MetLife Comments on New York State Insurance Department Announcement about Auto Insurance Rate Reductions

Business Wire, Dec 22, 2004

NEW YORK -- MetLife issued the following statement today regarding the New York State Insurance Department's announcement about MetLife Auto & Home reducing its auto insurance rates in New York State by an average of nearly 6%:

"MetLife applauds Superintendent Serio and Governor Pataki for their aggressive and highly successful efforts to fight auto insurance fraud in New York State," said MetLife Auto and Home President and Chief Executive Officer Catherine A. Rein. "We were pleased to respond to the Superintendent's call to reduce rates for our policyholders and we are committed to continue our own significant fraud fighting efforts in cooperation with the Department's Fraud Bureau."

MetLife Auto & Home, an affiliate of MetLife, Inc., is one of the nation's leading personal lines property and casualty insurance companies with more than 2.7 million policies in force. MetLife Auto & Home is a brand of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its Affiliates, Warwick, RI.

MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to individual and institutional customers. The MetLife companies serve individuals in approximately 13 million households in the U.S. and provide benefits to 37 million employees and family members through their plan sponsors. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies serve approximately 8 million customers through direct insurance operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company's Web site at www.metlife.com.