INSpire Insurance Solutions Signs Ten-year Outsourcing Agreement
30 March 1999
INSpire Insurance Solutions Signs Ten-year Outsourcing Agreement with The Robert Plan Corporation
FORT WORTH, Texas--March 29, 1999--INSpire Insurance Solutions announced today that the company has entered into a ten-year functional outsourcing agreement with The Robert Plan Corporation, www.rpc.com.The Robert Plan Corporation is a leading service provider and underwriter of private passenger and commercial automobile insurance, specializing in urban markets. The Robert Plan (RPC) has recently restructured its relationship with American International Group (AIG), which remains a meaningful minority investor, while providing 100% reinsurance for key current businesses as well as strategically targeted growth. RPC is prepared to initiate an aggressive voluntary market growth plan, in conjunction with INSpire Insurance Solutions, utilizing traditional as well as innovative new distribution methodologies and target market segments and niches.
Under this agreement, The Robert Plan Corporation will outsource all voluntary policy administration, first notice of loss and claims support services, and many "back-office" operations to INSpire. The Robert Plan's voluntary markets, primarily urban environments, offer substantial market opportunities to the parties' vision of growth substantially in under-served demographic and geographic communities. RPC's strategy of aggressively evolving new products, programs, and distribution methodologies, is based upon the market-leading integrated technology developed by INSpire. RPC will maintain its highly acknowledged edge through innovation, and retain its technical claims administration settlement and adjudication experts and staff.
Key to this joint effort will be the highly trained RPC employees (estimated to be over 300 individuals) who will be the core team forming an INSpire Northeast processing facility. After the initial transition period estimated at 15 months, INSpire will have at its disposal an experienced team of professionals to support its national growth aspirations.
As a result of this agreement, RPC's full policy administration and claims support will be handled by INSpire, as RPC will depend on its specialized skills, technology and expert processes to provide dramatic effectiveness enhancements and efficiencies to existing and newly planned business.
"We have an aggressive growth plan centered around new business programs over the next five years. INSpire gives us the ability to enter into these new markets quickly," said Robert Wallach, President and CEO, The Robert Plan. "Our core competencies are product and program development and claims administration."
"We are very happy to enter into such a significant long-term relationship with The Robert Plan," said F. George Dunham, III, chairman and chief executive officer, INSpire Insurance Solutions. Dunham continued, "Our agreement with Robert Plan and the establishment of a Northeast processing center further validates insurance companies' confidence in INSpire to reduce costs, enter new markets quickly and focus on core competencies."
"INSpire's solutions have solved our problem of incurring high IT development costs," said Hylan "Hank" Hubbard, Chief Operating Officer, The Robert Plan. "Our current information systems for voluntary business inhibited our growth. INSpire provides us with the information systems we need, while significantly reducing our operating costs."
"The fastest growing portion of the Robert Plan's business is their voluntary market. The establishment of an INSpire Northeast processing facility will allow us to serve the Robert Plan growth initiatives and also serve other voluntary clients," said Bill Smith, president and chief operations officer, INSpire Insurance Solutions.
With headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, and offices in San Diego, Calif.; Edison, N.J.; Sheboygan, Wis.; Columbia, S.C.; and Roswell, Ga., INSpire Insurance Solutions provides policy and claims administration solutions for all Property and Casualty insurance products. As one of the foremost providers of outsourcing and integrated systems, INSpire serves clients with needs to enter new markets quickly, reduce expenses, increase customer satisfaction and focus on core competencies. Additional information can be obtained from INSpire's Web site at www.nspr.com or by calling 817/348-3999.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and similar expressions, as they relate to INSpire or its management, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to INSpire's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to: difficulties associated with growth, INSpire's dependence on major customers and limited operating history, technological change, competitive factors and pricing pressures, product development risks, changes in legal and regulatory requirements, general economic conditions and other factors. Such statements reflect the current views of INSpire's management with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity of INSpire. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to INSpire, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. In the context of forward-looking information provided in this press release, reference is made to the discussion of risk factors detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission during the past 12 months.