Steven Aldrich, president of QuickenInsurance, part of Intuit Inc., says some carriers license the sites as agents, while others only let them refer interested customers to agents. The sites get a commission from agents or insurance companies for each lead generated. These super-agent Internet sites haven't been without challenges. QuickenInsurance and InsWeb both say that back-end integration with insurers' legacy systems has been slow going. Aldrich says it takes six months to a year to complete a back-end integration with one of his company's partners.
Data mapping is one of the most challenging aspects.
Quicken uses a technical framework supplied by BroadVision Corp. and an Oracle database running on Sun Microsystems servers. The quotes are returned to a Netscape Web application server, which works with the BroadVision software to produce the interactive interface on the Web site. Like most companies that sell insurance over the Net, QuickenInsurance is hoping XML can ease the challenges of exchanging information between carriers' legacy databases and Internet e-commerce applications. But some aspects of insurance purchasing just aren't possible online. Term life insurance contracts, for example, can't be sold without leaving the computer because customers require a medical examination.