Last week I had the pleasure of attending an independent agent seminar presented by Hales & Co. and hosted by National Underwriter and AA&B on “creating and enhancing shareholder value.”

Don't let the Hales tag fool you: although M&A was a large part of the discussion, it was by no means the only topic. In fact, the all-day event pretty much ran the gamut of all the challenges independent agents face, from complying with the new healthcare reform law and other legislation to building a stronger brand.

The main message I came away with was this: Being an independent insurance agent is not for wimps. Not only are you stuck competing in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression, but you also have to worry about complying with state and federal regulations, finding new business, tracking your insurers' financial stability, and on top of everything else, staying on top of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

And now, to add insult to injury, you're also a target for professional wrestlers.

In a story that sounds like something from the Onion, last week the St. Petersburg Times reported that Hulk Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) has sued his insurance broker, Wells Fargo Insurance Services, claiming the broker should have offered him an umbrella policy, which would have protected him from lawsuits when his son crashed his car, catastrophically injuring a passenger in 2007. Although he had a third-party auto liability policy with a $250,000 limit, Hulk recently paid a confidential settlement in the accident, which the broker lawsuit seeks to recover.

The case goes to the heart of the broker-as-consultant issue, which holds the profession to a higher standard of ethics and expertise than a mere policy-pusher. According to the Times article:

Didn't Bollea have a personal responsibility to investigate on his own what he needed to do to protect his multimillion-dollar net worth?

“Not if you put your trust in your broker,” Florin (Hulk's lawyer) said.

“This isn't a personal responsibility case,” Florin said. “This is a professional responsibility case.”

 Every agency consultant, including those at the Hales event, extols the virtues of independent agents and brokers differentiating themselves in a tough market by becoming more professional and consultative. Unfortunately, as the Hulk case demonstrates, that professionalism can be a double-edged sword. If you've cut corners to survive the soft market and the recession, that frugality could come back to haunt you if you're not covering all the bases with your agency services.

 As the industry continues to evolve in sophistication, don't be surprised if you start seeing more of these types of cases.

And it would be really cool if they could be settled with a cage match.