Aug. 27, 1999 10:29 P.M. (InformationWeek - CMP via COMTEX) -- Software provider Delphi Information Systems Inc. last week teamed with
Hewlett-Packard to offer an Internet service that will let consumers define insurance policy coverages and seek competitive quotes from
insurance companies, agents, and brokers. The service, known as Ebix.market, will debut on Delphi's Ebix.com portal next month.
For its part, HP will supply the Ebix.com site with its WebQoS administration and monitoring software and Presidium security
solutions. HP will also make an unspecified investment in Ebix.com, with an option to increase its stake in the venture to as much as
9.4% over the next two years.
The site will carry information on life, health, home, and auto insurance, and will work under the reverse-auction format, where
consumers will set a price and insurance providers will bid. Delphi president Robin Raina says the ability to purchase policies on the
Web sets Ebix.com apart from online insurance quote services such as InsWeb Corp. Customers will not be charged for the service.
Insurance companies, brokers, and agents will pay Ebix.com 50 cents per bid, $10 to complete a transaction, and $20 to transfer
information about a purchased policy between agents and insurance carriers.
Aberdeen Group analyst Nancy Meachim likes the openness of Ebix.com-which, unlike some other E-commerce portals, doesn't place
limits on who can place bids. "With this, any agents can come on and sell to customers," she says.
Keith Savino, CIO of Insurance Resource Brokerage Group LLC, an independent agency in River Edge, N.J., sees consumers having
the same experience on the site as they would walking down Main Street, where rival independent brokers each offer competing
insurance plans. Says Savino, "I'll be everywhere the consumer is."
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