Seeking to keep pace with evolving agent demand, Auto-Owners Insurance (Lansing, Mich.) will integrate Silanis’ (Montreal) e-SignLive cloud e-signature signing service to support its independent distributors. The insurer will soon offer e-signatures through its agency portal for various insurance documents including P&C new business applications for personal and commercial automobile, the vendor reports. Auto-Owners is targeting the summer of 2015 for a pilot implementation before rolling out the e-signature service across the U.S.

“We chose e-SignLive because it is an e-signature market leader in P&C insurance,” comments Jim Schumacher, senior VP, IT, Auto-Owners. “The flexibility of the solution allows us to keep our own branding, while the solution’s ability to capture both document and process evidence for every signature was a strong differentiator for our needs.”

Agent Feedback

Auto-Owners search for an e-signature solution was motivated by feedback from its nearly 39,000 independent agents looking for a way to complete business electronically and offer a better customer experience for their clients, according to a Silanis statement. The introduction of e-signature capability will reduce time to close business while assisting with compliance requirements.

(Related: The Co-Operators Deploys Silanis e-SignLive to Meet Distributor, Customer Demand)

Silanis reports that other factors contributing to Auto-Owners decision to add e-signatures included:

• The company’s interest in being responsive to its agent community and the growing demand for e-signature capability on tablets and laptops;
• The agent community was familiar with e-signature technology and end-to-end digital processes, as many already use e-signatures in their personal lives;
• e-SignLive™ offered the flexibility to start with a cloud signing service to get up and running quickly, and migrate on-premises at a later point, if needed.