Harleysville Insurance Introduces OthersFirst to Meet the Insurance Needs of People in the Business of Helping Others

Harleysville Insurance has introduced OthersFirst^SM Protection Package, a new program that offers insurance coverage tailored to organizations that provide services to people with special needs. The third new product to debut under Harleysville’s StarAdvantage^® Series product suite, OthersFirst is directed to the needs of the human services industry, with a specific emphasis on people with physical or intellectual disabilities, the disadvantaged and the elderly.

"Our extensive research and analysis show tremendous opportunity for profitable growth in the human services sector, and OthersFirst offers the flexibility to deliver a competitive product that is customized to the specific needs of this important market,” explains Kevin M. Toth, Harleysville’s senior vice president and chief underwriting officer. "OthersFirst joins the two recent additions to our StarAdvantage Series—the Harleysville CustomPak^SM and Businessowners programs—both of which were introduced in conjunction with accessHarleysville//CL^SM, our new state-of-the-art commercial lines policy administration system.”

"Our independent agents have asked us to provide them with the opportunity to serve the ever-expanding human services market,” adds Brian Flemming, Harleysville’s vice president of marketing and agency relations. "OthersFirst will help our agents grow their small and middle-market commercial business—which is their quality, core business—with us.”

To oversee the underwriting and servicing of this new business, Harleysville has named Lisa Prinz as vice president of human services. Prinz has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience, with particular expertise in human services and product development.

"We are confident that Lisa’s strong underwriting background and thorough understanding of the human services sector, combined with our new OthersFirst Protection Package and our enhanced policy administration system, will be a winning combination for Harleysville, its agency partners and the communities we serve,” notes Toth.

Among the typical risks targeted for Harleysville’s new human services program are a variety of nonprofit/social service operations, such as job training and vocational rehabilitation services, counseling facilities, community centers like YMCAs and adult day care services, group homes, drug and alcohol residential facilities, missions, homeless shelters and food pantries, as well as advocacy organizations for handicapped individuals and other similar groups.

With Harleysville’s commercial package policy (CPP) as its base, the OthersFirst Protection Package adds enhanced coverages unique to human services organizations, including sexual abuse and molestation coverage, professional liability coverage, a workplace violence endorsement, and enhancement endorsements for general liability, property and other exposures. Rounding out the product offering is commercial automobile, inland marine and umbrella.

To date, OthersFirst has been introduced in 15 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida (no property), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia. Product launches are planned to be completed in the company’s remaining states throughout 2009.

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. As a Trusted Choice^® company partner, Harleysville distributes its products exclusively through a network of independent agents primarily across 32 states. Harleysville was listed recently as #30 in the InformationWeek 500, the publication’s annual listing of the most innovative information technology organizations in the U.S., and has been ranked on the list in each of the last three years. 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. Further information can be found on the company’s Web site at www.harleysvillegroup.com.