Country Companies Joins InsWeb's Marketplace
21 September 1998
Country Companies Joins InsWeb's Marketplace
SAN MATEO, Calif.--Sept. 21, 1998--InsWeb, the Internet's leading insurance marketplace, announced today that it is offering auto insurance products from Country Companies, a leading insurance group based in Bloomington, Ill.
Country Companies' participation further deepens InsWeb's auto insurance marketplace by enabling consumers to comparison shop and select coverage in 48 states from 13 insurance companies, including State Farm, Nationwide, CNA, and Liberty Mutual. InsWeb also offers homeowners, renters, term life, and individual health insurance products.
"Country Companies is one of the industry's most trusted names, and its products are another good reason for motorists to visit the Internet's best site for auto insurance," said Kevin Keegan, president of InsWeb's Insurance Services Group. "This partnership reflects the fact that a growing number of carriers are using an online marketplace because it is an important way to growing their business and strengthen their distribution strategy."
How It Works: Consumers Save Time and Potentially Money
Using InsWeb, consumers can save time and potentially money. Consumers fill out a single form to receive multiple quotes from leading insurance companies. The benefit is that consumers learn immediately which of the participating carriers are interested in offering them a policy.
In contrast, the current process of shopping for insurance can take two to three hours over several weeks. Consumers must provide the same information to each company every time they request a quote. InsWeb users also have the benefit of shopping 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and don't have to worry about contacting companies during traditional business hours.
Cost Savings for Carriers
For insurance companies, InsWeb helps harness the power of the Internet by eliminating a significant part of the expense in capturing consumer data and in policy evaluation and pricing. InsWeb enables carriers to perform all or part of those functions online. The consulting firm of Booz Allen & Hamilton estimates that online insurance distribution can reduce first-year acquisition costs 58 percent to 71 percent over the life of the customer.
About Country Companies
The Country Companies is a group of companies that provide insurance products and financial services including life, auto, home, farm, health, disability income, commercial insurance and annuities.
About InsWeb
InsWeb, the leading Internet insurance marketplace at www.insweb.com, helps consumers save time and money by providing free price comparisons from brand name insurance companies from a single form. InsWeb's 19 participating carriers offer auto, term life, homeowners, renters, individual health and short-term medical insurance. Consumers can also use InsWeb's interactive tools and research capabilities to make more informed decisions. InsWeb is accessible through partnerships with Yahoo!, Infoseek, USA TODAY Online, Microsoft Money 99, as well as other leading Web sites. InsWeb is headquartered in San Mateo.