Online transactions, primarily by commercial line clients, increased 85 percent, going from 82,862 in 2002 to 153,405 in 2003. Eighty percent of the transactions were to obtain certificates of insurance, while 10 percent were general policy inquiries and 6 percent policy change requests.

The results, Afni said, were based on the transaction history of approximately 400 agents over a calendar period.

Richard H. Roy, chairman and chief executive officer of Afni Insurance Services, said the figures reflect several things.

Agents are acquainting more clients with the services, he said. Policyholders are becoming more comfortable with using online services, and agents are discovering that there are some things clients want to do themselves.

"We all like to think we are the integral cog in the wheel, that nothing gets done without our touching it, but a lot does get done without our touching it," said Mr. Roy.

There is also competition. Agents are seeking to offer more services than their competitors to clients, and self-service is a way of differentiating an agency, Mr. Roy said.

"The biggest trend we have seen by our customers (agents) is overcoming the concern that they would be [disassociated] from the service environment with their customers," explained Mr. Roy. "What I find, from our customer's perspective, is that their policyholders want to do the clerical level actions themselves. It is less time consuming and more efficient. It frees up the agency to do what it has its expertise in: to be the advisor of insurance."