Group
ProSurance Group, a Div of One80 Intermediaries
R.E. Chaix & Assoc.
U.S. E&O Brokers, a Division of Innovation
States
Amwins
Brooks
Chubb
CID
Ck Specialty Insurance Associates
Commercial Sector Insurance Brokers, LLC
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division
Specialty Program Group, LLC
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Coterie
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
States
States
States Elite Underwriters
Gorst & Compass Insurance
Indemnity Excess & Surplus Agency, Inc.
Insurance Agents & Brokers Service Group, Inc.
FL CT NY
States
Sun
Synergy Professional Associates, Inc.
Target Professional Programs
Tokio Marine HCC Professional Lines Group
U.S. Brokers Network, a Division of Innovation
Growth Partners Specialty, LLC
U.S. E&O Brokers, a Division of Innovation
Growth Partners Specialty, LLC
Vanguard Specialty, LLC
Veracity Insurance Solutions, LLC
XPT Specialty
States except Alaska
360
Amwins - 150+ Offices Nationwide
Aon Affinity
ARC West Coast Excess & Surplus Brokerage, LLC
a CRC Group Company
Aura Risk Management & Insurance Services
Berkley Select | a Berkley Company
Brooks Insurance Agency
CID Insurance Programs, Inc.
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
CRC Insurance Services
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
DOXA Insurance Holdings
Gorst & Compass Insurance
Grayhawk General Agency, Inc.
IPA Risk Management, LLC
James River Insurance Company
Jamison Risk Services
Jimcor Agencies
Johnson & Johnson
Kinsale Insurance Company
Landy Insurance Agency
Lawyer’s Protector Plan
M.J. Hall & Company Insurance Brokers
States
States
States except AK
States except AK
States
States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
States except AK
States except AK HI LA OR WV WY
States
MD PA IPA Risk Management, LLC
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages
States
J.E. Brown & Associates All States
James River Insurance Company
States
Jamison Risk Services All States except AK NV
Jencap - Locations Nationwide
Johnson & Johnson
Markel
MAXIMUM
States
States
Keystroke Underwriters All States except HI
Kinsale Insurance Company
MAXIMUM
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO)
National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA)
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc.
New
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
Novatae Risk Group
Number One
ProSurance Group, a Div of One80 Intermediaries
ProWriters
Quadrant Insurance Managers
States
States
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO) All States
Monarch E&S Insurance Services Nationwide
National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA) All States
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
NEXT Insurance
Number One Insurance Agency
States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States Professional Liability Brokers & Consultants, Inc.
ProLawyer from C&R
Amwins
Gorst
IPA Risk
Irwin Siegel Agency
James
James
Jencap - Locations
Johnson
Kinsale
Magnolia LTC - (Skilled Nursing, Assisted
Maverick
Negley
PL
Professional
Professional
Promont Insurance Advisors
Psych
RPS
USASIA
Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc.
New England Excess Exchange
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
Norman-Spencer International,
Allsouth Professional Liability
Amwins - 150+ Offices
Aon Affinity
ARC West Coast Excess & Surplus Brokerage, LLC
a CRC Group Company
ARMR.Network - Better Insurance
Cooper
Costanza
Coterie
CRES
R.E.
Roush
AMIS/Alliance Marketing & Insurance Services
Aon Affinity
ARC West Coast Excess & Surplus Brokerage, LLC
a CRC Group Company
States Ascendant Insurance Solutions
Bailey Special Risks, Inc.
Baker Insurance and Bonds, LLC
Berkley Select | a Berkley Company
Brooks Insurance Agency
Cochrane and Company
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division of Specialty Program Group, LLC
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
All States except AK & HI
All States except NY
All States
All States except HI
All States
States
Eaton Professional Insurance Services CA
EMaxx Assurance Group of Companies, Inc.
States
Encore Fiduciary All States (includes Labor PL Insurance)
Executive Insurance Professionals, PLLC
NM OK TX
Gateway Specialty Insurance All States
Great American Ins. Group - Executive Liab. Division
Hudson Insurance Group / Hudson Pro
Indemnity Excess & Surplus Agency, Inc.
Irwin Siegel Agency
J.E. Brown & Associates
Jencap - Locations Nationwide
Johnson & Johnson
Joseph Krar & Associates, Inc.
Kinsale Insurance Company
Negley Associates
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
England Excess Exchange
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
Artex Risk Solutions, Inc.
Bailey Special Risks, Inc.
Brooks Insurance Agency
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
EMaxx Assurance Group of Companies, Inc.
Jencap - Locations Nationwide
Johnson & Johnson
Kinsale Insurance Company
Chaix & Assoc.
Roush Insurance Services, Inc.
Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary, Inc.
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
States Philadelphia Insurance Companies
States except LA Professional Insurance Concepts
Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary, Inc.
Braishfield Associates, Inc.
Commercial Sector Insurance Brokers, LLC
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division of Specialty Program Group, LLC
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
CRES A Gallagher Company
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
Elite Underwriters
Executive Insurance Professionals, PLLC
First Choice Insurance Intermediaries, Inc.
Gorst & Compass Insurance
IPA Risk Management, LLC
Jimcor Agencies
Johnson & Johnson
States (includes Firms/Brokers)
States except AK HI IA NE SD WY
States
Kevin Dahlke Insurance Brokerage, Inc. Most States
Kinsale Insurance Company All States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
Landy Insurance Agency All States except AK (includes Real Estate Appraisers E&O)
MAXIMUM All States
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO) All States
National Association of Professional Agents (NAPA) All States
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc. All States
NEXT Insurance All States
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc. All States
Number One Insurance Agency MA
OREP Insurance Services, LLC All States
Professional Insurance Concepts All States
Professional Liability Brokers & Consultants, Inc. All States (Mortgage Brokers specifically)
ProWriters All States
Quirk & Company LA NM OK OR TX WA
RPS Executive Lines
Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary, Inc.
Southern Insurance Underwriters, Inc.
Synergy Professional Associates, Inc.
Tokio
Access
Admiral Insurance Group
ARC West Coast Excess & Surplus Brokerage, LLC
a CRC Group Company
Ashley General Agency
States
Axis Insurance Services, LLC All States
Bailey Special Risks, Inc.
Braishfield Associates, Inc.
Brooks Insurance Agency
Brown & Riding
CFC
Chubb
Ck Specialty Insurance Associates
Cochrane and Company
Commonwealth Underwriters, a Division
of Specialty Program Group, LLC
All States except AK & HI
All States (includes Cyber & Privacy)
All States except HI
All States
All States
All States
All States except AK DC FL NY
All States
DC MD NC PA SC VA WV
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc. Most States
Coterie 38 States
CRC Insurance Services All States
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs All States
Eaton Professional Insurance Services CA
Elite Specialty & Wholesale Insurance Services
All States
EMaxx Assurance Group of Companies, Inc. All States
First Choice Insurance Intermediaries, Inc. Most States
Hudson Insurance Group / Hudson Pro All States
Indemnity Excess & Surplus Agency, Inc. Western States
IPA Risk Management, LLC
All States
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages All States
J.E. Brown & Associates
All States
Jencap - Locations Nationwide All States
Jimcor Agencies
Johnson & Johnson
Joseph Krar & Associates, Inc.
All States except AK HI IA NE SD WY
All States
CT MA ME NH RI VT Markel
All States
McGowan, Donnelly & Oberheu, LLC (MDO) All States
Monarch E&S Insurance Services Nationwide
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage, Inc. AZ CA NV
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc. All States
New England Excess Exchange
CT DC DE MA MD ME NC NH NJ NY OH PA RI VA VT
NEXT Insurance All States
Novatae Risk Group
All States
Philadelphia Insurance Companies All States except LA (includes Integrated Technology)
PL Risk Advisors, Inc.
All States
Prime Insurance Company All States
Professional Liability Ins. Svcs - Underwriting Facilities All States
ProWriters
Quirk & Company
Roush Insurance Services, Inc.
All States
LA NM OK OR TX WA
IA IL IN MN ND OH SD WI
RPS Executive Lines All States
RPS Technology & Cyber All States
RT Specialty All States
Sabal Insurance Group, Inc.
All States
Shelly, Middlebrooks & O’Leary, Inc. AL FL GA MS NC SC TX
Synergy Professional Associates, Inc. All States
The Hanover Insurance Group Most States
Tokio Marine HCC Professional Lines Group All States
Tokio Marine/HCC All States
USASIA Insurance Services AZ CA
Veracity Insurance Solutions, LLC
Woodlands Insurance Services, LLC
XPT Specialty
Axis
Brooks
Cooper & McCloskey, Inc.
CRES A Gallagher Company
Donald Gaddis Co., Inc. Insurance Svcs
DOXA Insurance Holdings
Elite Underwriters
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages
Jamison Risk Services
Johnson & Johnson
States except AK NV
States except HI
States + DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
All States
Most States
All States except Alaska
Synergy
Professional Liability Directory - Alphabetical Directory of Markets
425 Locust Ave., 4th Fl, Charlottesville, VA 22902
Phone: 800-596-2156 ; Fax: 434-979-8964
Email: info@b-h-a.com
Website: https://b-h-a.com/
Berkley Select | a Berkley Company
550 W. Jackson Blvd., Ste. 500, Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: 312-800-6200 ; Fax: 312-207-1839
Email: info@berkleyselect.com
Website: www.berkleyselect.com
Boston Insurance Brokerage, LLC
28 State St., Ste. 2202, Boston, MA 02109
Phone: 617-556-7000 ; Fax: 617-556-7030
Email: Kdriscoll@bib-llc.com
Website: www.bostonbrokerage.com
Braishfield Associates, Inc.
5750 Major Blvd., Ste. 200, Orlando, FL 32819
Phone: 888-335-6616 ; Fax: 888-335-6615
Email: dhill@braishfield.com
Website: www.braishfield.com
Brooks Insurance Agency
6320 Canoga Ave., 12th Fl, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Phone: 818-449-9062
Email: mmccluskey@brooks-ins.com
Website: www.brooks-ins.com
Professional Liability coverage from Brooks helps businesses focus on growth, not what could go wrong. As a trusted independent wholesaler, we ensure your submissions get priority attention and personalized service. Contact Michael McCluskey at 818-449-9062 or mmcluskey@brooks-ins.com to strengthen coverage for your clients.
Indemnity Excess & Surplus Agency, Inc. 1915 NE Stucki Ave., Ste. 450, Hillsboro, OR 97006
Phone: 800-487-2442 ; Fax: 503-526-9700
Email: jreedal@ies-xs.com Website: www.ies-xs.com
Insurance Agents & Brokers Service Group, Inc.
650 Wilson Lane, Ste. 200, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Phone: 800-998-9644 Ext. 209 ; Fax: 717-795-8347
Email: iab@iabforme.com Website: www.iabforme.com
Professional Liability Directory - Alphabetical Directory of Markets
IPA Risk Management, LLC
340 W. Passaic St., Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
Phone: 201-797-1084 ; Fax: 201-797-1076
Email: g.heitmann@ipariskmanagement.com
Website: www.ipariskmanagement.com
Irwin Siegel Agency
25 Lake Louise Marie Rd., Rock Hill, NY 12775
Phone: 800-622-8272 ; Fax: 845-796-3661
Email: siegel@siegelagency.com
Website: www.siegelagency.com
ISC - Integrated Specialty Coverages
1811 Aston Ave., Ste. 200, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Phone: 908-723-8559
Email: contact@iscmga.com
Website: www.iscmga.com
J.E. Brown & Associates
303 Lennon Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94598
Phone: 800-955-8213 ; Fax: 925-947-3978
Email: marketing@jebrown.net
Website: www.jebrown.net
James Klein Insurance Service, Inc.
200 E. Sandpointe Ave., Ste. 510, Santa Ana, CA 92637
Phone: 714-918-0914 Ext. 115 ; Fax: 714-918-0921
Email: pdavis@jameskleininsurance.com
INSURANCE
James River Insurance Company
6641 W. Broad St., Ste. 300, Richmond, VA 23230
Phone: 804-289-2700 ; Fax: 804-289-2703
Email: info@jamesriverins.com
Website: www.jamesriverins.com
James River underwrites a wide variety of specialty P&C and Professional risks on an E&S basis in all states. PL teams include Medical PL, Allied Healthcare, and non-Medical PL. Visit www.jamesriverins. com to find a JRIC-authorized wholesale broker!
Johnson & Johnson is a Managing General Agency offering P&C products in all 48 contiguous states. Home office: Charleston, SC (branches AL, AZ, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MA, MN, NC, OH, OR).
Jimcor Agencies
60 Craig Rd., Montvale, NJ 07645
Phone: 201-573-8200 ; Fax: 201-573-8820
Email: jschneider@jimcor.com
Website: www.jimcor.com
Joseph Krar & Associates, Inc.
PO Box 580, Southington, CT 06489
Phone: 860-628-3967 ; Fax: 860-628-3969
Email: emailrec@jkrar.com
Website: www.jkrar.com
Kevin Dahlke Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
15396 Broad Oaks Rd., El Cajon, CA 92021
Phone: 619-287-8613 ; Fax: 619-287-8921
Email: support@kdibinc.com
Website: www.dahlkeinsurance.com
Keystroke Underwriters
1000 Parkwood Cir, Ste. 925, Atlanta, GA 30339
Phone: 770-618-2840 ; Fax: 404-446-1501
Email: Robert@keystrokeins.com
Website: www.keystrokeins.com
Kinsale Insurance Company
2035 Maywill St., Ste. 100, Richmond, VA 23230
Phone: 804-289-1300 ; Fax: 804-673-5697
Email: marketing@kinsaleins.com
Website: www.kinsaleins.com
Landy Insurance Agency
100 River Ridge Dr., Ste. 301, Norwood, MA 02062
Phone: 800-336-5422 ; Fax: 800-344-5422
Email: karend@landy.com
Website: www.landy.com
Leading national program manager for Real Estate Agents & Brokers, Appraisers and Accountants Professional Liability insurance programs with coverage provided by an A+ -rated carrier. We now offer admitted and affordable Cyber & Crime coverage options with broad coverage features. With new, lower premiums and expanded coverage in many programs, same great service.
Professional Liability Directory - Alphabetical Directory of Markets
NeitClem Wholesale Insurance Brokerage
7442 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90041
Phone: 323-258-2600 ; Fax: 323-258-2676
Email: jcenteno@neitclem.com
Website: www.neitclem.com
New Age Underwriters Agency, Inc.
1 Old Country Rd., Ste. 421, Carle Place, NY 11514
Phone: 516-488-2500 ; Fax: 516-488-2508
Email: m.ascher@newageins.com
Website: www.newageins.com
New England Excess Exchange
57 Parker Rd., Barre, VT 05641
Phone: 800-548-4301 ; Fax: 800-347-4935
Email: marketing@neee.com
Website: www.neee.com
NEXT Insurance
975 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304
Phone: 855-222-5919
Email: agents@nextinsurance.com
Website: agents.nextinsurance.com
Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc.
8075 Washington Village Dr., Dayton, OH 45458
Phone: 800-543-3248 ; Fax: 937-432-1635
Email: davidgeorge@norman-spencer.com
Website: www.norman-spencer.com
Norman-Spencer International, Inc.
150 E. 22nd St., Lombard, IL 60148
Phone: 800-842-3653 ; Fax: 630-705-1056
Email: gretchen@normanspencer.com
Website: www.normanspencer.com
Novatae Risk Group
12700 Park Central Dr., Ste. 510, Dallas, TX 75251
Phone: 888-810-2770
Email: info@novatae.com
Website: www.novatae.com
Number One Insurance Agency
91 Cedar St., Milford, MA 01757
Phone: 508-634-2900 ; Fax: 508-634-2930
Email: mstangelo@massagent.com
Website: www.massagent.com
OREP Insurance Services, LLC
6353 El Cajon Blvd., Ste. 124-605, San Diego, CA 92115
Phone: 888-347-5273
Email: info@orep.org
Website: www.orep.org
Philadelphia Insurance Companies
One Bala Plaza, Ste. 100, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Phone: 800-873-4552 ; Fax: 610-617-7940
Email: phlysales@phlyins.com
Website: www.phly.com
Philadelphia Insurance Companies, a Member of the Tokio Marine Group, designs, markets, and underwrites commercial property/casualty and professional liability insurance products incorporating value added coverages and services for select industries.
PL Risk Advisors, Inc.
795 Franklin Ave., Ste. 210, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
RPS Healthcare specializes in medical professional liability insurance for all segments of the healthcare industry. We deliver quality insurance solutions at a competitive price for healthcare institutions.
Professional Liability Directory - Alphabetical Directory of Markets
RPS Technology & Cyber
204 Cedar St., Cambridge, MD 21613
Phone: 800-336-5659 ; Fax: 410-228-7645
Email: Estelle_Cummings@RPSins.com
Website: www.RPSins.com/techcyber
RT Specialty
540 W. Madison St., 9th Fl, Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: 312-651-6000 ; Fax: 312-651-6096
Email: customer.solutions@rtspecialty.com
Website: rtspecialty.com
Sabal Insurance Group, Inc.
1000 E. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-828-9948 ; Fax: 954-828-9949
Email: info@sabalinsurance.com
Website: www.sabalinsurance.com
SASSI - Salon & Spa Specialty Insurance
21 Maple Ave., Bay Shore, NY 11706
Phone: 888-823-9380 ; Fax: 631-666-5723
Email: info@brownyard.com
Website: www.sassiagency.com
Select Risk Services, Inc.
6575 West Loop South, Ste. 470, Bellaire, TX 77401
The homeowners policy and personal auto policy each address death and insurance protection in different ways. In part one of this two-part series, we reviewed how the homeowners policy responds. In this article, we will address the personal auto policy.
By Christopher Boggs
Unlike the homeowners policy, the personal auto policy (PAP) does not have a condition specifically labeled “Death.” The PAP’s response following death of named insureds is found within the Transfer Of Your Interest In This Policy section.
As is common to nearly every insurance policy, this section’s policy language does not allow the insured to assign coverage provided by the policy to any other party without the insurance carrier’s express written consent (which they generally do NOT give).
But there is a “however” within this provision conditioned on the death of the named insured. These “however” conditions are:
• If the surviving spouse is not already a named insured and he or she resides in the household, they assume the status as a named insured even if the named insured is not changed on the policy.
• The deceased named insured’s legal representative is granted named-insured-level status for liability coverage— even if they are not named on the policy. Note: The policy states that coverage for the legal representative is limited to only their legal liability for the maintenance or use of the covered auto.
An important caveat in the language states that these insured status extensions expire when the policy expires. If the insurance carrier is unwilling to renew coverage, other options must be employed.
Likely the insurance carrier will rewrite the policy in the name of the surviving spouse if the person is still alive and all underwriting guidelines are met. However, securing coverage for the “legal representative” may be a bit trickier.
Covering the Legal Representative
ISO rules state that a PAP is designed to cover vehicles owned by the insured.
Until the title is legally changed, the legal representative is not the owner of the car. Underwriting guidelines may dissuade or prevent the insurance carrier from writing a PAP for a vehicle still titled in the name of the deceased insureds—even if it is in possession of the legal representative. Depending on the state and how the vehicle is titled (in one or more names), 60 or more days may be required before the title is or can be transferred. This time period may be adversely affected by the time required to appoint the appropriate legal representative.
Once the legal representative is appointed, the process for changing the title is hampered by estate and regulatory rules and laws. Keep in mind, simply passing the vehicle to another person in a Will or Trust does not legally change the ownership according to many if not most state vehicle laws. The title must be changed. Ninety (90) days is not an unreasonable timeline to complete this process.
If the policy expires before the title and thus ownership has been transferred to another party (either an heir or a purchaser), where does the legal representative get coverage? Will or can the insurance carrier
allow the legal representative to list the unowned vehicle on their own PAP?
A coverage gap may exist for the use of the vehicle because:
• The deceased’s insurance carrier likely may be unwilling to provide the coverage in the name of the deceased or the legal representative; and/or
• The legal representative’s insurance carrier may not provide coverage because ownership has not been transferred.
Permitted Users?
Regardless of the issues with the title and ownership, where is coverage found before a legal representative has been appointed? Is anyone covered?
Status as a permitted user is dependent upon the ability of someone to give permission to use the vehicle. If all named insureds are deceased and no legal representative has been appointed, can anyone—even the eventual legal representative—be “granted” permission to use the vehicle and qualify as a permitted user?
Until someone has recognized authority over the vehicle, permission to use the vehicle cannot be granted.
Let’s use my wife’s parents as an
example. As mentioned in part one, both of her parents died in quick succession. If we assume that both insureds died and no legal representative had yet been appointed, would anyone be allowed to drive the vehicle? Would there be coverage from the deceased insured’s PAP?
Ultimately the answer to this “permitted user” question may depend on the facts of the claim. Let’s look at two examples—both assuming that no legal representative has yet been appointed.
Facts of the Loss: Before a legal representative is appointed, I take the car to the dealer to have it serviced and inspected. Would the deceased insured’s PAP extend coverage to me if I am involved in an at-fault accident? Or would I have to depend on my PAP?
Potential Carrier Response: There is a reasonable argument that the carrier will view this use as necessary and consider me a presumptive permitted user because such use is essentially beneficial for or to the deceased insureds’ estate.
Facts of the Loss: Before a legal representative is appointed, my wife and I decide we need to get away for a few days following the funeral and we use the deceased insured’s vehicle for that vacation. Would the carrier consider us permitted users?
Potential Carrier Response: In this case, we would not have been benefitting the deceased in any way—this was wholly personal. How would the policy respond following an at-fault accident? Denial of coverage is not an unreasonable conclusion in this example.
Unfortunately, the answers above are not definitive; in fact, there may be no definitive answer. Much conjecture and opinion may be spewed, but until there is a claim and all the facts are known, pinpointing any answer regarding permitted user status before the appointment of a legal representative is difficult if not impossible. Maybe the best answer is to not use the vehicle until the proper legal representative is appointed.
Once the legal representative is appointed, then another person could be granted
permitted user status. Once my wife was appointed the legal representative, she was able to give me permission to take the vehicle to the dealership for service and inspection or for us to take it on a short vacation.
Resident Family Members
If there are resident family members insured by the PAP, although they may not be named in the policy, they may still be covered until the policy period ends. At that time, alternative coverage plans must be made.
PAP Conclusion
PAP coverage gaps, or at the very least coverage questions, appear to exist following the death of the named insureds. Insurance carriers may have underwriting guidelines and procedures to help work through these potential gaps and time delays.
Conclusion
Don’t ignore the insurance implications created by the death of named insureds. While the policies may adequately address short-term issues, long-term issues generally require alternative plans. Arguments and fights over estate assets can exacerbate the probate process and increase the time necessary to close the estate. Real estate markets and the consumer market in general may delay disbursement and disposal of estate assets—including real property. Even Trusts require proper management from an insurance perspective. Although no one wants to think about death, it is inevitable—and we must be prepared to address the insurance aspects beyond just life insurance. Property and liability exposures continue after death.
Boggs, CPCU, ARM, ALCM, LPCS, AAI, APA, CWCA, CRIS, AINS, is president of Boggs Risk & Insurance Consulting (BRIC). He has authored over 2,000 insurance and risk management-related articles and written 15 insurance and risk management books. His professional background includes work as a risk management consultant, loss control representative, insurance producer, claims manager, journalist and columnist, quality assurance specialist, and insurance coverage product manager.
Idea Exchange: Ask the Insurance Recruiter
How Your Company’s Recruitment Practices Might Be Driving Candidates Away
Time is crucial in recruiting. For instance, when it comes to client service hires, successful insurance agencies fill Customer Service Representative (CSR) and Account Manager job openings within 30 days. How does your timeline compare—are you on par, or is it much longer?
If your hiring process stretches out, you may also face other challenges, like difficulty finding qualified applicants, candidates ghosting you, or losing talent to competitors with more appealing offers. Every stage of hiring engages or deters candidates, so it’s essential to identify where you may be discouraging applicants.
Early in the Process
Poor Job Ads. Confusing and lengthy content is an issue; people prefer short, concise job descriptions. Avoid paragraphs and excessive scrolling to ensure a high application rate.
Extensive Job Applications. I’ve seen agencies ask for personal details in online applications like driver’s license numbers, references, and salary history. Asking for personal information or requiring too many steps to submit a resume leads to dropouts.
Bait and Switch. Job boards struggle to accurately represent hybrid and remote
roles. If crucial details—such as hours, location, work schedule, compensation, benefits, and experience requirements—are buried in the fine print, candidates feel confused and lose interest.
Mid-Part of the Process
Hiring Manager Bias. Do you dismiss candidates based on job movement, such as short tenure, layoffs, or terminations? Relying on stereotypes leads to overlooking valuable talent. Always err on the side of speaking with candidates; often how they come across and share their story will dispel bias and exceed your expectations, which leads to surprising hires.
Lackluster Initial Interviews. Poorly informed recruiters leave a bad impression. It’s crucial hiring managers conduct the first interview with seasoned insurance professionals.
Lack of Urgency. What is your average time frame for reviewing applications? If you bank resumes for one, two, or three weeks—which is common—candidates lose interest and are likely to have already moved forward with other opportunities. Make 24-48 hours your standard turnaround to review applications and resumes, schedule interviews, and provide critical feedback.
At the End of the Process
By Mary Newgard
Inconsistent Details. Candidates don’t mind if you offer a higher position than what they originally applied for, but confusion over job specifics late in the process (including job duties, compensation, travel, hours) diminishes their interest.
Unexpected Due Diligence. Where do profile testing, references, non-compete reviews, drug screenings, compensation verification, and background checks fit into your process? These should occur before making an offer. I’ve seen situations where candidates expect a formal offer shortly after negotiating salary, only to face a barrage of due diligence. This creates frustration and a fast track to declining an offer.
Indecisiveness. A long interview process creates candidate fatigue. Don’t allow hiring managers to fall in love with the process. For most positions, two to three interviews are sufficient. Additionally, no matter your decision, always close the process with a personal message. I’ve witnessed many candidates reach the finalist stage only to never hear back from the company, even after being informed that someone else was hired.
Recruiting is an intricate and resource-intensive endeavor, requiring significant manpower and financial investment to attract talented individuals. Ultimately, it’s vital to examine your process to ensure that none of your hiring practices prolong the process or drive away applicants you’ve invested so much in to attract.
Newgard is partner and senior search consultant for Capstone Search Group, a national recruiting firm dedicated to the insurance industry. For questions and comments, email: asktherecruiter@csgrecruiting.com.
Idea Exchange: Minding Your Business
Agency of the Future
What will the insurance agency business model look like 10–15 years from now?
Today, several key trends are already shaping the future of the industry, including the ongoing trend ency consolidation, the relative ease of starting new businesses, a widening generational and workforce age gap, and the rapid rise of insurtech and artificial intelligence. The first three trends are steadily
reshaping the traditional agency model, gradually evolving it into a more modern structure. By contrast, insurtech and artificial intelligence represent true disruptors—technologies with the potential not just to reshape but to transform how insurance agencies operate and deliver value fundamentally.
Agency Consolidation
The first major trend shaping the industry is consolidation. Agencies of all sizes are being acquired, primarily by well-capitalized private organizations backed by private equity and large publicly traded firms.
Private equity investment has surged into the insurance sector, now driving a vast majority of agency acquisitions.
Recent reports indicate that approximately 750 reported acquisitions occurred in 2024, a decrease from more than 830 in 2023. However, unreported acquisitions may be of a similar amount, although this is difficult to assess.
This consolidation trend has been building momentum for years. One clear outcome is that professionally run agencies with national reach now manage an increasing share of insurance accounts. This shift aligns with evolving consumer expectations, as many clients value access to firms with broad resources and extensive support networks.
For small, independent agencies, this environment presents both challenges and opportunities. To remain competitive
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By Catherine Oak CRM, CIC and
Bill Schoeffler
Idea Exchange: Minding Your Business
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against larger firms, independent agencies must emphasize personal relationships, specialized services, and unique value propositions. In many communities, the days of having multiple small independent agencies are gone. Still, direct writers such as State Farm and Farmers continue to serve personal lines and small commercial markets, filling part of that gap.
New Agencies
In contrast to the consolidation trend, the second major development is that starting a new insurance agency has never been easier. The shift is primarily driven by expanded market access—opportunities that didn’t exist 50 years ago.
Today, entrepreneurs can launch a new agency and quickly access multiple carriers through aggregators and market access groups such as AmWins Access (formerly Networked Insurance Agents), Ironpeak (formerly Iroquois Group), United Valley, or Insuror’s Group. This model allows new agencies to be viable almost immediately.
In the past, startups had to place business through another established agency until they built enough premium volume— often $250,000 to $500,000—to qualify for direct contracts with carriers. That process could take years. Personal lines carriers are being very selective in contracting new agencies due to the current turmoil in that insurance segment, which makes it less likely to obtain a direct appointment.
Beyond aggregators, there are several other paths to support new or smaller agencies:
Clusters and Networks. These involve
two or more agencies pooling resources to share carrier appointments, facilities, systems, staff, or services. These can be small clusters of 10 or fewer agencies, or large regional or national networks. Traditionally, this has been an option once an agency is somewhat established. There is also some overlap when defining an aggregator with a cluster or network, since the key feature is market access. However, a cluster or network will offer additional services, such as peer collaboration and marketing support. Large networks include Keystone, ISU, Renaissance, and SIAA, in addition to the aggregators listed above. Franchise Models. New systems such as Fiesta Insurance, Brightway, and Goosehead bring a franchise approach to the insurance industry. In exchange for an upfront franchise fee (often $25,000 or more) and reduced commissions or monthly fees, franchisees receive comprehensive support, including market access, branding, back-office functions (like accounting and customer service), and consistent operational procedures. This structure allows entrepreneurs to focus primarily on sales and building their book of business, without the burden of managing employees or carrier relationships. However, franchisees must adhere to the franchisor’s rules, and compensation may be lower compared to a fully independent agency.
These partnerships—whether through clusters, networks, aggregators, or franchises—have effectively become incubators for new agencies. According to a 2022 Insurance Networks Study, more than half of all independent agencies in the U.S. par-
ticipate in a cluster, network, or aggregator, with network membership widespread among agencies seeking better market access, higher commissions, and support services. Insurance Journal’s annual list of the “Top 20 Agency Partnerships” (see page 21) highlights the impressive combined revenues generated by member agencies, underscoring the growing role of these models in shaping the industry.
Age Gap
Like many industries, insurance faces a significant demographic challenge: a widening generational gap in the workforce. The Baby Boomers are retiring in large numbers. The first Boomers turned 65 back in 2011, and today, approximately 11,000 reach retirement age every day. The youngest Boomers are now in their early 60s. While the youngest Millenials began entering the workforce less than a decade ago, the generation between them and the Boomers—Generation X—is considerably smaller. This creates a structural gap: Seasoned professionals in their 60s are exiting the workforce and are being replaced primarily by those in their 20s, with fewer individuals in their 30s and 40s to bridge the transition.
This shift also presents significant challenges in terms of agency ownership. Baby Boomers still own roughly 41% of privately held small businesses and franchises in the U.S., with 80% to 90% of their wealth tied up in their companies. In total, this represents an estimated 12 million businesses and over 25 million jobs. Within the insurance industry, as many as 75% of Baby Boomer agency owners plan to transition ownership within the next eight years, with nearly half intending to do so within just three years. For now, this trend aligns with the appetite of private equity firms, which continue to acquire agencies aggressively.
The demographic gap also translates into an experience gap. Someone often replaces a producer or manager with 20-plus years of expertise with less than 10 years in the industry. While this loss of experience may reduce efficiency in the short term, it creates space for new ideas and approaches. In fact, the next major trend—technology
and insurtech—may align naturally with the Millennial workforce, which brings fresh perspectives, even if it lacks deep experience in traditional agency models.
Technology
Insurtech has emerged as the dominant disruptive force in the insurance industry— the “800-pound gorilla” among current trends. Broadly defined, insurtech refers to the application of technology across the insurance sector and the ways it is reshaping the marketplace. This includes innovations such as smartphone apps, wearable devices, sensor-enabled appliances, real-time access to consumer data, enhanced claims tools, risk-assessment algorithms, online policy issuance and servicing, as well as automated compliance systems.
What makes insurtech so impactful is its unpredictability. Its full potential is unknown, but the implications are profound. For example, the rise of self-driving cars will likely reduce accident-related liability and will shift primary responsibility from drivers to manufacturers. When this shift becomes widespread, traditional personal auto insurance policies could become largely obsolete.
In addition, everyday products—from household appliances to vehicles—are increasingly embedded with connected
The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1 Federal Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02110, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.
technology. These devices continuously monitor usage, performance, and surroundings, which will inevitably reshape how liability is determined and assigned.
Artificial intelligence amplifies this transformation by redefining how data is collected, analyzed, and applied. Today, a consumer seeking an auto insurance quote needs only to provide their name and address—systems can automatically pull vehicle details and other relevant information from existing databases. With AI, the entire process of underwriting, claims, and customer service will increasingly be automated, delivered with speed and accuracy that human staff alone cannot match.
Several major insurance companies base their premium pricing on data collected from how a car is driven, using telematics and usage-based insurance programs. Tesla’s insurance program will show how recent driving history affects the premium, which is updated monthly.
In short, insurtech and AI are not just reshaping the insurance agency model— they may fundamentally reinvent the way insurance itself works.
Conclusion
Over the next five to 10 years, insurance agencies are likely to undergo a gradual evolution, primarily shaped by three major trends: consolidation, new agency
September 22, 2025
Opportunity Life Insurance Company
4675 Cornell Rd., Suite 160 Cincinnati, OH 45241
The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to obtain a certificate of Authority to transact Life, Accident, and Health insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1 Federal Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02110, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.
formation, and shifting demographics. Mid-sized agencies are expected to decline in number, while large firms are expected to capture an increasing share of the market. At the same time, a new wave of small, highly nimble agencies may emerge—lean operations where producers focus on sales while outsourcing service and back-office functions.
Looking further ahead—15 years into the future and beyond—the picture becomes far less certain. Advances in technology, particularly insurtech and AI, could transform the industry so radically that the role, and even the very existence, of traditional insurance agencies may be redefined or eliminated altogether.
Oak is the founder of the consulting firm Oak & Associates, based in Northern California and Central Oregon, and Bill Schoeffler is an associate of the firm. Oak & Associates is an international consulting firm that specializes in financial and management consulting for independent insurance agencies, including valuations, mergers acquisitions, sales and marketing planning as well as perpetuation planning. Phone: 707-935-6565. Email: catoak@gmail.com.
Closing Quote
Two Years of IA Transformation: Viewpoint
By Charles Symington Jr.
This month marks two years since I officially took the helm at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) as president and CEO. This period since 2023 has been among the most transformative in recent memory for the independent agency channel—and certainly for us at this association. Independent agents have confronted an unprecedented hard market, extraordinary natural disasters, regulatory and legislative challenges, and a technological revolution including the widespread implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) that will forever change the way we do business.
I can say cautiously that we are starting to see glimmers of light at the end of the hard market tunnel. The independent agent community has had to be creative to thrive through it, working proactively and individually with customers to explain their soaring premiums or remarket their coverage with limited alternatives. For our part, we launched the Big “I” Alliance, a new aggregator model designed to expand market access and support our members’ growth. It’s delivering new options and coverage solutions in this tough market, especially for our smallest and newest agencies.
We are also working closely with other insurance industry stakeholders to curb another huge contributor to the hard market: abuse of our legal system. Third-party litigation funding, nuclear verdicts, and other legal factors are unfairly driving up insurance costs that then get passed on to consumers in an already-tight market. Together with our carrier partners, state insurance regulators, other trade groups, and federal legislators, we are crafting a holistic approach to advocate for tort reforms to bring our legal system under control. Legal reforms in states such as Georgia and Florida are already improving the insurance market in those areas, and we are turning our attention to regulators in other states and leaders in Congress, as well, to help with this expanding crisis.
Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Congress and the Trump administration did provide relief to the independent agency channel and other small businesses with historic tax legislation this year. The Big “I” successfully advocated for the permanency of the 20% passthrough deduction—a major legislative win for a majority of independent agencies who will benefit from this tax break. It’s a real game-changer as these businesses strategize for their future growth.
But perhaps our industry’s most revolutionary recent transformation has been with technology. Traditionally, insurance hasn’t been known for its quick adaptation of cutting-edge technology or its innovation in the high-tech realm. That’s all changing. A new era of insurtech is bol-
stering not only independent agencies but carriers, actuaries, adjusters, aggregators, and insurance consumers.
Independent agents today have no choice but to embrace the latest technology. The Big “I” through Trusted Choice has developed a suite of hands-on digital tools designed specifically to support agents through the ongoing hard market and to help them embrace and utilize AI to improve their operations.
We have invested in Catalyit, an effort founded by several of our Big “I” state associations and supported by insurtech partners, which helps agencies anywhere understand, select, and maximize their technology resources. And our Agents Council for Technology (ACT) is bringing together a wide array of industry players to delve into data, connectivity, and AI while giving independent agents a voice at the table as these issues advance. Independent agents are analytical problem-solvers by nature, so it makes sense they should be at the forefront of the industry’s technology surge.
That’s also why the Big “I” has undertaken a complete overhaul of our association digital ecosystem over the
last 18 months, from our public-facing websites to member portals, to better serve agents in a digital-first environment. And it’s why AI was a major focus of our fall conference and board meeting this month in Nashville where we brought together a cross-section of industry leaders to discuss AI implementation at the agency level.
While the challenges and changes we have faced in the last two years have been many, the Big “I” has approached them in the same way we have always succeeded—by working with our industry counterparts to develop unique solutions that put independent agents and their customers first. That will never change.
Symington Jr. is president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, also known as the Big “I.” He began serving in this role in September 2023, after having been executive vice president since September 2022. Symington has overseen numerous legislative initiatives for the Big “I,” including securing small business tax relief, defending a modernized state regulatory system for insurance, preserving an effective Federal Crop Insurance Program, and extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).
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