In the 1976 movie Network, the character Howard Beale, a TV news anchorman, one night explodes in fury on the air. In a rage, he lists many of the frustrations faced by average people every day, then urges viewers to go to their windows and shout, “I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

That is the imagery used this week by the National Underwriter in a cover story about agents’ reaction to the details of a settlement agreement that was announced between St. Paul Travelers, three state Attorneys General and the New York Department of Insurance.

Comments by PIA Executive Vice President & CEO Len Brevik critical of the settlement agreement are featured in the article, augmented by comments from other industry groups. It noted that Brevik called the St. Paul Travelers agreement “an assault on a system of compensation that is legal, honest and a mainstay of the American free enterprise system.”

“To cast suspicion by encouraging a perception of guilt by association is patently unfair to the overwhelming majority of Main Street insurance agents across the country who have never engaged in any wrongdoing,” Brevik said.

Agent Groups Rage Over Deals Halting Contingents (National Underwriter 8/14/06)

August 15, 2006