Marshall & Swift/Boeckh Urges Agents to Halt Use of Quick Quote

By Elliot Spagat
November 19, 2004

A software maker is urging insurance agencies to stop using a cost-calculator that critics say resulted in inadequate coverage for many people who lost their homes in the Southern California wildfires last fall.

Marshall & Swift/Boeckh LLC said its Quick Quote cost-calculator was introduced a few years ago to help insurance agents give shoppers a ballpark estimate of how much it would cost them to replace their homes, but it was never designed to write insurance policies.

After the wildfires last October destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Southern California, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said he suspected the software had produced faulty numbers for many homeowners, resulting in inadequate insurance.

Chief executive Bob Dowdell said the company is contacting buyers to strongly recommend they stop using Quick Quote.

To get an estimate, the calculator asks for a home's ZIP code, year of construction, square footage and a few other questions. A more detailed survey, which takes into account details such as whirlpool spas and fireplaces, takes more time to complete but offers more accurate estimates.

According to Marshall & Swift's estimates, 61 percent of U.S. households are underinsured by an average of 25 percent.

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