Personal Markets

Personal Markets, which sells under the Liberty Mutual Insurance brand, offers automobile, homeowners and personal property and casualty insurance coverage, as well as a wide range of life and annuity products, to individuals in the United States. Using a multichannel platform, it distributes its products through more than 2,200 licensed local sales representatives, approximately 500 licensed telesales representatives, third-party producers and the Internet.

Personal Markets’ largest source of new business is its 13,500 sponsored affinity group relationships, including employers, professional and alumni associations, credit unions and other partnerships. Personal Markets’ affinity program is the industry’s most sponsored voluntary auto and home insurance benefit.

The U.S. personal lines marketplace remained extremely competitive in 2011 as dramatic increases in advertising continued to drive consumer shopping. Despite these competitive pressures, Personal Markets was among the fastest-growing personal lines insurers in the country.

Also making 2011 a challenging year for Personal Markets and the entire personal lines industry was the weather, as record catastrophes and severe storms throughout the U.S. impacted earnings. Despite the high volume of claims resulting from these events, Personal Markets’ claims professionals handled every claim with professionalism and compassion, demonstrating outstanding service to customers when they needed us most.

Personal Markets generated strong new business growth across all distribution channels. Online shopping fueled much of this growth, as consumers increasingly start the shopping process online, even though they prefer to complete the purchase in person or over the phone. Personal Markets’ industry-leading affinity marketing program also remained a key driver of new business growth.

In 2011, Personal Markets continued to enhance its market position through the growth of all distribution channels, the development of a new Internet quoting application, ongoing expansion of online and mobile capabilities, the development of a new market-leading claims system, and the expansion of its auto, home and life product offerings.

With significant growth and a strong operational foundation in place, Personal Markets is well positioned for the future.

Response

“You Need Only Look in Their Eyes”

On most days, Janet Lucas is a claims adjuster with Liberty Mutual Insurance’s Customer Response Center in Lake Mary, Florida, where she processes homeowner claims that can be handled over the phone.

But, in April 2011, when tornadoes devastated portions of Alabama, Lucas, a 25-year employee, put down the phone, walked into her manager’s office, and volunteered to help staff one of Liberty Mutual’s RV-sized Customer Response Vehicles (CRV). Six hours later, she was on a flight to Birmingham, and for the next grueling and sleep-deprived 21 days, she did everything from helping to triage and process claims to keeping the CRV clean and stocked with snacks, water and claims documents.

What makes Janet’s story stand out is not only what she did, but the compassion with which she did it. “When you meet with a customer whose home has been badly damaged or destroyed by a tornado, you need only look in their eyes, and listen to their voices, to understand the trauma they’ve experienced,” she explained. “In a way, my job was as much friend and listener as it was claims adjuster.”

After the Alabama tornadoes, Janet returned to Florida, but not for long. Last summer, she spent three weeks in the CRV helping customers in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Ability

Smartphone Savvy Find
Convenience in App

If you’re one of the 302 million smartphone users worldwide, you’ve likely let a five-ounce device make its way into your daily life, while demanding more capabilities. The same applies to our smartphone-savvy customers—and that’s why Personal Markets developed an innovative app for iPhone and Android users.

After an accident, customers can use the smartphone app to map their location using GPS, take pictures of damage for their claim, share their insurance information and use voice note to record key details. During less stressful times, customers can use the company’s mobile eService website to access their policy and view their auto insurance ID card.

With nearly 27,000 downloads, the app has received positive reviews. Said one customer:

"A delivery van backed into me....Then I realized I had this app. Turns out, I was able to open a claim, upload all my pictures, enter all info and, best of all, tell what happened in my own words, all within the app!”