Property/Casualty Marketplace: Snoopy to Pitch MetLife's New Auto Coverage Program

• Lynna A Goch
• October 2000
• 

Compiled by Lynna Goch

MetLife Auto & Home brings back Snoopy in a new series of ads to promote its Coverage Plus and Deductible Savings Benefit auto insurance programs.

In one 30-second TV ad, a woman in her garage wraps a brand-new sports car with a red bow as a gift for her husband. When her unwitting husband returns home, he crashes into the new car, because he's expecting the garage to be empty. Snoopy appears to comfort the couple as a voice-over explains that their MetLife Auto & Home policy will replace the car without deducting for depreciation.

"Consumers are often very surprised to discover that their auto insurer depreciates their vehicle and won't pay the full cost to replace their car if it is totaled," John Rutecki, vice president of marketing for MetLife Auto & Home, said in a statement.

Besides paying to replace total losses of new cars, Coverage Plus has replacement-cost settlements on special parts, such as batteries and tires, on partial losses due to accidents.

The Warwick, R.I.-based insurer is also featuring "Peanuts" characters in radio ads that promote its Deductible Savings Benefit program.

The program credits customers $50 credit toward their deductible for every year of loss-free driving while insured by MetLife Auto & Home, up to $250. It is not available in all states.

The television and radio ads will be running nationwide through the fall in markets that include: Hartford, Conn.; Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Westchester, N.Y.; and Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.

MetLife Auto & Home is the No. 14 private-passenger auto insurer in the United States, with 1999 direct premiums written of $1.46 billion and 1.2% market share, according to A.M. Best Co. data.

State Farm's Ad Campaign Targets Its Products to Chinese Community

A new advertising campaign introduced by State Farm Insurance Co., Bloomington, Ill., markets to the Chinese community, which is the largest Asian group in North America. State Farm says its support of family values coupled with its 78-year history fits in with the traditional values of the Chinese community.

The advertising campaign is slated for television, radio and newspapers targeted to the Chinese communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Toronto. The campaign features the State Farm logo, "Like a good neighbor State Farm is there," which translates into Chinese as, "Having a good neighbor, there's peace of mind every day." State Farm's name, however, will not be translated into Chinese.

State Farm has sponsored Chinese New Year Celebrations, the Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival and the Organization of Chinese-Americans. State Farm has an ongoing advertising program targeting the Hispanic community and will be rolling out ad campaigns targeting the Korean and Vietnamese communities in the near future.

Two Insurers to Sell Policies Online Through Priceline.com

W.R. Berkley Corp. and American International Group Inc. have joined the trend of selling insurance coverage online through separate alliances with Priceline.com.

Priceline.com's high-profile e-commerce brand and its ability to offer alternative e-commerce distribution systems make it an attractive partner. Priceline boasts that two out of three U.S. adults recognize its brand name-a tie with Amazon.com for being the best-known e-commerce brand.

Berkley is teaming up with Priceline.com to form Priceline.com Auto Insurance Agency Inc., which will offer Name-Your-Own-Price auto insurance online through Priceline. com's Web site starting next year. Like the name implies, the auto policies will be sold through an online auction, with customers bidding on what they're willing to pay for auto insurance, said Mike Darcy, a Priceline.com spokesman.

It's the first insurance to be offered on Priceline, which started in 1998 as a place for customers to bid on airline tickets. Other insurers are expected to join Berkley in the auto program.

Priceline also has entered an agree- ment with AIG to offer travel insurance and travel assistance services to its airline ticket customers.

The travel insurance program will be offered to every Priceline.com customer who submits a price for an airline ticket. If the consumer chooses the coverage and the ticket, it is billed to the customer's credit card.

The program offers coverage for trip cancellation, emergency medical and evacuation expenses, loss of baggage, property and travel documents and accidental death and dismemberment. The coverage may not be available in all states.

The travel insurance is underwritten by American Home Assurance Co., an AIG member company.

Priceline.com also offers hotel rooms, rental cars, home mortgages, refinancing and home-equity loans, new autos and long-distance calling services.

YouZoom.com Adds Homeowners Policies

Visitors to YouZoom.com now can shop for and buy homeowners, renters and condominium coverage online. YouZoom.com is an online network of insurance agencies that offers quotes and the ability to buy policies online.

Visitors to the YouZoom Web site are directed to a local agent or broker for information. Consumers also can manage aspects of their insurance policies at their agent's or broker's Web site, including tracking payments, reporting claims and changing policy details online.

YouZoom.com offers homeowners policies from Clarendon National Insurance Co. and Sirius Insurance Co. Auto coverage is provided through seven carriers, which include Sydney Reinsurance Corp. and Southern Insurance Co.

YouZoom.com says it expects to sell other property/casualty lines and life products soon. YouZoom.com is offered in California, and it will be available by the end of the year to consumers in Texas, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Florida.

Ace USA Expands Coverage For Temporary Staff Industry

The strength of the U.S. economy is fueling a tight job market and expanding the use of temporary workers. About 1 million new jobs have been created by staffing companies in the past five years, and about 2.9 million people per day are employed by staffing companies, according to the American Staffing Association.

Temporary workers are ubiquitous in the workplace with 95% of all U.S. businesses using workers hired through the staffing industry, said Karen McCormick, vice president of Norman Spencer McKernan, a Conshohocken, Pa.-based brokerage that develops, underwrites and markets industry-specific affinity programs. Today, temporary workers include customer service representatives, assemblers, warehouse clerks and data-entry positions.

Ace USA and Norman Spencer McKernan recently released an expanded version of coverage for the staffing industry called StaffingLines. The program is administered nationally by Norman Spencer McKernan and claims services are provided by Constitution State Services, a Travelers company.

Besides offering workers' compensation in multiple states, StaffingLines covers incidents often not included in most general liability policies. For example, if a temporary worker breaks a computer, the staffing company is covered for the damage, McCormick said. The program includes sexual-misconduct coverage, combined forms for professional liability and employment-related practices, and auto and umbrella coverages. StaffingLines also pays for income losses to a third party, if trade secrets-such as a client list-are stolen by a temporary worker.

RiskStaff, a loss-control provider, provides services for StaffingLines, including return-to-work programs and record keeping for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Dot-Coms Join With Insurers To Offer More to Customers

An online auto marketplace and a company that provides e-commerce services for lawyers each have initiated relationships with insurers to sell coverage.

AutoTrader.com, a site for buyers and sellers of used vehicles, is partnering with Esurance Inc., an Internet-based personal-lines insurer. The alliance will allow AutoTrader.com (www.autotrader.com) customers to purchase insurance at the same time they buy their cars.

With the ability to sell auto coverage through Esurance (www.esurance.com), AutoTrader.com shoppers can get the total cost of ownership of a car by researching auto insurance rates while shopping for a car, Esurance Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Duler said in a statement.

Esurance allows policyholders to manage their policy online. Esurance policyholders can add a driver or a car to a policy, change the level of coverage and print out their policy or proof of insurance card at any time.

AI Insurance Group, which specializes in professional liability coverage for lawyers, will market to members of eAttorney (www.eattorney.com), an online legal application service provider.

eAttorney provides lawyers and law students with attorney-focused business applications, services and content. AI Insurance, Athens, Ga., will offer coverage through a network of national and international brokers on the site from companies that include American International Group, Kemper, Zurich Re and Royal & SunAlliance.