Auto-Owners Insurance Company
www.auto-owners.com
6715 N. Big Hollow Road
Peoria , IL 61615
Contact: Charles W. Drier
Phone: (309) 693-2550
FAX: (309) 693-9819
Drier.charlie@aoins.com

Percent of business in Illinois by line:

Commercial: 50% Personal: 49% Life & Annuity: 1%

Premium Volume: $197,000,000

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

What type of agency is your company looking for? We are most successful with medium- to smaller-sized independent insurance agencies. We look for growing established agencies with a good mix of business in personal lines, commercial lines and life.

What are your premium volume requirements? (In profit sharing? In life?) Auto-Owners does not have 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 begin at $50,000.

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

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- to 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. We implemented Insurance Scoring in March 2002 for new business only. The insurance score does not affect the eligibility of the insured. Credit scoring on renewals is optional.

What methods do you use to distribute your insurance products? Auto-Owners markets its products exclusively 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 total effort is directed toward the success of our agency partners. We are 100% committed to the Independent Agency System. Auto-Owners has a realistic underwriting approach, competitive pricing and stellar claims service. Auto-Owners has a reputation for stability and financial integrity within the industry, which is supported by our A++ Superior rating by A.M. Best. We hold among the highest financial ratings available from all of the major rating authorities.

If we had agents agree to sell homeowners policies with actual cash value endorsements, would you write more business in southern Illinois ? Auto-Owners has a similar endorsement that has helped us attract additional business.

Do you plan on retaining your current profit sharing agreements? Yes

Do you offer the ability for agents to integrate third-party reports into their comparative rating process? No

If yes, with what vendors have you developed and/or signed on to provide this technology? CLUE, MVRs and ADD are available through the Auto-Owners proposal software.

If not, do you have plans to do so? Please list estimated timeframe of when this capability will be available for Illinois agents? It is available right now on Auto-Owners-specific software.

Do you offer single-entry new business upload from either comparative raters and/or management systems? No

Do you provide rates and assistance to comparative rating vendors? Yes

What kind of assistance? Technical rating support

Do you work with comparative rating vendors to improve accuracy? Yes

Do you test vendor rates? Yes

What is your current real-time rating strategy? It is available now for personal property. It is under development for the other lines.

Do you provide an agent facing website for your agent’s reference? Yes

Do you offer the ability to quote and/or issue new business? Yes

Which lines? All lines

Can the transaction be bound online? Yes

Can your agents service in-force policies? Yes

Which lines? They can service all personal lines and many of the commercial lines.

Describe the service transactions available: They can bind coverage and make policy changes.

Do you publish agent manuals and policy forms on-line? Yes

Do you have upload? Yes

Which lines? Personal lines, Commercial Auto, soon BOP.

Do you support policy download? Yes

Which lines? Personal lines, Commercial Auto, soon BOP.

Do you support direct bill commission statement download? Yes

Which agency management systems do you work with? AMS, Applied, etc.

Do you support real time service for inquiry? Yes

Which lines? All lines

Claims? Yes

Billing? Yes

Do you have real time endorsement capabilities? Yes

Which lines? Personal Property is available now. We are actively working on Personal Auto.

Do you support either Transformation Station, Transact Now or other technologies? Yes

If yes, please specify: We are currently working toward this goal.

Is this technology available today? No

Is it in development? Yes

Please outline the top 3 technology initiatives your company will be implementing to benefit agency workflows, and describe how these initiatives will benefit the agency.

Technology advancements continue to be made. We anticipate continued improvements to be made to our interface systems for ease of doing business.