Consumers may receive up to10 or more auto insurance rate quote estimates in real-time, allowing them to gather data in a few minutes that previously might have taken hours or days to assemble. This no-cost online service is being offered beginning today in 15 states -- which together hold more than two-thirds of the nation's drivers -- including California, New York, Texas and Florida. Other states are: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. The service is expected be available in additional states before the end of the year.

Intuit is also introducing online sales of auto policies in New York from Travelers Property Casualty. Three additional new states were also announced: Connecticut, Oregon and Washington, expanding to 14 the total number of states where consumers can purchase Travelers policies online through Quicken InsureMarket.

"Quicken InsureMarket now features the premier shopping database for auto rates, joined with the most advanced capabilities for allowing consumers to obtain auto insurance online," says Steven Aldrich, president of Intuit Insurance Services, Inc. (IIS). "This provides the complete package of services, along with insurance information and planning resources from Intuit, that allows insurance consumers to realize the Internet's full potential for savings and convenience."

Introducing Electric Insurance And An Industry First
Quicken InsureMarket announced today that Electric Insurance Company of Beverly, Mass., has joined Quicken InsureMarket to provide auto insurance services online. This is a key development for consumers because it creates the first site where a driver can enter information and receive quotes from more than one company for policies available for online purchase. This marketplace capability is initially available in six states: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Washington and Wisconsin where Electric and Travelers provide real-time quotes and online purchase options.

"We are building a marketplace that enables comparison shopping and purchasing so consumers do not have to go searching from site to site, entering the same information time and time again in order to seek savings on their insurance," Mr. Aldrich says.

The architecture for supporting sales from multiple insurers at one Web location represents a significant technical achievement. It requires extensive coordination to tailor a single, simple questionnaire that can satisfy the underwriting requirements of participating insurers. It also demands powerful database functionality, in order to verify state motor vehicle and other records of a potential purchaser in order to offer immediate online approval and policy issuance.

"Electric Insurance worked extensively with Intuit's Quicken InsureMarket service to introduce its product to the online audience and offer the full convenience of online purchasing," says Steven Paul, Electric Insurance Marketing Manager. "The Internet makes it possible to introduce many innovations in products and services for consumers, and Electric Insurance is committed to growing by being a leader in delivering these enhancements to a nationwide consumer audience."

Electric Insurance is a direct writer of auto and home insurance. The company was founded more than 30 years ago to provide quality, economical insurance products directly to employees of General Electric Co., but has since expanded to serve the general public and now sells insurance products in 47 states.

Unique Database
With the launch of its new features, Quicken InsureMarket offers real-time auto insurance service (online comparative quotes, purchasing, or both) in 24 states with approximately 75 percent of the nation's licensed drivers. Earlier this year, Quicken InsureMarket's real-time auto services were available in 10 states with 20 percent of the drivers.

The comparison quoting database being provided online through Quicken InsureMarket is a product of InsurQuote Systems, Inc., an industry leader in insurance rating technology. InsurQuote, based in Provo, Utah, has developed sophisticated comparative rating and fulfillment solutions that assist agencies selling and supporting auto, home and commercial products. InsurQuote also provides analytical tools and communications systems for insurance carriers to streamline the underwriting process.

The comparative quote estimates generated by InsurQuote's rating engine are being published on Quicken InsureMarket as a convenience for consumers. InsurQuote's auto insurance data provides unique access for consumers across the country to comparative rate information across all major marketing channels: from companies with agency sales forces, companies selling through independent agents and companies that market and sell directly to the public. InsurQuote's national databases for industry clients include auto insurance plans that represent 64 percent of the market share for auto coverage. InsurQuote expects to extend this coverage to 90 percent in the next year.

Quicken InsureMarket is the leading insurance site on the Internet, with participation from major, national insurance carriers, and the ability to offer real-time rate quotes and online payment options, which can speed the process of buying insurance. The full-service site also features a library of educational material so consumers can learn more about insurance, as well as interactive insurance planning tools and information from independent insurance experts. Visitor traffic at Quicken InsureMarket has expanded rapidly, reaching 4 million unique sessions for the year-to-date, as of October 31, which is four times greater than the 1 million sessions for 1997 as a whole.

Intuit's IIS subsidiary or its designated employees are licensed as insurance agents for life and health in 50 states and Washington, D.C., and as agents for property and casualty in 49 states and Washington, D.C. IIS also associates with licensed resident agents in those states where insurance transactions must be conducted with or through resident agents.

Quicken InsureMarket is part of Quicken.com, which provides individuals with information and software tools to help them make better financial decisions. It then provides links to leading financial service providers so consumers can implement those decisions more conveniently than ever. Quicken.com content is also offered at some of the most widely accessed sites on the Internet, as the exclusive provider of personal financial tools on such sites as CNNfn and Excite. Quicken InsureMarket is also a primary source of content and programming on the Insurance Center on America Online (keyword: Insurance).