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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Despite attempts by insurance companies and online insurance marketplaces to take advantage of the potentially lucrative market for purchases over the Internet, evidence continues to mount that substantial hurdles remain. So far, the bulk of online insurance transactions have taken place in the consumer arena, but the slow going in that space may or may not be a barometer for the eventual success of business-to-business, or B2B, e-commerce for insurers.
Either way, it’s worth looking at the plight of the consumer play. Whether it’s insurance companies who sell directly online or insurance aggregators who offer comparison prices from…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Autobytel.com (Nasdaq: ABTL), the global leader in automotive e-commerce, today announced the addition of four new insurance providers to its comparative, real-time quoting auto insurance system(1). The agreements with Instant Auto, Kemper Auto and Home Insurance Company, Tri-State and Electric Insurance further strengthen Autobytel.com’s position as the leading aggregator of automotive insurance among online car buying services and also continues to demonstrate the company’s commitment to providing the most comprehensive suite of automotive products and services to its consumers.
According to Forrester Research, online auto insurance sales will surge to $12 billion in 2004-up from just over $1 billion this year; while $35 billion…
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Print and Online Ads Introduce Business Community and Consumers to
‘User-Friendly’ Insurance
NEWTON, Mass., June 26 /PRNewswire/ —
Insurance.com(SM), an affiliate of Fidelity Investments(R), today announced the launch of its national advertising campaign that will introduce the business community and consumers to its online insurance marketplace. The print and online campaign created by Mullen will feature spots in The Wall…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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“Blame the Internet” might be the new insurance industry motto. Sixty percent of the 40 insurance companies Forrester Research surveyed for its P&C Insurance Death Spiral study said they planned to offer real-time quotes on their Web sites by the end of the year. And 66% plan to sell insurance through marketplaces like InsWeb or Quicken Insurance’s insuremarket.com. As a result, price competition and shrinking margins will lead to industry consolidation within five years, senior analyst and study author Todd Eyler said.
The Internet is crucial to retaining and attracting customers, industry executives believe. One life insurance company executive told Forrester, “If we don’t present ourselves as an option on the Net, we’ll stick out like a sore thumb. We’re…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Today, kanetix (www.kanetix.ca), Canada’s insurance marketplace, released the results of a study that show in 2006, 66 percent of the online critical illness insurance quotes obtained through http://www.kanetix.ca/critical-illness-insurance were for men.
“Like life insurance, shopping online for critical illness insurance quotes appears to be favoured more by men than women,” muses Gregory Ellis, Co-founder of kanetix. “However, despite what the makeup of the individuals getting online quotes suggests, the need for critical illness insurance is not gender-specific. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians suffer and recover from serious illnesses each year and that’s where critical illness insurance helps.”
A unique product, critical illness insurance provides a lump sum payment to help with the cost of recovery should the insured become critically ill during the term of the policy. It is often used to help maintain a pre-illness lifestyle. The lump sum payment comes at a time when it’s needed most, to be used in any way. This can mean covering extra health care bills, alternative medicines, business expenses, pay off debts or a mortgage, home renovations or treatment abroad – there are no restrictions on how the money can be spent.
In general critical illness policies cover conditions like cancer, heart attack, stroke, paralysis, organ transplants, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and coma. While most critical illness insurance policies cover many of the same conditions, there may be some variations, so shopping around is key.
More : theopenpress.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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ebix.com Inc. (NASDAQ:EBIX) today announced a strategic agreement with MyTurn.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYTN) to provide online insurance e-commerce and content on MyTurn.com’s revolutionary GlobalPC(TM) Internet product. Users of MyTurn.com’s GlobalPC(TM) will have instant online access to the most comprehensive insurance portal in the world, www.ebix.com, offering seven different lines of insurance from an aggregation of 16 direct carriers and 800 agents representing more than 2000 unique carriers.
MyTurn’s GlobalPC will offer consumers fast and reliable Internet access to millions of American households without computers and access to the Internet. With the touch of a single button, consumers will be able to send and receive e-mail and surf the Web using the GlobalPC’s online service, built in high-speed modem and enhanced Internet software. With this relationship, GlobalPC users will be able to use ebix.com’s services to seek insurance content in addition to requesting quotes and transacting all their business online for auto, home, health, life,…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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RC Knox & Company, an insurance subsidiary of People’s Bank (Nasdaq: PBCT), has made shopping for insurance easier with the introduction of its new Web site, http://www.rcknox.com .
The site offers interactive features such as instant online quotes on auto insurance, home insurance — including renter’s and condominium insurance — and laptop insurance, as well as a “Contact Me!” feature that puts the user in touch with an RC Knox representative at his or her convenience. Users can also learn about…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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In 1995, when software developer Peter Chow left Recom Technologies, he continued his medical coverage under COBRA. When his COBRA coverage increased a few months later, he found health insurance with Blue Shield.
His 1996 insurance premium with Blue Shield was less than $1,000 a year. But each year since then, he saw his premiums increase dramatically At one point he was paying $4,000 a year in premiums.
“My insurance rate was going out of control,” Mr. Chow says. “I had never made a single claim and my policy never changed.”
The 43-year-old, now self-employed, found a way out through an online insurance brokerage firm.
Office manager Carole Schreier found herself…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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InsWeb (Nasdaq: INSW), the Internet’s leading insurance marketplace, announced today that Travelers Property Casualty (NYSE: TAP), one of the nation’s leading providers of insurance for consumers, has appointed InsWeb Insurance Services as an agent to offer auto insurance products at www.insweb.com.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990521/INSWEBLOGO )
Through this new program, California residents can comparison shop for auto insurance at InsWeb’s online marketplace, then buy their policies through InsWeb agents acting on behalf of Travelers. A strategic outsourcing option for carriers, InsWeb plans to expand its closing and policy fulfillment services with Travelers and other carriers this year.
“Travelers’ participation at…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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More employers and insurers are offering online tools to help employees make the most of their life insurance and disability benefit choices.
Determining the correct amounts of coverage during enrollment can be difficult for employees, so companies increasingly are offering life and disability insurance calculators to give workers access to information and aid in decision-making.
Many insurers offer life and disability insurance calculators both online and off to help customers determine the right amounts of coverage. Employers can link the online calculators to their employee communication Web sites, through either a hyperlink or a company intranet, to give employees access to information and aid decisions on the amounts of insurance needed.
“The growing trend is to look to the Internet to understand the benefits…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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eHealthInsurance, the nation’s leading source for individual, family and small business health insurance, is now adding comprehensive dental insurance to its offering for individuals and families.
By partnering with Multiflex Dental and Security Life Insurance Company of America, eHealthInsurance will offer dental plans in 44 states plus the District of Columbia that cover preventative, basic and major services, giving consumers the ability to choose from eight different dental insurance plans on its site.
By visiting www.eHealthInsurance.com, consumers can now learn about, compare, apply for and purchase dental insurance plans online. Multiflex Dental will…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) — When it comes to buying insurance online, consumers can go direct or take the scenic route.
Those looking for insurance policies can go straight to carriers’ Web sites for quotes and sales information or they can visit aggregators such as Quotesmith.com, Insure.com and Insweb.com to see quotes from different companies. Life, health, car, home and travel insurance are all available online.
The Insurance Information Institute, an industry research and education group, helps consumers answer one of the most burning initial questions: Who are the carriers in my state? A tool on the Web site shows, in no particular order, the 21 auto insurers that offer policies in California, for example, or the 13 carriers offering Alaskans homeowners coverage and provides links to their sites.
Many insurers’ Internet offerings have evolved to meet the needs of savvy surfers and the not-so-sophisticated alike, insurance institute spokesman John Spanuolo said.
“For those people who know exactly what they want in terms of coverage, shopping online is ideal,” Spanuolo said. “However, in most cases consumers will have a combination of…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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The world of online insurance brokers looked a lot different five to 10 years ago, when many start-up companies raced to gain a share of the market and capture a new opportunity to reach customers directly via the Web. But just as the hype of the dot-com boom in the early part of this century quickly vanished, the dreams of creating a leading online insurance-brokerage company also faded for many of the early pioneers.
A handful of online insurance brokers remain in the market today–some with refocused operations and others continuing down the initial path they pursued. Not only are these companies reaching out to millions of agencies and customers via the Internet, but they’re also finding the payoffs to be lucrative. Refocused strategies, an extensive knowledge of the industry and a strong technological foundation are several secrets to success that the remaining few credit for their sustainability in the market.
In the Beginning
Many companies jumped on the dot-com bandwagon in the mid-to-late ’90s to create online brokerage businesses to sell insurance.
InsWeb was among one of the first online insurance aggregators to venture into the market after its chief executive officer and co-founder, Hussein Enan, learned from his son about the availability of purchasing items via the Internet. His supposition: if people were selling compact discs via the Web, why not do the same for insurance? He then took that vision and launched the online company in March 1995, and it has seen continued growth in the past nine years. InsWeb consumers can log on to compare multiple quotes provided by leading insurers for automobile, term life, homeowners, renters, condominium, health and other insurance products.
A handful of other companies, such as eHealthinsurance, ePolicy Solutions, Esurance, insure.com, InsuranceNoodle and ReliaQuote, also joined the ranks of direct-to-consumer online venues in the past several years. Not only have they maintained strongholds in the industry, but they’re also overshadowing the once dismal predictions for online insurance sales. In 2000, Meridien Research Inc., now known as Financial Insights, said only 1% of all policies were purchased over the Internet. But since its inception in the market in December 1999, San Francisco-based Esurance, for instance, has seen a compound annual growth rate in premium volume of more than 170%. Esurance is a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd.
Down and Out
Some online insurance broker pioneers weren’t as fortunate.
In the early 2000s, the burst of the dot-com bubble also meant dissolution for many of the online broker pioneers. Lack of both funds and a focused strategy forced several companies out…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Reform regulation, online sales and the first signs of a firming property/casualty market offer a glimpse of where the insurance industry is headed in 2001.
Financial-services reform and the attendant privacy concerns made headlines throughout 2000 as regulators, insurers and consumer advocates worked to fashion new rules for the evolving marketplace.
Interwoven with those concerns and initiatives was another looming factor: the growth of insurance sales online and the integration of that with other distribution channels.
On other industry fronts, dozens more health maintenance organizations jettisoned their Medicare+Choice business, citing too low reimbursement rates; some major U.S. and Canadian life insurers demutualized; and the property/casualty market began to harden.
Some individual insurers faced significant challenges that drew attention. Allstate launched a transformation of its entire distribution system. Reliance and Conseco struggled to quell financial upheaval.
More : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Cutting Edge Online Annuity, Auto and Term Insurance Site
Goes Live With Increased Business-to-Business Appeal and New
Consumer-Friendly Features
Pivot, a subsidiary of ilife.com (NASDAQ: ILIF) today announced the launch of its newly revamped Web site, www.pivot.com. This free site delivers term life, auto insurance, annuity and permanent life insurance products in a package that is easily tailored to fit the corporate needs of banks, affinity groups, large agencies and other insurance companies. The reengineered site now includes live online customer service chat, online applications, online paramedical scheduling and a wealth of other educational information. In addition to the increased functionality, Pivot.com continues to offer…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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The insurance industry is waking up — slowly — to the power of using the Internet, according to Mitch White, president of GMAC Insurance Online.
“Insurance is the perfect industry to put online, because there’s really no product fulfillment,” White said. “When you buy an insurance policy, you give some information to the insurance company, then that insurance company sends information back to you. The Internet is the perfect information delivery mechanism.”
However, White said, the industry has hesitated to jump online for a variety of reasons: the complexity of the product, varying regulations in each of the 50 states and the industry’s reliance on what he called legacy technology.
“Also, the people who run insurance companies are very risk-averse,” White said. “They often want to look backward and decide what to do based on the last three or five years of…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Pivot (www.pivot.com), a subsidiary of ilife.com (NASDAQ:ILIF), today announced that it has affiliated with Electric Insurance Company. Electric will offer quotes for homeowner’s and automotive insurance through Pivot’s interactive Web site, www.pivot.com.
Electric Insurance Company (www.electricinsurance.com) offers auto and homeowner’s insurance in 47 states and Washington DC. Consumers will have the ability to receive Electric Insurance quotes and conduct transactions online.
“Pivot is extremely excited to be affiliating with Electric Insurance,” said Christopher Heidrick, vice president of P&C operations at Pivot. “As an Internet savvy organization, Electric will fit perfectly into Pivot’s e-commerce…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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YouZoom.com has expanded its product line to offer consumers the ability to comparatively rate term-life insurance coverage online. With the launch of this new product line, YouZoom’s product offering now includes auto, home and life insurance, the three personal insurance products that consumers are most interested in purchasing over the Internet, announced Kieran Sweeney, president and CEO of YouZoom, Inc.
“Building on our successes as a leading provider of auto and homeowners insurance products online, we…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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Electric Insurance Company, a Massachusetts-based direct writer of automobile and homeowner’s insurance, today announced a new affiliation with ebix.com Inc. (Nasdaq: EBIX), the leading online insurance marketplace. This new affiliation will give consumers in 20 states direct access to Electric’s insurance products through ebix.com’s web site, www.ebix.com.
“Electric Insurance is very excited about this alliance with ebix.com. They are similarly committed to providing the consumer a great shopping experience through the use of new technologies. We look forward to the success of this partnership,”…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
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OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. — CEU.com, which provides online certification and classes to the insurance industry, has doubled its space by moving from New Haven to the Between the Bridges Marina at 140 Ferry Road.
“We could get more space for less money. Plus we can watch the boats…
Source : accessmylibrary.com
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