lsquo;SO LONG, FAREWELL by Richard Weber For 12 years and 150 articles, Richard Weber wrote a monthly series on 'Due Care' for Life Insurance Selling magazine. Because o...

Historically, a hard market is part of the cyclical nature of the insurance industry. At one time, these cycles occurred fairly consistently at about seven year intervals. However, the last significant hard market came in the mid-80s.

A hard market is characterized by increasing rates and/or reduced industry capacity, which leads to affordability and/or availability problems. In addition, both underwriting and claims adjusting usually become more stringent. In the current marketplace, these conditions are exacerbated by increased uncertainty about such loss exposures as terrorism, mold, etc., and by a reinsurance market significantly strained by the events of September 11.

Homeowners insurance protects your home if it's damaged from a storm, theft, vandalism or other disaster. Save money on your homeowners insurance policy in eight ways.

A CREATIVE WAY TO SELL 'UMBRELLAS' IMMS Member Wayne Smart of Fry, Jordan & Wilson, Inc., South Boston, Virginia sells Personal Umbrella insurance by the bucketful. Here's how: Wayne tapes a pape...

A NEW LOOK AT INSURANCE AGENCY VALUATION by Carol Hammes Its becoming increasingly important for agents to recognize that having a complete, professionally prepared appraisal won&...

AGENCY ACQUISITIONS: LET THE BUYER BE SMART Every independent agency in the country will experience a change in ownership at least once in its lifetime. Close to one-third of agencies h...

AGENCY BROCHURE ENCLOSED Dear (Customer Name): Thank you for letting us take the opportunity to review your insurance program. Before we meet, I thought I would share a little of our firm's backgro...

AGENCY PERPETUATION PLANNING CHECKUP by Paige Proctor This article is for the 70% of all agencies that now have perpetuation plans. Even though most agencies have plans for the futu...

AGENCY VALUATION WITH A LOSS OF MARKET by the IAABA Virtual Faculty Two things are going on in the insurance marketplace. First, agencies are continuing to be bought and sold. Second,...

AGENCY VALUATION: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW by Larry Morrison Before putting a value on your agency, read this article. INTRODUCTION Every agency owner must learn certain basics abou...