Travelers 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

6 2009 Annual Report
Financial, Professional & International Insurance
2009 net written premiums: $3.3 billion
Financial, Professional & International Insurance includes the Bond &
Financial Products business and the International business. Bond &
Financial Products provides surety, management liability, professional
liability and crime coverages, primarily to U.S.-based businesses.
In addition, the business provides traditional property and casualty
coverage to financial institutions. International provides property and
casualty insurance products and management liability, professional
liability and crime coverages through domestic operations in the
United Kingdom, Canada and the Republic of Ireland and through
Lloyd’s of London.
2009 Highlights
Bond & Financial Products enhanced its position as a leader in the
industry through innovative new product and service offerings and
special recognition from the surety industry. These included:
•RolloutofanenhancedBroad Form PLUS+SM Directors & Officers
Liability policy. The new Broad Form PLUS+ for public companies,
private companies and financial institutions combines expert claims
handling with expansive coverage for non-indemnifiable claims
against directors and officers. The new policy includes features not
found in traditional directors & officers policies.
•SignicantexpansionoftheRisk Management PLUS+ Online® Web
site, including new resources for Travelers SelectOne® Bank customers.
These risk management tools address exposures banks face related
to professional liability, directors & officers liability, crime, kidnap
& ransom and identity fraud expense reimbursement. Substantial
resources were also added to the site for Professional Liability.
•Receivingthe2009RiskManagerChoiceAwardforbeingthe#1
Surety Bond provider, based on an annual independent survey
conducted by National Underwriter and Flaspöhler Research Group.
According to the survey, when asked which surety bond provider
is the “best overall,” Travelers received top ranking from risk
managers and corporate insurance buyers.
In 2009, new initiatives and opportunities developed
across the International businesses included:
•IntheUnited Kingdom, Travelers relaunched its exclusive
program, Top Brass, for its top independent regional brokers.
In the annual Insurance Times insurer survey, Travelers increased
its overall performance score, ranking sixth out of the top 50
UK insurers.
•InCanada, Travelers brought together the strength of its two
insurance operations into one, Travelers Canada, to raise market
awareness and to maximize opportunities in that marketplace. The
goal is to respond locally to the Canadian market while leveraging
the resources and expertise of the Travelers U.S. operations.
•InIreland, Travelers extended its relationship with 123.ie, a
distribution channel selling insurance products direct to consumers,
by becoming 123.ie’s exclusive provider of household insurance,
adding to Travelers’ role as 123.ie’s exclusive provider of
motor insurance.
•AtLloyd’s, Travelers further invested in its operating framework
to support long-term development in this market. This led to the
appointment of several new underwriting roles principally in the
Marine and Global Property divisions.
Personal Insurance
2009 net written premiums: $7.1 billion
Personal Insurance offers a broad array of property and casualty insurance
products for individuals. Products include automobile, homeowners,
umbrella, condominium, tenant, flood, identity theft, valuable items,
boat and yacht, and wedding coverages. Personal Insurance distributes
through a network of approximately 11,500 independent agencies
and a new direct-to-consumer channel, as well as through employee
and affinity groups and joint marketing arrangements.
2009 Highlights
•Auto — Travelers unveiled the Safe Driver Advantage, which can
benefit drivers who have a proven safety record, and introduced
Intellidrive™, which offers customers new technology that promotes
safe driving while also providing a participation discount. For
customers who plan ahead and get an early quote from Travelers,
the Early Quote Advantage can be an added benefit.
•
Property — Quantum Home®, which provides a full range of
packaged offerings for a broad segment of the homeowners’
insurance market, saw strong growth and is now available in
40 states. Also, Travelers launched the Antique and Classic
Runabout Boat Insurance program that recognizes the unique
needs of these boat owners.
• Agency Service — To improve new agent appointment productivity,
the field sales organization introduced a new agent on-boarding
process which quickly enables newly appointed agencies to learn
about Travelers’ insurance products. As part of Travelers’ ongoing
commitment to helping agents grow, we have continued to develop
and expand sales tools, including our One2One program, which
gives our agent partners the power of direct marketing at their
desktop. One2One now also offers agents the ability to reach Spanish
speaking communities and prospects countrywide. During the past
year, more than 1,400 independent agencies joined Travelers to
provide consumers with more access to our Personal Insurance
products and services.
•
Direct-to-Consumer — To complement our strong agent channel,
Travelers is expanding its reach to attract consumers who would
prefer to buy directly from a carrier. In 2009, Travelers launched
an advertising campaign targeted to consumers who would prefer
to do business directly with a carrier and enhanced Internet services
for this business.
• Customer and Agent Experience — Key initiatives focused on
earning customers’ and agents’ loyalty included the re-engineering of
claim processes, internal quality measurements and the development
of new employee training designed to fully embed a customer-centric
perspective within our service organizations. Within Personal Insurance,
we have created offices of both Customer and Agent Experience,
focused on establishing a process to systematically gather customer
and agent feedback and then improve interactions to enhance loyalty
and increase retention.
•
Claim — In addition to the customer experience initiatives within
Claim, we continued to expand our popular auto repair service to
68 locations in 20 states. We believe that investments in our claim
services represent one of our most significant opportunities to
build our brand and grow our business over the long term. Feedback
from our customers and distribution partners indicates that
Travelers’ claim service is often a deciding factor in customers’
insurance purchasing decisions.