Safeco® and Indiana Insurance™ Announce New Midwest Regional Operations

Coordinated Personal and Commercial Lines to Deliver More Value to Agents

Seattle, WA and Milwaukee, WI - November 13, 2008 – Safeco Insurance and Indiana Insurance, both Liberty Mutual Agency Markets companies, recently announced key management appointments to lead their  respective personal and commercial lines operations in their Midwest territory.

Mr. Christopher T. Allen has been named Vice President, Safeco Insurance, and Midwest Regional General Manager. Most recently, Mr. Allen was Vice President and Midwest Regional Executive for Safeco Insurance. In this new capacity, Mr. Allen is responsible for profit and growth throughout Safeco’s nine-state Midwest territory.

Joining Safeco’s Midwest personal lines field operations as Agency Managers and reporting to Mr. Allen are: Mr. Kevin R. Agal, representing Illinois; Mr. Daniel G. Ferrari, representing Indiana and Michigan; and Mr. Thomas N. Meka, representing Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  

Indiana Insurance’s four Regional Vice Presidents continue to manage their respective regions with Ms. Tracy Bain representing the Michigan and Wisconsin region, Mr. Chris Ingram representing Illinois, Mr. Joe Meyers representing the upper Midwest region, including Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Mr. Joseph Yeager representing Indiana. The company also recently announced that Richard Reminger has been appointed Assistant Vice President of Marketing in support of territory-wide marketing initiatives.

As announced by Liberty Mutual Group on September 22nd, the Agency Markets business unit’s personal lines will be sold under the Safeco brand. Indiana Insurance will be the exclusive provider of commercial lines business in its nine-state Midwest territory, where Safeco will also offer personal lines. Strong agency relationships and  commitment to the independent agency system will continue to be the hallmarks of both companies.

“We’re drawing from the strengths in our collective organization to bring the best talent and experience to our regional operations,” said Michael Hughes, Executive Vice President, Agency Markets, and President, Safeco Insurance. “By placing management personnel in regions where they have great familiarity, we strengthen our agency relationships and are able to compete at a much higher level.”

“We will be coordinating closely with our Safeco partners to create greater opportunity and value for our agents,” said David L. Lancaster, President and Chief Executive Officer, Indiana Insurance. “As Indiana Insurance begins to focus on commercial lines, we’ve maintained familiar regional leadership to assist our agents. We anticipate bringing them innovative products that go to market quicker and deep market knowledge that will deliver more competitive, localized pricing.”   

Indiana Insurance and Safeco are leveraging the new Agency Markets national/regional model to deliver greater resources and an expanded appetite and product set to their agents. Working in close coordination, both operations will provide:

• Local management and pricing with national product development;
• Local agency support with national marketing research and analytics; and
• Local claims and underwriting staffs with a national technology infrastructure.

With industry-leading pricing sophistication and the most expansive offering of any independent agent carrier, Safeco personal lines agents will offer innovative, high-quality personal insurance products. Specialty coverages including Motorcycle, Watercraft, Recreational Vehicle, and Classic Car are available nationally, in addition to Auto, Home, Condo, Rental, and Umbrella coverages.

Indiana Insurance commercial lines agents will continue to focus on the small-to mid-market, offering a best-in-class product portfolio that includes BOP, Packages, Commercial Auto, Workers’
Compensation, Inland Marine, and Umbrella. Agents also have access to specialty products including Schools, Farm, mono-line Inland Marine, Excess Casualty and National Programs, such as Sports & Fitness, Self-Storage Insurance, Non-profits, and Insurance Agents E & O, under the Liberty Agency Underwriters™ brand.

About Indiana Insurance

With underwriting companies dating back to 1851, Indiana Insurance offers a comprehensive set of commercial property and casualty products and coverages distributed only through appointed independent agents.  Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Indiana Insurance provides insurance in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

About Safeco

In business since 1923 and based in Seattle, Washington, Safeco sells insurance to drivers and homeowners through a network of independent agents and brokers in eight regions throughout the United States.  

Indiana Insurance and Safeco are part of Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, consisting of property and casualty and specialty insurance carriers that distribute their products and services primarily through independent agents and brokers.  Liberty Mutual Group ranks 94 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations based on 2007 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.

Contact:

Christopher Goetcheus, 774-279-5923
or Christopher.Goetcheus@indiana-ins.com

Paul Hollie, 206-473-5745
PauHol@Safeco.com