Online Placement Business Booms

Online Placement Business Booms

NU Online News Service, Sept. 3, 1:50 p.m. EDT?ProgramBusiness.com, an online operation that lets insurance agents locate markets for hard-to-place coverages, said it has posted business worth an estimated $145 million in its first full year of operation agents.

Jeff Neilson, president of the Laguna Hills, Calif.-based firm, said the posting action on the company's virtual "Trading Floor" proved "the dramatic need agents are facing in trying to find markets for their accounts."

According to Mr. Neilson, other than an announcement about the opening in the firm's electronic newsletter ProgramBusinessNews, there has been no promotion or advertising. "But the agents have been quick to find and use" the trading floor, he said.

He said he will be speaking about and demonstrating how to use the "Trading Floor at conferences such ASCnet in New Orleans and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America in Las Vegas.

He said the Trading Floor has seen coverage sought for business ranging from a $2.2 million book of concrete pumpers to a $22 million book of Apartment Building Operators.

The company said the initial 1,098 postings were for single accounts and 20 are for books of business. Risks posted have included home construction, chemical products, oil drilling, manufacturing, restaurants, trucking, commercial buildings, apartment complexes, nursing and rehabilitation facilities, towing operator, agriculture, Dairy Farms Oil & Gas Services, Social Services, Trucking, Sports Related Accounts, Municipalities, Counties, Special Districts, Schools, Colleges and equipment rental type businesses to name a few.

ProgramBusiness.com said its Trading Floor allows agents to post either single accounts or entire books of business, depending on their need.

The Trading Floor, an open-architecture, objective search engine within the ProgramBusiness.com site locates markets for placing specialty programs and connects all levels of the supply chain within the property-casualty industry, the company said.

There is a nominal membership fee charged by ProgramBusiness.com--but no commission-based charges.

Once an agency or wholesaler submits a book of business or single account, the Trading Floor immediately notifies participating Storefronts (i.e., MGAs, wholesalers and carriers) with an appetite for that particular risk.

Agents submitting business can protect the identify of potential accounts they are trying to place, and even block any carrier, MGA or wholesaler that may be the incumbent market providing coverage.

Aside from participating Storefronts, the site also offers a white pages directory search engine for more than 7,000 coverages and programs that match the appetite of the respective wholesalers, MGAs and carriers in the state where coverage is sought.

ProgramBusiness.com is a subsidiary of National Marketing Services, Inc., a commercial and personal insurance data mining and data-warehousing firm since 1988.

More information is available at www.ProgramBusinesss.com or by calling 800-736-9741, ext. 3003