Plymouth Rock’s ‘Prime’ Combines Online Sales With IA Channel

Plymouth Rock Assurance — a Boston-based auto insurer serving Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire — launched a new online tool called “Prime.”

The insurer says the new tool will give consumers the ability to buy and manage auto insurance policies online while also allowing them to stay in touch with local independent agents.

Plymouth Rock says consumers nowadays are faced with a choice between buying and managing policies online, or visiting local insurance agents. The insurer says it aims to bridges that gap by offering an alternative through its new tool, giving consumers the combined power of the Internet with the advice of an independent agent.

Prime is currently live in Massachusetts for new policies with effective dates on or after Oct. 1, 2015, and will be going live in New Hampshire and Connecticut later this year.

Plymouth Rock Assurance President and CEO Chris Olie told Insurance Journal that Massachusetts consumers can now visit Plymouthrock.com to get a quote and buy a policy in the new Prime system.

Olie explained that when a consumer buys a policy online in the new Prime system, his or her policy is transferred to a local independent agent who can provide additional consultation and advice. “All sold policies are sent to local independent agents,” he said.

Agents pay a one-time marketing fee once the policy is transferred. After the transfer occurs, the agent owns the business for life and receives full commission on it. “They are free to modify coverage, cross-sell or up-sell and even transfer the consumer to another carrier,” said Olie. “We intentionally designed Prime to keep the ‘independent’ in the independent agency channel. There’s tremendous value the independent agency provides and we don’t want to limit that in any way.”

If a consumer completes a quote but chooses not to buy, their quoting information is deposited into Plymouth Rock’s Agent Quote Marketplace. Agents who participate in the Agent Quote Marketplace are notified by email or text if a consumer is shopping for insurance in their area.

Agents can then purchase that lead from the Marketplace and contact the consumer to offer quotes from other carriers using the previously entered quoting information.

Plymouth Rock Assurance says consumer trends show that there is a desire to have both an online and in-person experience. “Each experience offers unique value,” said Olie. “We believe that through Prime, we’ve introduced a process that will bridge that gap and give consumers the ability to have both a great online experience and the advice and counsel of an independent agent.”

Topics Agencies Massachusetts Iowa