CyberComp Forms Strategic Alliance With CareAllegiance in Tennessee.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 1999--

CyberComp(R), Reliance's Internet-based workers' compensation insurance operation, announced today that its policyholders in Middle Tennessee will receive education on workplace injury issues and access to medical treatment through a Specialty Care Network established by CareAllegiance of Brentwood, Tenn. CyberComp primarily provides workers' compensation coverage for businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

"Small-business owners, who can least afford to have employees out of work, have generally received little or no managed care assistance in the past. Our arrangement with CareAllegiance changes that by giving smaller employers access to many of the same medical services and resources that larger companies have benefited from for years," said Mark H. Benson, executive vice president of CyberComp. "We are increasing medical care availability for our insureds, making it more cost-effective for them and doing it in a very personalized way," he said.

CareAllegiance and its designated healthcare partners will visit all existing and new CyberComp policyholders in the mid-state area to provide training on reporting claims, how to direct injured workers to the appropriate healthcare providers within the Specialty Care Network, and how lost time can be minimized with proper treatment and return to work programs.

David Iskowe, president of CareAllegiance, said, "By working together with the employer, CyberComp and our healthcare partners, we are able to get employees healthy and help them return to work following an injury or illness. Reducing time away from work is the single most important factor in controlling workers' compensation costs. The sooner employees can be productive again on the job, the greater the savings for the employer."

CareAllegiance's Specialty Care Network is comprised of leading hospitals and physician groups specializing in occupational medicine, including Baptist Care Centers of Middle Tennessee and the Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance (TOA). With the largest number of walk-in occupational medicine and urgent care medical centers in the region, Baptist offers a full range of services such as pre-employment physical ability testing, injury treatment, rehabilitation, testing for return to work, worksite ergonomic analysis and employer education. The TOA's practice currently consists of a total of 35 physicians in Middle Tennessee and a workers' compensation package that includes diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education.

Dr. Edward Bernacki, chairman of CareAllegiance, adds, "We make sure patients receive priority service, and we have a patient tracking and referral management system that further expedites treatment and ensures appropriate care."

Employers interested in learning more about CyberComp workers' compensation insurance and the medical services available through the CareAllegiance Specialty Care Network should contact their insurance agent. Insurance agents and brokers in Middle Tennessee should call John Goldwater, first vice president of CyberComp's Southeast Division, at [phone] for additional information.

Based in Brentwood, Tenn., CareAllegiance develops specialty care networks in partnership with healthcare providers that specialize in occupational medicine. CareAllegiance is led by David Iskowe, a founder of the nation's largest workers' compensation PPO, Focus Healthcare, and Edward Bernacki, M.D., M.P.H., the director of the Division of Occupational Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

Reliance's CyberComp (http://www.cybercomp.com) product enables appointed agents to obtain price quotes and bind workers' compensation insurance coverage for small businesses via the Internet. Headquartered in Lawrenceville, N.J., CyberComp wrote its first policy online in 1997 and is now online in 43 states. CyberComp had $81 million in gross premiums written in 1998, and $103 million in the first nine months of 1999.

Reliance also offers Umbrella Online (http://www.umbrellaonline.com), an Internet-based quoting and binding system for small commercial umbrella insurance policies. Both CyberComp workers' compensation insurance and Umbrella Online will be marketed through Point, Click & Bind, Inc., Reliance's new e-commerce insurance holding company. Coverage is underwritten by Reliance insurance companies, rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best.

Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: REL), headquartered in New York City, has specialized property and casualty insurance operations and an information technology consulting company. Reliance Group's total 1998 revenues were $3.4 billion, and assets at year-end were $12.8 billion.

Any statements in this communication which may be considered to be "forward looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. The factors which could cause actual results to differ from those suggested by any such statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed or identified from time to time in the Corporation's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and more generally, to: general economic conditions, including changes in interest rates and the performance of the financial markets; changes in domestic and foreign laws, regulations and taxes; changes in competition and pricing environments; and regional or general changes in asset valuations.

Reliance Group on the World Wide Web -- http://www.rgh.com