After the successful introduction of accessHarleysville//PL in Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia, agents are embracing the new Web-based system--as demonstrated by increased quote activity and new business submissions from each of those states.
"More than 55 percent of our business is written in the six states where accessHarleysville//PL has been launched," observes Sean Tief, vice president of personal lines products and systems. "With the improved ease of use experienced by our agents in those states, quote activity and new business submissions have increased substantially since the introduction of the new system."
Tief notes that accessHarleysville//PL will be introduced in Maryland this month, and that the system will be available in most of the remaining states where Harleysville writes personal lines business by the end of this year.
"While the initial launch of the system focuses on auto and homeowners business, agents soon will be able to use accessHarleysville//PL to submit other personal lines of business to us--which is an important competitive advantage," he adds. Those remaining lines of business include dwelling fire, personal blanket excess liability (umbrella) and Shipmate, Harleysville's pleasure boat insurance product.
"In addition to providing agents with an ease-of-doing-business solution, we recognize the importance of the comparative rating services available to agents," explains Akhil Tripathi, senior vice president and chief information officer. "To address these various choices, Harleysville also is building connectivity between the comparative rating vendors and accessHarleysville//PL."
Nearly 200 agents participated in the design process prior to the "pilot launch" of the new system, which has helped to produce an "easy-to-use, feature-rich product," says Tief. "Agents are finding our systems and work flows to be simple and intuitive, whether they're entering new business or making in-force changes."
While the pilot rollout for accessHarleysville//PL included large, on-site training meetings, training for subsequent state launches has been streamlined. "Our agents told us the system was so intuitive that face-to-face training was largely unnecessary, so we now use Webinars and online training tools instead," Tripathi notes.
As Harleysville continues to roll out the accessHarleysville//PL system, Tripathi explains that the company is simultaneously launching its new accessHarleysville//CL(SM) system for commercial lines. The new commercial lines system currently is available for new business in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Access to both new systems will be extended to most Harleysville agents by the end of 2008.
Harleysville Insurance is a leading regional provider of insurance products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for individuals, and ranks among the top 60 U.S. property/casualty insurance groups based on net written premiums. Harleysville was listed recently as #23 in the InformationWeek 500, the publication's annual listing of the most innovative information technology organizations in the U.S., and was the highest-ranked property and casualty insurer on the 2007 list. Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company owns 52 percent of Harleysville Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HGIC), a publicly traded holding company for nine regional property/casualty insurance companies collectively rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Harleysville Group is a member of the NASDAQ Global Select Market, which represents the top third of all NASDAQ-listed companies and has the highest initial listing standards of any exchange in the world based on financial and liquidity requirements. Harleysville Insurance--which distributes its products exclusively through independent insurance agencies and reflects that commitment to its agency force by being a Trusted Choice(R) company partner--currently operates in 32 eastern and midwestern states. Further information can be found on the company's Web site at www.harleysvillegroup.com.
SOURCE: Harleysville Insurance
Harleysville Insurance Randy Buckwalter, 215-256-5288 Cell: 267-718-3766 rbuckwalter@harleysvillegroup.com
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