What is CoverageFirst
CoverageFirst is an independent, online wholesale insurance marketplace, serving more than 7,000 independent agencies and brokerages. CoverageFirst helps these agencies find and access the P&C insurance products they need for their clients. Using self-developed proprietary technology, like its CoveragePro Market Placement System, CoverageFirst has assisted in the placement of more than 10,000 individual risks.

CoverageFirst dramatically improves the efficiency of the wholesale commercial insurance submission, underwriting, quoting and purchasing process. CoverageFirst utilizes Internet technology to create a highly intelligent and productive network that allows users to collaborate on all required information related to placing and transacting commercial insurance risks.

CoverageFirst essentially aggregates both sides of the industry (buyers and sellers) and then brings them together, creating a virtual marketplace and adding content, tools, resources, and new technologies to create a single, highly concentrated hub of opportunities, competition and empowerment. This structural model helps participants transact business rapidly, accurately, and economically. By utilizing this model, CoverageFirst acts as a catalyst for creating opportunities for buyers and sellers of wholesale insurance products.

Sellers of insurance products spend as much as 30% of their premium base to acquire and motivate their agency forces. Building a meaningful and loyal base of sub-agents typically takes many years to accomplish. For start-up providers, this is the biggest obstacle to overcome. The agency side is just as frustrating. Staying up-to-date and informed about where to obtain various products is practically impossible. Even if an agency is fully informed about where to obtain any given product, the chances of it securing an appointment with every possible solution provider is virtually nil. And, the smaller an agency is, the fewer appointments it will likely be able to secure. This puts smaller agencies at a serious competitive disadvantage versus larger agencies that can secure more appointments.

CoverageFirst will solve these problems and add value to all participants in the insurance transaction by increasing the effectiveness and productivity of both sellers and buyers of insurance products. CoverageFirst adds value to participating agents by providing them with broader, more efficient access to insurance markets, by empowering them with collective purchasing power and by assisting them in harnessing the technological efficiencies inherent in Web-enabled communications tools. CoverageFirst adds value to participating MGAs, MGUs and insurers by providing them with a safe, highly efficient and broad-based distribution channel (in the form of thousands of pre-approved sub-agents), and by assisting them in finding and developing more powerful and efficient quoting, rating and issuance technology.

Why Retail Agencies Should Join
If you are a retail insurance agent or broker, you should register with CoverageFirst.

First of all, it's free.  No fees or commissions of any kind, now or in the future.  Unlike other sites offering agents online access to product, CoverageFirst is absolutely free to insurance agents and brokers.

Best of all, CoverageFirst is the easiest way for you to expand your agency's access to products and markets.  Signing just one agency agreement with CoverageFirst gives you access to dozens of products, programs and markets.  Every time we add a product or market, you automatically become approved to access that market.  CoverageFirst acts as a virtual agent's cooperative allowing thousands of independent agencies to effectively aggregate their purchasing power and thereby gain substantial clout in the eyes of desirable markets and MGUs. As you are no doubt aware, many markets are becoming more restrictive in their appointment of agencies. CoverageFirst can effectively counter this trend and its consequences for your agency.

If you still need more convincing, we offer (also free) what will become the most comprehensive resource library on the Web for insurance agents. If it's information that will help you to help your clients or grow your business, we intend to put it up on our site.  From rating engines to policy forms, from software tools to loss control articles, we will make it available online 24/7 to registered agents.  And over time, we will add more and more.

So what else can we say?  Click here to get your agency and yourself registered today.

Why Niche Programs Should Join
If you operate an MGA or an MGU, you should strongly consider joining CoverageFirst as an insurance solutions provider.   CoverageFirst will provide your program with a combination of benefits that you will find nowhere else.

First, CoverageFirst can provide your insurance program with immediate access to thousands of highly qualified insurance agents and brokers.  As of August of 2004, CoverageFirst had over 7,000 agencies registered.  CoverageFirst is among the very largest and most powerful wholesale P&C distribution platforms on the Web.

Second, when we say qualified agents, we mean qualified agents.  Unlike other sites that host MGAs, CoverageFirst requires that its agents become "approved" to submit business.  That approval process involves the agent providing all necessary corporate and personal identification information, proof of licensure and proof of at least $1 million of E&O insurance.  All information is verified by CoverageFirst before an agency is designated as approved, and only approved agents are permitted to submit business through the site to resident MGAs and MGUs.  This means you waste no time chasing bad leads or worrying about agent credentials.

Third, we allow you to utilize our agency appointment and management system.   Imagine never having to process another agency appointment.  Imagine all of your agents being automatically reminded to send in a copy of their E&O renewal 30 days before the old one expires.  Further imagine that someone other than you actually reads and verifies all of those certificates and makes sure that every agent is in full compliance at all times.   Wouldn't that be nice – to substantially reduce your E&O exposure and improve your understanding of your agents  – all by doing less work and incurring no cost?

Last, we help you digitize your business.  We can give you the tools to put your business on the Internet:  hosting space, online applications and rating.