Allstate To Cut Jobs & Costs
In addition to increasing its current share repurchase program by another $2 billion, Allstate has announced it will integrate its sales force of more than 15,200 captive agents with its telephone and internet sales channels to sell Allstate policies at ‘uniform’ rates.  About 6,500 of its captive agents - currently full employees of Allstate -would join the company’s 9,500 agents who already operate as independent agents.  Though they will effectively be freelance contractors, any customers reaching Allstate over the phone or the internet will be assigned an Allstate agent who will then earn between 2 - 3.5% commission on the business - down from the normal 10 percent earned when the agent generates the business.  This change, plus the reduction of 4,000 non-agent jobs, including about 460 jobs cut at its headquarters office near Chicago will save $600 million a year.  The money saved will be reinvested in competitive pricing, establishment of new sales capabilities, agent and claim technology and marketing and advertising.  In addition to investing about $300 million in capital expenditures over the next two years, the company will spend about $700 million on systems development and implementation costs, rollout costs and advertising.

Progressive Acquires New York Agency
After informing IIAA of  its first acquisition of a New York independent insurance agency, Progressive claimed the purchase represents ‘no change’ in company strategy.  Since the agency was up for sale and about one-third of the agency’s business was written through Progressive, they said the purchase was made to protect the company’s book of business and nearby agents.  IIAA has a long-standing position opposing a company’s permanent acquisition of insurance agencies.

AL Insurance Department Notice
Effective immediately, all forms, documents, applications, filings, financial reports and any and all other forms and types of documents required by law or voluntarily filed with the Dept of Insurance by any company regulated by the Dept shall be filed by the U.S. mail, postage prepaid.  Filing by commercial courier (UPS, FedEx, etc) may be substituted in lieu of the U.S. Mail.  The Dept will no longer accept filing of the above documents by hand-delivery.  This prohibition does not include any payment of fees, including license fees and premium taxes.

Financial Services Modernization Becomes Law
The landmark Financial Services Modernization Act (S. 900) passed the House and Senate on Nov 4th and was signed into law on Nov 12th by President Clinton.  IIAA supports this historic reform legislation since it contains several provisions that reserve the states’ ability to regulate all insurance sales.  These provisions call for functional regulation of all insurance activities, stipulating that all bank-insurance sales be regulated by state commissioners; require expedited judicial review of disputes between federal and state regulators over future laws with equal deference; mandate federal banking regulators to establish consumer protection provisions for bank-insurance sales; and require coordination and information sharing between state insurance regulators and the Federal Reserve Board.  IIAA’s victory on this bill is the direct result of hard work, vigilance and compromise.  The commitment of the volunteer leadership at both the state and national levels and individual members turned a seemingly endless battle into a historic win for agents.

AIIA Needs Your Help
AIIA has not heard from the following Associate Members regarding renewing their membership.
CGU                GAB Robins of North America                Liberty Southern Insurance Company
American Insurance Managers, Inc.                Graward General Companies 
Stirling Cooke Southeast, Inc.         Jim Anderson & Co.           Document Imaging Services Corp.
Perhaps a call from your agency to these companies emphasizing the importance of their support of the independent agency system may encourage them to renew their membership.

Condolences to the Families of Chuck Seagle & John Dobbins
AIIA and it’s members send their deepest condolences to the families of Mr. Chuck Seagle and Mr. John Dobbins.  Mr. Seagle passed away on November 6, 1999 after years of dedication and hard work with Landers & Creel Insurance in Birmingham and had served as President of the Birmingham Independent Insurance Agents.  Mr. Dobbins of J. Smith Lanier in Huntsville passed away on October 31, 1999.  He was dedicated to the insurance industry for many years and was named Insuror of the Year in 1969. 

Nationwide Insurance Suspends Use Of Non-OEM Parts
Nationwide Insurance, the country’s fourth-largest auto insurer, announced that it is temporarily suspending the specification of non-original equipment manufacture(non-OEM) crash parts in the repair of damaged vehicles.  The change was effective Monday, Nov 8th. 
 

Hot Off The Press!
The new AIIA Membership Directory and the 2000 Education Calendars are hot off the press!  Both should arrive in your mailbox by the end of the month, so please keep an eye out for them.

Upcoming Educational Opportunities
The new year brings CISR Personal Automobile to a location near you in January. This class is approved for eight hours of CE credit.  Also, you asked for it-we provided! We still have a few opening left in our brand new School for Commercial Lines Producers. This will be a ten day seminar offered over a three week period. Call Lauren Mashburn at (205) 326-4129 for an application or any additional information.

Final E&O Seminars 
Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to avoid E&O nightmares by attending an E&O Seminar. The final seminars of the year will be held on November 30th  in Birmingham, and December 2nd and 7th in Montgomery and Tuscaloosa respectively. Call Lauren Mashburn at AIIA (205) 326-4129 to register.  Remember you can now register for education classes online, www.aiia.org. Visit our website today!

InsurBanc Survey Results In
IIAA would like to thank all of the agencies from across the county who responded to the InsurBanc survey to help IIAA fine tune the program’s business plan to better meet the need of agents and their customers.  Over 90% of respondents indicated they would use or recommend InsurBanc products to their employees and customers. The results showed the highest interest in auto loans/leases, real estate loans and credit card services while indicating that interest rates and quality of services were the most important factors relating to likelihood of usage and recommendation of InsurBanc’s credit card. 

DCR Lowers Ratings of Reliance Insurance Group
Last week, Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (DCR) lowered it’s ratings of Reliance Group Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries following review of its 1999 second quarter reserve charges, its exposures as a fronting company for the troubled Unicover workers comp pool and the impact of planned capital-raising activities.   The claims paying ability rating was lowered to A- from A+, the senior debt rating to BB+ from BBB- and its subordinated debt rating to BB from BB+.  The ratings were placed on Rating Watch in mid-June 1999 following the company’s announcement that it was conducting a full-scale independent actuarial review of loss reserves based on recent unusual loss experience in several segments.  In addition, all ratings remain on Rating Watch-Down.  For more information, visit DCR’s Web site at www.dcrco.com.

IIAA Applauds Advancement of Disaster Reform Bill
IIAA believes the passage of disaster reform legislation last week by the House Banking Committee brings residents of disaster-prone areas one step closer to solving the problems they have in finding affordable coverage for their homes.  The Homeowners Insurance Availability Act (H.R. 21) is designed to alleviate homeowners insurance availability problems in areas susceptible to hurricanes and earthquakes.  Specifically, the bill would institute a program that would allow the Treasury Dept to sell up to $25 billion of reinsurance protection directly to qualified state insurance programs and indirectly via an auction process to insurance companies and financial institutions.  H.R. 21 now heads to the floor for consideration by the full House membership.  For the press release, dial (800) 282-9183 and select Fax-on-Demand option 106 or visit www.independentagent.com.

Southern Agents Conference Reminder
Last Call for Registration for the Southern Agents Conference to be held in Atlanta on December 10-12th.  Call Laura Barnett at AIIA for more information at (205) 326-4129.

Legislative Conference
Plans are already underway for the AIIA 2000 Legislative Conference to be held in Montgomery on February 29 - March 1, 2000.  Mark your calendars now to attend!

Holiday Schedule
AIIA will be closed for Thanksgiving on Nov 25-26th.  We wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Employment Notice
Agent with 10 years experience as Office Manager/CSR and holding P&C and L&H licenses seeking agent position in the Birmingham area with a base salary plus commission.  For more information or to schedule an interview, call Rochelle Ward at (256) 236-1966 or e-mail Rochelle2000@aol.com.

Alabama Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Fund Rated A-
On Nov 2nd, A.M. Best Co. assigned an A- (Excellent) rating to Alabama Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Fund.  The rating reflects the fund’s solid operating profitability, high-quality portfolio, strong policyholder retention and continued growth in the fund balance.