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My company recently launched a pilot to offer personal P&C insurance to a new (to us) market segment. We took our existing rate plan and offer a discount to members of the segment. Early results say its not working. My boss has asked me to determine time/costs to purchase or rent a mass market rate plan (e.g., Progressive, State Farm) so we could do a "me too" filing to get more competitive product. (Internal development will take at least a year, if not longer). I'm a marketing guy (and kind of new to the industry) and have no clue - any suggestions or recommendations? Are there absolute "go to" providers I should be talking to?

First thing is to determine what the market need is. What segment are you marketing to? i.e. Is it personal (auto and homeowners) insurance to a particular segment of the population, or commercial to particular types of business (i.e. Commercial Packages/BOP's to certain businesses)?

From there, it would be easier to determine if you're wasting your time, or how better to approach this.

If you're a direct writer (aka Farmers, State Farm, etc) you have a limited client base to work from. If you write through independent agencies, check with them to see what the overall market need is for your product and pricing.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but if what you're looking to do is get another carrier's rate filing to do a "me to" filing, you usually can get this from the DOI. You would have to contact them to find out their procedures and cost for obtaining a copy - each dept is different. I don't remember if Il is a file & use state or use & file. Either way, even though it's a me to filing you'll still need to file it with the state. You can then contact a company that does rating software in your area and they can put the rates out electronically.

Bedompi, If you could be a bit more specific on your products, we could direct you to the right place. Commercial? Personal? Any specific niche?

Since you mentioned that your boss is asking you to do some research, I recommend Perr & Knight. Visit: http://www.perrknight.com. We use them for all our filings. Of course just like an attorney, you can do away without them and they are expensive but they get the job done preceisely and promptly.

What is a "go to" providers? Not being sarcastic. I really don't know.