European online assurance expands on the European market

Amsterdam, May 15, 2000 - The interactive European insurance company Ineas Insurance Company N.V. has started an offensive on the German market. www.ineas.de offers insurance with online policy conclusion and an interactive service packet. As the online insurer informed us, the intention is to continue speedy expansion on the European insurance market.

According to Niek Ligtelijn, chairman of the Ineas board, it is already clear that business is successful; reasonably priced standard insurance combined with service that makes full use of the interactive possibilities have met with present-day demands. "The internet user is used to taking his or her business in hand and wants to decide independently about the extent of advice and also wants the highest possible degree of transparency when settling claims according to Ligtelijn.

Ineas offers all these possibilities on the company web site, where the customer communicates interactively with the insurance company and the whole process from calculation of the premium, through taking out the policy to reporting and settlement of claims is completed online.

After Belgium and the Netherlands Ineas also went online in Germany in March. It is already possible to take out personal liability and household insurance on the company's German web site. In the coming weeks accident and automobile insurance will be added. In addition to the expansion of the product range step by step, expansion on the European is also in progress. The international team has already analysed other European countries and markets and developed suitable products, for example for Italy and France. In doing so Ineas is taking advantage of the freedom of service-rendering on the European market and consequently defines itself as a European enterprise.

The development of this new insurance company is based on a secure financial foundation. The investors include, among others, Century Capital, an renowned American investment company and Securitas Capital, a joint subsidiary of the Swiss Reinsurance Group and Crédit Suisse. The investors are well aware of the fact that in the insurance field confidence must be built up from the start and so a long-term strategy must be pursued.

The young assurance is going full power into E-business and expects to expand. According to GfK online Monitor the number E-commerce participants have almost doubled in the past year. Marketing via the internet will also become increasingly accepted for financial services. The chairman of the board, Niek Ligtelijn, considers that in particular efficient standard insurance is highly suited to electronic marketing: "In Europe between 15 and 20 per cent of life insurance, property insurance and HUK insurance will be sold online in the year 2004. We want to have our share. In the year 2006 E-commerce will be taken for granted as a method of trading with insurance products.

This was confirmed recently by a current study carried out by the Frankfurt internet market analysis Forit GmbH. According to the study already 43 per cent of all online shoppers are interested in internet insurance. In the year 2002 this could be as many as 7 million customers. Two years later, Forit predicts, 8.5 per cent of all premium income - that corresponds to a volume of 26.9 thousand million DM - will result from policies taken out in the internet or retained through internet service.

Service in particular - binding the customer in insurance administration - is considered by Ineas to be the strength of the company on the contested German online insurance market. In the long term those online insurers will survive on the market that provide online customer service to a much greater extent than just taking out new policies: from comprehensive, individual advice in many questions of security to administration of all existing insurance policies.

Niek Ligtelijn is certain that "in the meantime people are getting to know that it is possible to do insurance business via the internet exceedingly well. With Ineas it is possible to get to know and value the advantages for the customer - speed, transparency, saving of costs".