Engle-Hambright & Davies, the largest independent agency in Lancaster County, acquired Mast & Moyer, Inc., a major insurance agency/brokerage firm in Berks County.
Engle-Hambright & Davies, established in 1896, is an Assurex International Partner Firm. Jeff Tompkins is its chief operating officer. Under the conditions of the acquisition, Mast & Moyer Insurance will become a "division" of Engle-Hambright & Davies.
Engle-Hambright & Davies and Mast & Moyer Insurance provide a full-service claims department, staffed by in-house adjusters. The firms will offer an expanded technical services team to focus on reducing losses and loss expenses, particularly for workers compensation; an employee benefits department; and a personal lines department.
Connecticut
Nationwide lowers auto rates
Nationwide Insurance lowered its auto insurance rates in Connecticut by an average of 5.5%, effective May 30. It also improved two customer discounts and broadened its eligibility to include higher risk drivers.
The rate reduction will average approximately $88 annually for customers with full coverage. The overall annual savings for Nationwide's Connecticut policyholders is estimated to be some $6.3 million. Individual rates will vary up or down according to drivers' ages, residence, accident and violation records, types and amounts of coverages, and other factors, such as discounts.
With the current rate change, policyholders in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Windham County, East and West Hartford, Bloomfield, Windsor, Bethany, Hamden, Milford, North Haven, Orange, and Woodbridge have enjoyed three consecutive Nationwide auto rate decreases since 1995.
Nationwide's 5% defensive driver discount now applies to drivers 55 years old or older. It used to apply to those 62 years old or older.
The company's 10% discount for policyholders who insure their homes and cars with Nationwide has been broadened. The discount applies to tenants, basic, and mobile home policies. It had applied to the company's Golden Blanket, Elite II, and condo unitowners policies.
Nationwide has expanded its auto insurance eligibility standards to allow the company's 109 Connecticut agents to offer coverage to those drivers who have been in at-fault traffic crashes or have been given traffic citations. In two years, Nationwide has doubled the number of vehicles it insures that are owned by so-called high-risk drivers in Connecticut. The company now insures more than 7,700 such vehicles.
Nationwide is Connecticut's and the country's fourth-largest auto insurer and is number 3 in total personal lines business in Connecticut. The company insures some 134,000 vehicles in Connecticut.
PIACT elects officers
The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut, Inc., elected the following officers for 1998-99:
President--Kathleen S. Stephens, CIC, CPIW, commercial lines manager for Nicholson Associates in Milford.
President-elect--David LaManna, CIC, AAI, principal with the Thomaston Insurance Center in Thomaston and a partner in the Heritage Insurance Agency in Waterbury.
Vice President--Edwin G. Kline, a producer for The John M. Glover Agency, Inc., in Ridgefield.
Vice President--Michele DiScala, vice president of S.J. Stewart & Son, Inc., in Norwalk.
Treasurer: Jim Benson, CPCU, vice president of Merit Insurance, Inc., in Bridgeport.
Secretary--David Cooksley, vice president of E.R. Champion & Son, Inc., in West Hartford.
Immediate Past President--Kevin S. Ray, CIC, vice president of The Deming Insurance Agency, Inc., in Farmington.
Rhode Island
East Providence agency acquires Providence firm
Starkweather & Shepley acquired Insurance Underwriters, Inc., a Providence commercial lines insurance agency, established in 1936. The acquisition makes Starkweather & Shepley one of the largest insurance agencies in southeastern New England, based on revenue.
Starkweather & Shepley, headed by Fred Tripp, president, employs more than 100 people and services the southeastern New England market.
New Jersey
Princeton agency acquired by Florida-based Poe & Brown
Alderman, Click & Co., a 70-year-old Princeton, New Jersey, agency specializing in professional liability insurance, has been acquired by Poe & Brown. Alderman & Click will merge into Poe & Brown's existing New Jersey operations.
The enlarged firm will offer professional liability for physicians, podiatrists, dentists, chiropractors and other health care professionals. It also will expands its middle market presence in New Jersey.
Poe & Brown, headquartered in Daytona Beach and Tampa, Florida, is an independent agency organization with offices in 10 states. Web site: www.poebrown.com *
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1998