Mertz Insurance Agency is the newestmember of Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a collectionof nearly 100 independent insurance agencies in Missouri andSouthern Illinois. Owned by Christine Mertz, the insurance agencyspecializes in life, auto, home and commercialinsurance. Mertz has more than 20 years of insurance industryexpertise. VIAA is the regional founding member in Missouri andSouthern Illinois for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance(SIAA), and generates more than $125 million in written premiums.SIAA is the nation's largest partnership of independent insuranceagencies.

ACE Commercial Risk Servicesis offering a new coverage option to address Lessors' RiskOperations for one- or two-story real estate investment propertyowners, especially in mixed-use developments, which includesresidential, retail and commercial spaces. The new coverageprotects property owners should legal action be brought by tenantsor lessees. The coverage is available on a business owners policyfor properties maintained by the insured or by tenants. Additionalfeatures of the coverage include:

• Ability to quote policies for investment properties of one ortwo stories and up to 10,000 square feet of gross floor area.
• Eligible tenants include retail, service providers,contractors, offices, apartments and mixed-use combinations.
• Up to $5 million in total property values.
• Business income coverage offered on an actual loss-sustainedbasis.
• Up to $2 million in general liability limits.
• $5 million umbrella coverage available.

Intuit has begun offeringpay-as-you-go workers' compensation, a platform that makes itpossible for small businesses to select a pay-as-you-go option from20 top insurance providers. Premiums are calculated in real-timebased on QuickBooks payroll data. The platform allows smallbusinesses to make payments based on actual payroll instead ofestimates of employee activity.

Philadelphia Insurance Cos. (PHLY) isoffering a new IntegratedTechnology product, a suite of tailored coverages for complex,multifaceted technology organizations, such as light assembly,telecommunications, computer hardware and software distributors,programmers, IT consultants, data processing schools, computertraining facilities, and government contractors. The IntegratedTechnology product also includes subcontractors, and offersmultiple coverages for liability exposures that would generallyfall under general liability or product loss. It also providesaccess to risk management services, including legal and data breachcoaches.