Harleysville Insurance Again Named to InformationWeek 500; Company Also Recognized by Insurance Networking News for Technology Innovation

Business Wire, Sept 18, 2008

HARLEYSVILLE, Pa. -- Harleysville Insurance again has been named to the InformationWeek 500, the publication's annual listing of the most innovative information technology organizations in the United States. At #30, this marks the third consecutive year Harleysville has been has been named to the list.

At the same time, the company was named a winner of a 2008 INNovators Award, a special designation from Insurance Networking News magazine recognizing the company's efforts to advance the spread of business technology acumen in the insurance industry.

"At Harleysville Insurance, our goal is to use technology to make it as easy as possible for our agency partners to do business with us," explained Akhil Tripathi, senior vice president and chief information officer. "We're pleased that we've again been recognized for the efforts of our talented professionals. Our ranking near the top of the InformationWeek 500 and the recognition from Insurance Networking News validate the course we've taken to implement innovative technology that will best serve our employees, agents and policyholders."

Two years ago, Harleysville introduced accessHarleysville(SM), a new agent portal to provide frequently needed information regarding agents' accounts, policies and billing information, as well as access to rating, quoting and policy issue systems for commercial and personal lines business. In 2007, the company began rolling out new rating, quoting and policy management systems for its personal and commercial lines business.

The new personal lines policy administration system enables real-time rating and quoting for personal auto and homeowners business--as well as the ability to issue policies and endorsements for those lines. By the end of this year, the system will be rolled out to all the states in which the company does business.

The new commercial lines system also is accessible through the accessHarleysville portal and is scheduled to be rolled out by the end of the year. The new platform delivers new and improved products, standard company structure, and facilitates rating, quoting and policy issue processes in a real-time mode. This new technology also integrates predictive modeling for risk assessment, and incorporates an underwriting rules engine. This solution will give Harleysville's agents significant flexibility in doing business with the company, while enhancing the insurer's underwriting consistency and productivity.

Harleysville Insurance is a leading regional provider of insurance products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for individuals, and ranks among the top 60 U.S. property/casualty insurance groups based on net written premiums. Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company owns 52 percent of Harleysville Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HGIC), a publicly traded holding company for eight regional property/casualty insurance companies collectively rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Harleysville Group is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, which is comprised of the top third of all NASDAQ member companies and has the highest initial listing standards of any exchange in the world based on financial and liquidity requirements. Harleysville Insurance--which distributes its products exclusively through independent insurance agencies and reflects that commitment to its agency force by being a Trusted Choice([R])company partner--currently operates in 32 eastern and midwestern states. Further information can be found on the company's Web site at www.harleysvillegroup.com.