Reliance Unveils New Umbrellas Online
Reliance Group Holdings announced the introduction of a new e-commerce insurance product, Umbrella Online, which enables insurance agents and brokers to obtain price quotes and bind umbrella policies for small businesses via the Internet.
Reliance Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Saul Steinberg said, "Reliance is making a major commitment to e-commerce. With our CyberComp product, we have been selling workers' compensation coverage for small-sized companies successfully over the Internet for the past two years, and now we are expanding our online product offering to include commercial umbrella insurance.
Steinberg says the quoting and binding process takes less than seven minutes online.
Umbrella Online will be offered to producers initially through the company's Reliance National unit, and also will be available to the more than 1,200 independent insurance agents who are currently online with CyberComp.
Reliance plans to market Umbrella Online through Point, Click & Bind, Inc., its new e-commerce insurance holding company. In October 1999, Reliance announced plans to create Point, Click & Bind, which will consist of Reliance's CyberComp workers' compensation insurance business. As announced in October of 1999, Reliance intends to distribute 10 percent of the common stock of Point, Click & Bind in a spin-off to Reliance Group shareholders.
"Going forward, Reliance will have even more products and services on the Internet, which will help us build new business and continue to create value for our shareholders," said Steinberg.
Umbrella Online provides coverage in excess of primary insurance, including commercial general liability, automobile liability and employer's liability. Reliance says Umbrella Online is offered for a wide variety of commercial enterprises, from antique shops to beauty parlors, grocery stores and restaurants to landscapers, plumbers, and small condo and apartment complexes. The coverage is designed primarily for retail establishments, service businesses, artisan contractors, and owners, lessors and tenants (OL&T).
Umbrella Online policies, marketed through Reliance National and Point, Click & Bind, will be underwritten by Reliance National Indemnity Co., rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best. Limits will range from $1 million to $10 million.
Approved producers receive a user ID and password that gives them access to the secure portion of the Umbrella Online web site. A producer can get a quote by completing the online application, which consists of a series of questions about the prospective insured's business.
A computer program determines whether the electronic submission meets Reliance's underwriting criteria, and a rating engine built into the server promptly generates a price quote. If the client approves the quote, the producer can click the "Bind" button to trigger policy issuance. The entire transaction generally takes less than seven minutes. Umbrella Online is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.