For 20 years, Charlie Brown’s beloved
beagle has been dancing for life insurance provider MetLife—and it turns out Snoopy has his doghouse and Sopwith Camel covered as well.

In business since 1868, MetLife is the nation’s largest life insurer in terms of active insurance policies, but some people are unaware that the company is a leading provider of auto and home insurance through its subsidiary, MetLife Auto & Home.

“Everyone realizes is that MetLife has a strong brand,” MetLife Auto & Home president William Mullaney said. “The challenge for us is to link the MetLife brand to our auto and home insurance business.”

By creating a synergy among the MetLife family and introducing innovative new products and services to the market, Mullaney and his MetLife Auto & Home leadership team are working to bring recognition to some of Snoopy’s other MetLife policies.

Room to grow
Headquartered in Warwick, RI, MetLife Auto & Home is one of the nation’s leading personal-lines insurance companies, insuring over 3.8 million autos and homes. Auto insurance accounts for nearly 75% of premiums, and homeowner’s insurance makes up a little less than 25%, with miscellaneous lines like boat, recreation vehicle, and umbrella insurance
making up the rest.

Despite the impressive numbers, Mullaney said there is plenty of room for growth. In a recent study, the company asked 100 people to name a provider they would choose for auto or home insurance—only four named MetLife. When those same people were given a list of property casualty insurance providers with Snoopy’s favorite insurer included, more than 20 chose MetLife.
“We’re focused on growing the company,” Mullaney said. “Part of our strategy is to leverage the existing MetLife name to generate recognition for our auto and home products. We’re using channels where we’re well known and asking our strong base of MetLife agents to bring our auto and home products through to their customer relationships.”

MetLife Auto & Home has a diverse distribution network that allows prospective customers to purchase auto and home products the way they want. These outlets include a large independent agency force, career agents, direct marketing, e-business, and a strong institutional presence, where the company has the distinction of being the established industry leader.

In 2000, MetLife became the first insurance company to establish a financial holding company with a nationally chartered bank. Mullaney said MetLife Bank was the perfect example of how the auto and home business is developing synergy within the organization. “When customers go to MetLife Bank for mortgages, we realize that they’ll also need home insurance, and it is in our portfolio to offer it to them. Those are the types of things we want to further leverage as we move forward.”

Enhanced product line
An innovative product line is the companion piece to the company’s growth strategy. This year, MetLife Auto & Home began rolling out
a packaged auto, home, boat, and personal excess liability policy called GrandProtect. GrandProtect bundles these coverages into a specialty umbrella with one policy, one deductible, and one bill, through a single provider.

“We now have GrandProtect in 17 states, and we plan to double that number by the end of 2006,” Mullaney said. “It brings together all of a customer’s property and casualty insurance needs and fills in the gaps for coverage. New products are an important element of our growth strategy.”

Along with the new products, the company is adding features to enhance its existing policies. In the spring, MetLife Auto & Home became the first insurer to include an identity-theft resolution service on all of its homeowner, renter, and condo policies. At no additional cost, customers have access to experts in identity theft resolution. When a person’s identity is stolen, Mullaney said, the victim often doesn’t know where to turn. MetLife’s identity theft resolution experts can walk victims through the laborious steps they need to take to reclaim their identity.

“Identity theft is a growing problem that people are concerned with,” he said. “It typically takes an identity-theft victim a long time to resolve their problems because they really don’t have a roadmap. This service we provide gives them that roadmap and expert assistance.”

The company took its identity protection service a step further after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. MetLife Auto and Home’s “identity relief” service provided clients with an advocate to replace personal documents lost to the disaster along with help re-establishing relationships with financial institutions. “I saw first-hand how Hurricane Katrina has had a devastating impact on the lives of so many,” Mullaney said. “For people who fled their homes, it can be difficult to recover personal documentation that may have been lost in the destruction, but it’s critically important to have those documents as they look to get their lives back in order.”

The company partnered with IdentityTheft 911, one of the nation’s foremost providers of identity theft crisis resolution and education services, to enhance its existing product lines and provide the innovative service features.

Strong experience
Recently, J.D. Power and Associates ranked insurers in regard to claims satisfaction. MetLife Auto & Home ranked second in homeowners insurance and fourth in auto insurance, a sign, Mullaney said, that the company is as dedicated to retaining customers as it is to gaining new ones.

“We focus on creating a unique employee experience,” he said. “That helps us attract and retain some of the best people in the industry. We also put a great deal of emphasis on operational excellence—making sure we have the right processes and metrics in place with a focus on execution and getting things done right. When those things combine together, you create a strong experience for your customers.”

Every month, MetLife Auto & Home undergoes an operational review to gauge how the business is performing and where it can improve. Operational reviews extend from the executive suite to the manager and associate level so individuals understand how their performance impacts the bottom line. “It’s about understanding what the key drivers of the business are,” Mullaney said. “And knowing which levers to pull to move those metrics in the right direction.”

Through a synergistic relationship with parent MetLife, innovative new products and services, and an engaged and well-managed workforce, MetLife Auto & Home is well on its way to becoming recognized as Snoopy’s auto and
home insurer of choice.

“It’s critical that we have a strategic fit with the rest of MetLife,” Mullaney concluded. “We expect to grow along with all of the other parts of MetLife and create opportunities for our
customers to grow with us.”