“Selling commercial auto just doesn't get simpler than this,” stated Jeanne Lind, director of automation for Safeco Business Insurance. “With E.S.P, we can cut the time it takes to quote commercial auto policies, and with real-time underwriting we can issue a policy instantly. In most cases, agents can literally issue their auto policies while theyre on the phone with a client.

“Its part of Safecos strategy to reduce the time, cost and complexity of selling and servicing small and medium-sized business accounts,” she added.

In the E.S.P process, the company said, agents can select the “full quote” option, enter data on drivers and vehicles, and instantly receive a final price that they can bind and issue. E.S.P technology automatically pre-fills common customer information fields based on vehicle identification numbers, and the system adjusts its questions according to the data entered.

Agents can also choose to enter a “quick estimate” to get a ballpark price without having to enter detailed driver and vehicle information. All of this allows agents to spend a lot less time on data entry, said Safeco.

“By introducing E.S.P for commercial auto, were giving our agents a real opportunity to profitably expand their small-business accounts,” said Tom Troy, vice president of underwriting for Safeco Business Insurance.

“Small businesses represent the largest, fastest growing segment of the commercial auto market in the United States, and these business owners typically rely heavily on the few vehicles they operate,” Mr. Troy continued. “E.S.P gives agents a quick and easy way to add commercial auto coverage and better manage this exposure, helping business owners avoid increasingly common legal actions and other business disruptions that can make or break a small and growing company.”

Initially, agents will be able to use the system to sell Safecos commercial non-fleet policies for vehicles garaged in a single state, the company noted.

In 2003 and 2004, Safeco said it would enable agents to use E.S.P. to sell workers' compensation policies, commercial multi-peril package products, and other commercial auto policies including fleet vehicles, multistate garaging locations and farm vehicles.

E.S.P. is accessible at www.safecoplaza.com/esp for both business owner policies and commercial auto risks.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, August 11, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.