Mary Alice Horstman, a spokeswoman for the Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate, declared that Mr. Bryant's vocal opposition to credit scoring had "absolutely nothing to do with his termination."

She said Mr. Bryant and his Hammond, La., J&B Bryant Agency "are no longer authorized to do business on behalf of the Allstate Company."

She declined to go into the specific reasons for the termination, citing an Allstate's policy against discussing details of contractual relationships with agents.

Mr. Bryant testified in March before the Maryland House Economic Matters Committee on House Bill 521.

The bill, which was approved by the legislature on Monday, extends the expiration date of statutes prohibiting insurers from, among other things, denying coverage to consumers on the basis of their credit scores.

HB 521 --which the National Association of Independent Insurers has said would be the most restrictive law in the country on insurer use of credit-- has been sent to Gov. Parris S. Glendening and is under study, his staff said yesterday.

Mr. Bryant told National Underwriter that he believes his appearance before the Maryland lawmakers was one of the reasons behind his termination. He said that he did not identify himself as an Allstate agent but that he did reveal his positions with NAPAA and CEAA

But he said that the probable "nail in my coffin" was his identification of Allstate as an insurer that requires agents to run a prospective client's credit reports before giving a quote or even checking the client's motor vehicle record. He made the statement in response to a legislator's inquiry, he said.

Mr. Bryant said that he had spoken out against credit scoring in several other states, including Georgia, Michigan, Montana, Texas and Washington.

He also has been advocating legislation imposing "for cause" termination requirements on insurers seeking to break contracts with agents.

Additionally, he was instrumental in the passage of a Louisiana law forbidding insurers from imposing life and health insurance sales quotas as a condition for agents' authority to sell property-casualty insurance.

Mr. Bryant said that on April 2, he went to his office to find his computer system malfunctioning. He contacted a computer technician, who told him about an e-mail from Allstate stating that Mr. Bryant's contract of appointment had been terminated.

Later that day, a cadre of Allstate representatives, phone and computer technicians, and a hired police officer arrived at Mr. Bryant's office and handed him the official termination letter, he related.

According to the letter, the reason for the termination was Mr. Bryant's "failure, as key person under the Agreement: to maintain a professional and business-like relationship" with Allstate, as well as his agency's "failure to meet business objectives established" by Allstate.

Speaking generally, Ms. Horstman said that when Allstate evaluates agencies it looks at their "business results and their overall business relation" with the insurer.

She stated that Allstate's business objectives for achieving growth are based on the company's property-casualty, life, and savings business, as well as on profitability.

"Our intent is to assist the agent in becoming successful by meeting these business objectives," she said. "Several factors are taken into account if an agent is deficient in any area, and that would include if there are market condition challenges, or something significant has happened in an agency."

As for the meaning of "maintaining a professional relationship," Ms. Horstman stated that Allstate expects its agents to act in good faith in the performance of their contractual obligations, and "not to participate in any activities that damage the Allstate brand, the Allstate reputation in the marketplace, or its relationships with its customers, its agencies or its employees."

Although Allstate confiscated the phone and computer systems from Mr. Bryant's office, Ms. Horstman said that the termination is effective Aug. 1.

But Mr. Bryant's view about his business now is that "it's gone."

As to how periodically Allstate reviews its agents, Ms. Horstman said that the process is ongoing. She stated that Allstate's market business consultants in the field work directly with the agencies.

By the time an agent receives a formal "communication" about deficient performance, Ms. Horstman said, "several tiers of assistance have been offered." She added that this process takes a minimum of one year and often up to two years.

This contrasts with Mr. Bryant's statement that he met Allstate's production growth and loss ratio goals.

Additionally, he said there had been no direct indication that Allstate was dissatisfied with his performance or with his extracurricular activities.

However, Mr. Bryant said he did receive a telephone call telling him he could no longer speak to certain home-office management people "because they were afraid of what I might publish."

Mr. Bryant also said he was told to clear all his communications with the home office. He added that he was told by his territorial manager to stop calling and sending e-mails to Edward Liddy, Allstate's chief executive officer and president, about matters such as the alleged inadequate coverage provided to agents by Allstate's errors and omissions policy.

Ms. Horstman acknowledged that Allstate has "general guidelines" that encourage agencies to alert the insurer when they intend to make "any communications outside the company, and we hope to work with them on messaging."

She said Allstate simply wants to "ensure consistency" and the protection of the Allstate brand and reputation.

A previous report on Mr. Bryant's termination stated the company was unavailable for comment, which was incorrect.