At the Insurance Alliance’s Connections 2008, Eastern Alliance Insurance Group was named as the Commercial Lines Carrier of the Year.


In a survey of Alliance members and staff, Eastern Alliance ranked high in categories such as “Best Overall Commercial Lines Carrier,” “Claims Service,” “Loss Control Service,” “Responsiveness” and “Ease of Doing Business.” Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer profiled premium and new business growth, as well as an unprecedented under-40% ten-year loss ratio as hallmarks of Eastern’s relationship with The Alliance.

Survey response comments included “true underwriting,” “response,” “knowledge” and high praise for claims service, along with the accessibility of Eastern’s top management.

Mike Boguski, the President of Eastern Alliance, accepted the award from Don Wert of American Insurance Administrators and Alliance Board Chairman.

On October 21, The Insurance Alliance held Connections 2008, the annual event that brings together Alliance member staff and carrier personnel in an unstructured fashion to interact, network, and discuss future business opportunities.

Over three hundred representatives from all eleven Alliance members and their affiliates and exhibiting carriers that included ACE, AllRisks, Berkley Mid-Atlantic Group, Chubb, Cincinnati Insurance Companies, CNA, Colemont Insurance Brokers, Donegal, Eastern Alliance Insurance Group, Fireman’s Fund, Guard Insurance Group, Harleysville, The Hartford, Lititz Mutual Insurance Company, Massamont Insurance, Millers Mutual, Ohio Casualty, Peninsula, Penn National Insurance, The PMA Insurance Group, Selective Insurance, State Auto, Travelers, Tuscarora Wayne, UPAC, Westfield Insurance, The Zenith, Zurich, as well as guests from Insurance Agents and Brokers, The Tower Group Companies and more.

The day was highlighted by a “State of the Alliance” presentation by President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer, tthe presentation of the Accellerations New Producer Awards, the Connections Awards, and the Personal and Commercial Lines Carrier of the Year Awards.

Enjoy the sights of the event in our Connections 2008 Flickr photo set.

At the Insurance Alliance’s Connections 2008, Selective Insurance was named as the Personal Lines Carrier of the Year.

Selective ranked high in a survey of Alliance members and staff in categories such as “Ease of Doing Business,” “Competitiveness,” and “Underwriting Expertise and Responsivieness.” Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer cited, “explosive growth” in 2007 and 2008 year-to-date and low loss ratios in spite of the growth as key indicators of Selective’s success.

The highest praise came in the form of survey response comments, including mentions of customer service, competitive rates, simplification of processes and several endorsements of Selective’s Marketing representatives.

Chuck Adams, Regional Field Senior Vice President for Selective accepted the award from Don Wert of American Insurance Administrators and Alliance Board Chairman.

The Insurance Alliance’s Accellerations New Producer Contest has been running since March, 2008, and the winners were announced on October 21 at Connections 2008.

Fourteen producers from the Alliance met the qualifications and completed in three different categories. The group generated over $1.4 million in new business with sponsoring carriers during the seven-month contest.

Don Waardenburg, Regional Vice President of Accellerations Platinum Sponsor Ohio Casualty joined Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer on the Connections stage to give all participants a token of participation, and to award the prizes.

Kellie Eschbach of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz received the Personal Lines Prize of a 2-night stay at any U.S. Marriott hotel and $250 for expenses.
Kathryn Marquiss of Sterner Insurance took home the Next Generation Prize, a two-night stay at Hotel Hershey and $500 for expenses
The Grand Prize of a five-night stay at any Ritz-Carlton Resort and $4,000 for expenses was awarded to Steve Swineford of Christian-Baker.

Colemont Insurance Brokers recently sponsored a special Continuing Education (CE) training session exclusively for The Insurance Alliance.

Members of the defense firm of Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. presented “Contractual Risk Transfer and Additional Insured Issues,” giving Alliance staff a look at two topics of increasing concern for commercial clients. The presentation included case studies, review of recent legal decisions and policy analysis.

Participating in the meeting were (left to right) David Lewison of Colemont, Toby Cushing and Jeff Vita of Saxe Doernberger & Vita and Gary Grindle of Colemont, along with staff from several of the Insurance Alliance members.

The final six episodes of Insurance Insight are now in rotation on WITF-TV public television, and are available for download or viewing in the Insurance Insight section of our web site, and in the iTunes Store.

Insurance Insight is a 12-part video series featuring a brief overview of common insurance-related topics, produced through a partnership between The Insurance Alliance, Westfield Insurance and WITF-TV.. The series gives consumers the education they need to make informed decisions when it comes to making sure their valuable assets are protected. Each episode features a different topic and speaker from our area.

The six new episodes feature:

• Actual Cash vs. Replacement Cost: Ray Shirk, the President of The Securus Group, a member of The Insurance Alliance of Central PA, explains why it is critical that the consumer understand the difference between actual cash value and replacement cost insurance coverages.

• Deductible 101: John Hine, the President of the Hutchison Insurance Agency, a member of The Insurance Alliance of Central PA reviews the basics of insurance deductibles – what they are, how they work, and the benefits and disadvantages of higher deductibles.

• Personal Umbrella Policy: Jim Thomas, Partner at Thomas Thomas & Hafer, explains how a personal umbrella policy provides extra protection beyond that afforded with standard automobile and homeowner’s insurance coverage, at surprisingly affordable rates.

• Teen Driver: Bill Dugan, a Driver Education teacher at Central Dauphin School, talks about what to do when the teen in your house obtains their driver’s license, and how you can save money on your car insurance when it happens.

• What to do After An Accident: Carolyn Morris, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Services of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, reviews the things you need to do after an auto accident to keep yourself and others safe, and to protect your interests from an insurance perspective.

• Identity Theft: Rita Hollada of Insurance Agents and Brokers of PA provides a general explanation of identity theft, and some of the insurance options you can obtain to help protect yourself.

Steven W. Bregman of Montgomery County, PA, has been appointed Vice President of Sales for Securus.

Steve will oversee, direct and implement the standard of responsibility, accountability and revenue goal accomplishment for all agency divisions. Steve, an accomplished entrepreneur and Fortune 100 executive, has over 24 years of senior level sales, marketing and financial analysis experience. He recently owned and operated Insightful Sales Solutions, LLC – a nationally known Sales Consulting and Leadership Development Company based in the Philadelphia, PA area. Prior, Steve was Vice President of Sales for ARAMARK and held various positions at Cintas Corporation including Area Manager, Sales Manager and Sales Trainer.

Steve earned his Bachelor of Science from Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ; major was Finance with concentration in Marketing. While employed with ARAMARK, he received the distinction of being named to their Executive Leadership Council.