Berry Bishop’s Alliance Insurance Group Files for Bankruptcy

We can add bankruptcy to the list of problems facing former insurance agent Berry Bishop and his agency.

Bishop’s Alliance Insurance Group of Arkadelphia Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection late last month and listed $8.2 million in debts and $5.5 million in assets. Most of the debt, $6.2 million, is owed to creditors holding unsecured claims. (Bishop hasn’t filed for personal bankruptcy.)

The Bank of Prescott is listed as an unsecured creditor and had sued Bishop in April to collect on 21 different loans that totaled $2.14 million. That lawsuit is expected to be put on hold while Alliance’s liquidation makes its way through U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Other banks that were stung by Alliance were Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia, which has secured claims that total nearly $976,000, and Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff, which has an unsecured claim of $400,000. Citizens Bank of Batesville, which has already sued Bishop and Alliance, also has an unsecured claim of $200,000.

Back in April, Bishop and Alliance were stripped of their insurance licenses in an emergency action by state Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr. In that order, he said Bishop had diverted to personal use some $1.7 million in premium received from clients and defrauded Bank of Prescott with more than $1 million in phony premium finance loans.

The Insurance Department also in April granted an agency license to a new agency created by Bishop’s son-in-law and vice president of Alliance, Nathan Price. The new agency is called Price & Co. of Arkadelphia. Its Facebook page reads, “We’re a team of real people with real experience and real knowledge and we want to provide you with real insurance solutions! Call us today!”

The bankruptcy filing by Alliance’s attorney, J. Brad Moore of Wetzel & Moore of Little Rock, shows that Alliance generated $3.2 million in gross revenue in 2015. That amount fell to $2.87 million in 2016 and $2.9 million in 2017. It also reported having $588,000 in revenue this year.

Moore didn’t return a call for comment.