One month after launching a new auto insurance product, Seattle-based Safeco is seeing the results it expected: a substantial increase in new business.The new product, which can be shopped for at www.safeco.com, more than doubles Safeco's auto market reach, and is expected to help the company achieve its long-term goal of becoming a top-five national writer of auto insurance.
Since the new product debuted in Arizona, Utah and South Carolina in April, agents in those states indicate they have offered Safeco auto insurance quotes to their customers three times more often than before its introduction, with new-policy sales up more than 40% in each state.
In May, Safeco launched the new product in five additional states: Connecticut, Kansas, Indiana, Idaho and Wisconsin. The rollout will continue in several more states each month until the product is launched in all 44 states where Safeco does business.
The new auto product brings together three markets-preferred, standard and non-standard-into one model and thereby expands Safeco's market reach from 40% to 95%. This marks the first time the company has offered non-standard auto insurance under the Safeco brand.
The product launch comes on the heels of a series of company initiatives to strengthen agent support, improve agent compensation and increase overall ease of doing business for agents.
