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St. Louis, MO--Genelco Software Solutions, a division of Liberty Insurance Services Corporation (LIS), today announced the positive results of a Genelco Group+ benchmark test completed at the IBM eServer iSeries Benchmark Center in Rochester, Minnesota.

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio-- The Progressive Corporation today reported fourth quarter 2003 net income of $357.8 million, or $1.63 per share, compared to $152.2 million, or $.69 per share, in the fourth quarter last year. Included in net income are net realized losses on securities of $3.0 million, or $.01 per share, for the fourth quarter 2003, and net realized losses of $37.1 million, or $.11 per share, for the same period last year. Net premiums written and earned increased 21% and 23% to $2,906.4 million and $3,040.0 million, respectively, as compared to the fourth quarter last year. During the fourth quarter 2003, the Company produced a GAAP combined ratio of 85.9, compared to 93.3 in the same period last year. Recurring investment income was $121.3 million before taxes and $90.5 million after taxes, compared to $113.5 million before taxes and $82.0 million after taxes for the fourth quarter 2002.

New Haven, CT- Metaserver, Inc., a leading provider of business process integration (BPI) solutions for the insurance industry, announced it has launched its new iConnect agency interface solution for Property and Casualty carriers. The first of several solutions designed specially for insurance carriers, iConnect P&C is compatible with and extends the capabilities provided by leading vendors in the insurance space such as ChoicePoint, CSC, Duck Creek, ISO, IVANS and others.

Brunswick, Maine--Allenbrook Inc., a leading provider of processing software and consulting services for the Property & Casualty insurance industry, today announced a partnership with Whitehill Technologies, Inc. Whitehill provides companies the ability to extract system data, reformat and automatically distribute the resulting output. The integration of Whitehill's cutting-edge technology with Allenbrook's proven software enables carriers to rise above competitors trapped in paper-intensive processes. This partnership will also increase a carrier's ability to meet stringent reporting requirements with ease and cost-efficiency.

WELLESLEY HILLS, Mass. -- Sun Life Financial has announced the addition of a new single life policy to its portfolio of universal life insurance products.

MALVERN, Pa. -- A new study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) finds that reported losses in auto injury claims are escalating in spite of the fact that the rate of serious auto injuries has decreased. In the past five years, increases in the average amounts that auto injury claimants report for expenses stemming from their injuries, particularly among personal injury protection and medical payments first-party claimants, are nearly double the annualized growth in medical inflation. Additionally, they are three times higher than increases in general inflation.

HARTFORD, Conn.-- Travelers Property Casualty Corp. today announces the availability of its new master policy to cover identity theft expenses. Financial institutions or other commercial businesses can purchase this policy on behalf of their account holders or customers, or for use as an employee benefit offering. The new policy furnishes expense reimbursement limits from $500 up to $25,000 per covered person to assist in the restoration of his or her financial health and credit history that has been damaged by identity theft.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Beacon Research announced today that it has been selected to provide a customized front-end application for BISYS' producer Web site. The application will enable BISYS-affiliated agents and brokers to easily and quickly select the most appropriate fixed annuities for their clients.

HARRISBURG, Pa.--Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken said today that Pennsylvanians may see a reduction in the premiums on new life insurance policies because of a change in the mortality tables used to calculate the insurance premium.

Conshohocken, PA- eMoney Advisor, a leading provider of wealth planning solutions, today announced that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has selected eMoney's AdvisorPlatform as the basis for its wealth management and planning services offered through First Commonwealth Financial Advisors, First Commonwealth Trust Company and First Commonwealth Insurance Agency. The eMoney system will be used by advisors throughout these affiliates to provide more comprehensive services to their clients.

Member companies of both the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) and the Alliance of American Insurers on January 7 voted overwhelmingly to merge and form a new trade association known as the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). The new organization, which will officially begin operations today, represents more than 1,000 member companies that write 37 percent of the property and casualty insurance sold in the United States .

Combined Agents of America, LLC (CAA) today announced Safeco has signed a master contract with all 28 CAA member agencies. According to the contract, all CAA members gain access to this major company market while also profiting from combined premium benefits. CAA is a managing general agency (MGA) committed to strengthening the independent insurance agency system through profitable growth, quality and service for its member agencies.

First Notice Systems Inc., the leader in claim reporting solutions for the insurance industry, and Guidewire Software Inc., a leading provider of claims solutions to property and casualty and workers' compensation insurers, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance that gives insurance carriers an end-to-end claims reporting and management solution. Customers of both companies can now easily leverage First Notice's expertise and value-added services at first notice of loss and Guidewire's downstream claims processing system to enhance claims handling procedures and improve customer service.

Fallon Community Health Plan (FCHP) will join Insurix's www.BenefitCentral.com on-line quoting and E-Marketplace web site. This will enhance FCHP's quoting and proposal generation capabilities allowing Brokers 24X7 access to FCHP's information. The web site will allow Employee Benefits and Health Insurance Brokers to quickly and easily review FCHP's product options, obtain quotes for Massachusetts' employers with 10 - 50 eligible employees, and review FCHP's provider network.

HARTFORD, Conn.--Travelers Life & Annuity today announced the availability of its Annuity Funded Life and Muni Max products on pTeraDac Corporation's WebStory, a customized Web-based presentation system that links directly from Travelers WinFlex and Travelers Life Illustration Systems. WebStory Advanced Marketing Presentation System provides text, schematics and graphics to help the producer develop and present sales strategies in a format that facilitates the client's ease of understanding.

Last October, when Allstate Insurance Co. developed a plan to best assess damage and settle claims in the wake of the Southern California wildfires, the Northbrook, Ill.-based company reasoned it would be counterproductive to set up operations in brick-and-mortar offices located in the vicinity of the fire's epicenter.With the fire spreading and local residents scurrying to find shelter, Allstate established a unique operational presence to conduct business amid the blazing inferno, dispatching some of its local claims adjusters and a 270-person national catastrophe team to operate out of six mobile response units (MRU) scattered around the area.

Barring another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, or some other catastrophic event, U.S. insurance companies are cautiously optimistic about the economy in 2004. As a result, IT budgets in the industry on average are increasing slightly this year.Research from Celent, Datamonitor, Forrester and TowerGroup suggests insurers will add as much as 10% to their IT budgets this year, with an average increase between 2.5% and 6.7%.

Alexandria, Va.-based Agents Council for Technology (ACT) is trying to sell independent agents on a new concept: using technology to enhance the sales and marketing aspects of their businesses.In phase one of a multi-part report designed to help agents and brokers build a disciplined, sales-driven agency culture, ACT, an affiliation of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), revealed in November that "as the independent agency system inevitably becomes more efficient, greater efficiency should improve productivity by enhancing the manufacturing and sales processes.

Insurers are turning introspective. They lived a charmed life when healthy investment returns covered for a lack of efficiency within their operations. Now, they have shifted their focus from asset management back to insurance basics.A new survey performed by the global insurance services practice of New York City-based Deloitte notes that insurers have shifted their focus after a protracted period of low interest rates and volatility in the equity markets.

There's no question that independent agents are highly valuable participants in the insurance marketplace. But carriers that depend on independent agents are continually trying to determine what's important to them when they choose carriers.Two recent studies conducted by Celent Communications Inc. provide some insight.