If you are surfing the Net and see an interesting and informative insurance-related Web site that should be included in this column, please let us know. Contact Laura Biddle-Bruckman by phone at 800-428-4384, by fax at 800-321-1909 or by e-mail at rnc@in.net.
Visitors to ACORD's new Web site will find up-to-date information on ACORD, its Forms, Standards, Object Technology, membership, seminars and training, and ACORD publications. Clicking on the About ACORD icon provides Web site visitors with e-mail access to key areas and specific personnel. It also includes a Board of Directors listing and, where available, links to the home pages of the companies for which the directors work. What's New, Current Initiatives (under construction at the time of our visit), Press Releases, ACORD's history and its vision and mission round out this section.
Other highlights include: ACORD Forms are now available on the Web site to members and program participants. The sections on ObjX and OLifE--ACORD's object technology standards--have been redesigned for easier access.
Registration information--complete with a registration form--for the ACORD Technology Conference coming up in May is also available at the site.
The complete listing of ACORD's numerous products and services includes a brief description of each item along with pricing information. As with most sites, ACORD's will continue to be enhanced, particularly in this area. Later this year they will publish some of their most popular products on the Web site. The ACORD Benchmark Calculator will be unveiled on the Web site at the May conference. Formerly a biennial publication, it will now be updated on an ongoing basis.
PLUS (Professional Liability Underwriting Society) officially opened its Web site in August of 1996. At the site, visitors can find information about the Society such as the requirements of membership, the mission of the Society, and the history of the organization. A free subscription is available to become part of the PLUSNet discussion group. Visitors can learn more about the RPLU designation and can learn the professional significance of the designation.
Visitors are able to view the past issues of the PLUS monthly newsletter and to search the membership directory to find out who is a member of PLUS. At the recent international conference in Orlando, members were able to keep up to date on the daily activities by looking at the PLUS Web site.
Thanks to the Recreational Products Insurance Division (RPI) of Universal Underwriters Insurance Company, browsers can now chat with other motorcycle enthusiasts, shop for parts for that favorite vintage motorcycle, take a safety quiz and learn the ins and outs of personal watercraft insurance all at one handy cyber-stop: the home page known as "RPI's Weekend Place."
Once enthusiasts reach the RPI home page, they can choose to go in one of two different directions: one way for motorcycles and the other for personal watercraft. Each area contains a bulletin board to locate those hard-to-find parts (by make and model of equipment) and to find information about the latest club events. They can go to the "chat" area to chat with other enthusiasts or to a section where they can take safety quizzes.
There is also a section called "Who is RPI" where browsers can find out more about the products the company markets. There is a spot to leave e-mail for RPI's marketing department who will give them the name and phone number of the nearest insurance agent selling Universal's RPI line of motorcycle or personal watercraft insurance. Current RPI customers can also leave an e-mail message for RPI's customer service department.
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