EDS Termination of Strategic Partnership
Agreement Will Delay Progress of driversshield.com Corp.
Insurance Business
Partnership Ended; driversshield.com to Take Control
Of Its Web Site and Its Destiny
PLAINVIEW, N.Y., Jan. 26 driversshield.com Corp.
said today that EDS unilaterally terminated the
strategic partnership agreement with driversshield.com CRM Corp., a wholly
owned subsidiary of driversshield.com Corp. Barry Siegel, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of driversshield.com Corp. stated: "A number of disputes
have arisen in the past several months which have brought this relationship to
the breaking point. Most likely, the matters in dispute including, but not
limited to; billing disputes, the failure of EDS to assist us in marketing the
website to their insurance clients and any potential loss of business due to
their actions, will be resolved through litigation. Requests for EDS to keep
the site up were denied by EDS, contrary to the provisions in the agreement.
It is unfortunate, but this break-up may cause a material delay in the
development of our Internet insurance business model. Now that the agreement
has been terminated, we will no longer be obligated to share 40% of our
revenues with EDS, making our potential profitability that much greater."
"We are immediately taking control of our 'URL,' transitioning the site
and adding functionality to it," Siegel said. "And we expect to be back online
early next week with an informational website with an enhanced look and feel
to the site, although the interactive features will not be functional for a
while. Despite the absence of any marketing efforts from EDS, we were still
able to secure clients on our own and we are still working towards the
kick-off of a pilot program with one of the country's largest insurers.
Another large insurer has notified us that it is still preparing for a full
rollout in the spring. We are continuing our discussions with a number of
other insurance companies that have expressed interest in the
driversshield.com solution, which increases sales, builds customer loyalty and
reduces loss-adjusted expenses. I am hopeful -- but not certain -- that we
will not lose any of these clients as a result of EDS' actions, particularly
since EDS played no role in bringing them aboard.
"Meanwhile, our other two businesses -- driversshield.com FS (fleet
services) and driversshield.com ADS (automotive discounts and services), which
recently began an Internet Affiliate program to market its services directly
to consumers -- are growing and are profitable. In fact, driversshield.com's
preliminary 2000 year-end revenues are expected to be in record territory. We
have excellent partners and clients in those businesses," Siegel said.
"Although the setback in launching our insurance business will have an impact
on our growth plans for the year, we anticipate revenues to begin for this
business unit in the second half of 2001.
Since its founding in 1983, driversshield.com Corp. has built a national
reputation for efficient, cost-saving management of collision claims for
self-insured corporate and municipal vehicle fleets. Clients include
Coca-Cola, Time Warner, IBM, Hershey Foods and many other prominent
corporations. Through its affinity auto club programs, the Company has
established relationships with Providian Financial, Assurant Group (part of
the Fortis group), Aon, Protective Life, Priceline.com and other prestigious
credit card, financial organizations and web sites.
This announcement contains "forward looking statements." Words
"anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and other similar expressions as
they relate to the Company and its management are intended to identify such
forward looking statements. Although the Company and its management believe
that the statements contained in this announcement are reasonable, it can give
no assurances that such statements will prove correct. Factors that could
affect the occurrence of events or results discussed herein are included with
those mentioned in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.