Insurance aggregators see opportunity in tough market. (Technology).

While Internet insurance aggregators continue to record net losses to their earnings, the leaders among them maintain optimism that rising Web site traffic and sales suggest profit is ahead. InsWeb Corp. and Quotesmith.com, two of the leaders in the market, say they see light at the end of the tunnel.

Jaimie Pickles, InsWeb's senior vice president for client development, said aggregators are steadily trimming their costs, increasing sales and refining their product delivery.

Although a sputtering U.S. economy and the dot-com bloodbath on Wall Street over the past two years have hurt many online businesses, insurance aggregators have unique advantages in such a climate. "A slowing economy and rising auto insurance rates have made people more conscious of their personal finances, and things like auto and term life insurance are an important part of that," Pickles said. "Then you have more consumers becoming comfortable with making online purchases."

Robert Bland, founder and chairman of insurance aggregator and broker Quotesmith.com, said the developments of online applications and e-signature technology will be the "catalysts that take the sector into its own."

"The insurance industry has a love affair with paper--and with the postal service," said Bland. "But the advent of e-signature and point, click and bind will change that...We think it's sunrise on Day One as far as insurance on the Internet goes."

Pickles agreed with A.M. Best Co. estimates that by 2005, roughly $15 billion of property/casualty insurance will be sold over the Internet, about two-thirds of that personal auto.

Kiran Rasaretnam, InsWeb's vice president of finance, said demographics of the online consumer population have shifted toward an older age group. Another positive trend for insurance sales is that more of the customers are homeowners, which means cross-selling opportunities, he said.