Percent of business in Illinois by line:
Commercial: 54% Personal: 46%
Auto-Owners also offers a full line of Life, Disability Income, and Annuity products.

Are you currently appointing new agencies? Yes, We are always looking for good quality new agency appointments to compliment our existing agency force. Appointments will be considered in all areas of the state.

What type of agency is your company looking for? We find more success in the medium to smaller sized agencies. We look for growing established agencies with a good mix of business in personal lines, commercial lines and life. Our goal for each agency is to have a balanced book of 50% personal lines, 50% commercial lines, 50% auto related lines and 50% non-auto related lines.

What are your premium volume requirements? Auto-Owners does not have established premium volume requirements. Our goal is to have "profitable" growth and good use of all of our product lines. WE like to see good policy count growth in addition to premium growth. Profit sharing levels are $50,000 1st year; $100,000 2nd year and $150,000 3rd year and after.

Are you currently doing any niche-marketing program? Our target market in personal lines is the mature market. Insureds age 50 and over.

What is your company's most aggressive line of business? Personal Lines--mature market. Commercial Lines--Garage, Used Car Dealerships, Smaller New Car Dealerships, Contractors (max. 50% subcontracted), Subcontractor (Artisans), Commercial Auto, small-medium sized commercial accounts in general. We also like to see life insurance cross sold with our P/C accounts.

Do you use credit scoring? Yes. Implemented Insurance Scoring in March 2002 for new business only. The insurance score will not affect the eligibility of the insured. It will only generate either a debit, credit or no change to the premium.

Do you currently download/upload with your agencies? Yes.

What methods do you use to distribute your insurance products? Auto-Owners markets its products only through Independent Insurance Agencies. We are 100% committed to the Independent Agency System.

What do you think makes your company different, or stand out from all the rest in Illinois? Why would an agent want to contract with your company? Auto-Owners is an agency company and our total effort is directed toward the success of this method of marketing to serve the public. We are 100% committed to the Independent Agency System to market our products and services. A major reason for Auto-Owners success has been the excellent relationship the Company maintains with its agents. They maintain a realistic underwriting approach, competitive pricing and provide quality claim service. Auto-Owners has a reputation for stability and financial integrity within the industry, which is supported by their A++ Superior rating by A.M. Best and hold the highest financial ratings with all of the major rating companies.

If we had agents agree to sell homeowners policies with actual cash value endorsements, would you write more business in southern Illinois? Unknown at this time. A lot will depend on market conditions and competition.

What are the major ways in which you are interfacing electronically with your agents today? Are you pleased with the results? Auto-Owners has interface capabilities available through the Internet and the IVANS network. We also have proprietary software interface capabilities for Personal Automobile, Homeowners and Dwelling Fire policies, with plans to expand this capability in the future.

Are you planning enhancements in these interfaces in the future? Technology advancements continue to be made. We anticipate continued improvements to be made to our interface systems for ease of doing business.

Additional Comments: Gregory Shell is the Regional Vice President of the Peoria Region for Auto-Owners Insurance Company. The regional office is located in Peoria Illinois and is responsible for operations in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. Auto-Owners was established in 1916 and operates in 23 states throughout the Midwest, Southeast and in the western states of Arizona, Colorado and Utah. They have operated in the state of Illinois since 1942.