AgentDirectExpress™ & Quantum’s RealTimeExpress™ Speed Comparative Quoting

Boston, MA - October 27, 2009 – Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, today announced the expansion of its regional companies’ appointed agents’ access to quote and bind business owners’ policies with comparative rating tools from Dallas-based Combined Group, and its technology subsidiary Quantum Integrated Systems.

Appointed agents with America First Insurance™, Colorado Casualty™, Golden Eagle Insurance™, Indiana Insurance™, Montgomery Insurance™, Ohio Casualty™, and Peerless Insurance™ can now access Combined Group’s AgentDirectExpress and Quantum’s RealTimeExpress in 21 states for business owners’ policies. Expansion to more states and the addition of commercial auto and workers’ compensation quoting are expected to be available on the comparative rating software in 2010.

“The Combined Group and Quantum comparative raters are another set of real-time tools we’re bringing to our agents to expedite the quoting process,” said Peggy Scott , assistant vice president, Agency Markets, and manager, Marketing Information Management. “This arrangement furthers our goals of giving agency producers and customer service representatives a broader array of choices, eliminating data re-keying, and issuing policies quicker and more easily.”  

AgentDirectExpress is the Single-Entry-Multiple-Carrier-Interface (SEMCI) service Combined Group provides to agents. RealTimeExpress is a Software as a Service (SaaS) product offering of Quantum Integrated Systems, Inc., the insurance software development company that is part of Combined Group. Quantum provides RealTimeExpress to independent insurance agencies nationwide.

“Agents across the United States who specialize in small account commercial business know Combined well,” said Blake Stock , chief executive officer, Combined Group. “Now, agents appointed with Agency Markets’ regional companies will be able to use AgentDirectExpress to reduce issuance cycle time and eliminate paperwork, giving them more time to prospect new accounts.”

Mark Van Horn , president of Quantum Integrated Systems, said the XML interface with Agency Markets Commercial IQ® has proven very reliable. “Adding the Agency Markets regional companies to RealTimeExpress makes this extremely popular service even more robust. We’re always looking for ways to streamline the process for agents, and this does just that.”

About Liberty Mutual Agency Markets

Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, offers personal and commercial insurance through independent agents throughout the United States. Commercial lines products are offered through eight regional companies and Liberty Agency Underwriters, which provides specialty commercial products, including excess casualty and program business. Personal lines products are offered nationally under the Safeco Insurance brand. Liberty Mutual Surety provides nationwide contract and commercial surety and fidelity bonds, and Summit provides workers compensation coverage in the Southeast.

Agency Markets operates under a unique regional/national model that leverages the service-oriented focus of regional operations with the cost efficiencies of a national infrastructure to deliver quality products and services to agents and brokers and the customers they serve. 

Commercial Lines:
• America First Insurance™ (Central Region)
• Colorado Casualty™ (Mountain Region)
• Golden Eagle Insurance™ (California)
• Indiana Insurance™ (Midwest Region)
• Liberty Northwest® (Pacific Northwest Region)
• Montgomery Insurance™ (Southeast Region)
• Ohio Casualty™ (Mid-Atlantic Region)
• Peerless Insurance™ (Northeast Region)

Personal Lines:
• Safeco® Insurance (National)

Other Product Lines:
• Liberty Agency Underwriters™ (Specialty Commercial Products)
• Liberty Mutual Surety™
• Summit™ (mono-line Workers Compensation)

Liberty Mutual Group ranks 86 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations based on 2008 revenues. The company has financial strength ratings of A (Excellent) from the A.M. Best Company, A2 (Good) from Moody’s Investors Service, and A- (Strong) from Standard & Poor’s.

About Combined Group

Combined Group is a leading provider of on-line insurance services. The company provides commercial insurance products, claims management, risk management and premium finance services that increase productivity for insurance agencies throughout the United States. The Combined Group’s QuoteExpress™ service provides real-time rating for commercial lines business including workers comp, BOP, commercial auto, mono line property and general liability, and excess and surplus. Its technology subsidiary, Quantum Integrated Systems, provides software development for leading carriers and agencies nationwide. Corporate Website: www.combinedgroup.com.

Contact:

Christopher Goetcheus, 774-279-5923
or Christopher.Goetcheus@LibertyMutual.com