INScompanies Blog

August 8, 2006

SEATTLE – Every year Washington residents end up with millions of dollars in uninsured losses that could be prevented. According to a poll commissioned by PEMCO Insurance, there is widespread misunderstanding of what’s covered under a renter’s insurance policy.

The poll, which surveyed 600 residents statewide, indicates slightly more than half of the renters in Washington opt to forgo renter’s insurance despite national statistics that show rented households are burglarized at rates 79 percent higher than residents who own property.

“Our poll revealed many renters don’t have a complete picture of the coverage they have outside of a renter’s policy,” said Jon Osterberg, PEMCO spokesperson. “One of the most troubling aspects is that many renters in Washington think they have coverage from other sources when, in fact, they don’t.”

According to the PEMCO Northwest Insurance Poll, six percent of those who do not have renter’s insurance think their landlord’s policy will cover their personal belongings. Thirty-three percent of respondents cited the reason they don’t have renter’s insurance is because it’s too expensive, while 27 percent said they don’t have enough property to warrant a renter’s policy.

A renter’s policy protects a tenant’s personal property, and it offers liability protection in case someone gets hurt while at the insured location.

“A landlord protects only his interest in the property – that typically means structural damage to the property is covered, not the tenant’s personal belongings,” said Osterberg.

Renters with a policy might be surprised to learn they have more coverage than they think. Only 28 percent of poll respondents with a renter’s policy understand that most personal property in their car is also covered under a renter’s policy.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, theft from a motor vehicle occurs at almost twice the rate for renters than for those who own their home.

While an auto policy will only cover what is attached to the vehicle, items such as a laptop are protected under a renter’s insurance policy.

Case in point
Joy Portella, a 34-year-old Seattle resident, recently moved to the area. One morning, she discovered one of her car windows was broken.

“I found an unexpected surprise; it was a basketball-sized rock sitting in my passenger seat,” said Portella. “The night before, I left a Nordstrom gift box sitting in my car that probably looked attractive.”

Portella later found out her auto policy would not cover her personal items that were stolen.

“I did not know my auto policy would not cover this, but a renter’s policy would if I had one,” said Portella. “It isn’t anything I gave much thought to, but now wished I had.”

Unfortunately, Portella is not alone. PEMCO’s poll data showed that only 45 percent of renters have a renter’s insurance policy.

Why is a rental policy important?
“Most people dramatically underestimate the value of their household belongings,” said Osterberg. “The average renter has more than $20,000 in possessions, and in the case of a fire or other significant insurable event that can destroy an apartment, that can be a big blow without insurance.”

Personal property protection under a renter’s policy covers furniture, appliances, clothing, and household goods from fire, theft or vandalism. Other items such as jewelry, furs, guns, silverware, computers, and business equipment also are covered, but have special limitations.

“Renters can expect to pay around $10-$13 a month, or $130-$160 annually for about $40,000 of property coverage,” said Osterberg. “In many cases, when consumers have an auto policy, or any other policy with the same insurance company, they’ll get a discount that partially offsets the cost of the renter’s policy.”

Consumers can see how their perceptions of renter’s insurance compare by visiting www.pemco.com, where complete results of the PEMCO Northwest Insurance Poll are posted.

About the poll
PEMCO Insurance commissioned the independent, statewide survey that asked Washington homeowners several questions about home maintenance and other issues.

Informa Research Services Inc. of Seattle conducted the poll. The sample size, 606 respondents, yields an accuracy of +/- 4 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. In other words, if this study was conducted 100 times, in 95 instances the data will not vary by more than +/- 4 percent.

About PEMCO Insurance
PEMCO Insurance, established in 1949, is a Seattle-based provider of auto, home, boat, life, and umbrella insurance to Washington state residents. PEMCO Insurance is sold by community agents throughout the state and through PEMCO offices. For more information, visit www.pemco.com.

RICHFIELD, Ohio, Nov 15, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — National Interstate Corporation (Nasdaq: NATL) announced today that its principal insurance subsidiary National Interstate Insurance Company has added a commercial vehicle product to its offering. The new product line, initially launched in Ohio, is designed to insure vehicles used by small businesses and artisan contractors and will be written exclusively through the Company’s network of appointed agency partners.

The National Interstate commercial vehicle product offers bodily injury limits of up to $1 million. Recognizing the commercial consumers’ market as one with widely varying vehicles, drivers and trade types, National Interstate is offering a broad range of coverage combinations. In addition, the product presents a competitive rate structure, customer friendly down payment options and above average agent commissions.

“Given our trucking expertise and experience of being the largest writer of insurance for the passenger transportation industry, offering commercial vehicle insurance was a natural for us,” stated Alan R. Spachman, Chairman of the Board and President of National Interstate Corporation. “It allows us to capitalize on our expertise while offering a specialized insurance product to small businesses and artisan contractors that can be customized to fit their individual needs.”

“In many instances, the lifeblood of a small business is its vehicles. Personal auto coverage is not enough to protect such a critical part of their business. Through our agent network, we are able to offer comprehensive commercial coverage specifically designed to meet each customer’s specific needs,” said John A. Hollar, Vice President of National Interstate Insurance Company. “The majority of commercial vehicle insurance is written through the Independent Insurance Agency channel. Customers value their expertise and so do we. Everything about our product, from our rate level and coverage options to our Internet based agency technology, was designed with input from Independent Agents,” added Hollar.

ABOUT NATIONAL INTERSTATE

National Interstate Corporation (Nasdaq: NATL), founded in 1989, completed an initial public offering in February 2005. We are a specialty property and casualty insurance company with a niche orientation and focus on the transportation industry. We differentiate ourselves within our markets by offering insurance products and services designed to meet the unique needs of targeted insurance buyers that we believe are underserved by the insurance industry. Our products include property and casualty insurance for transportation companies, captive insurance programs for commercial risks that we refer to as our alternative risk transfer component, specialty personal lines consisting primarily of recreational vehicle coverage, and transportation and general commercial insurance in Hawaii and Alaska. We offer our insurance products through multiple distribution channels including independent agents and brokers, affiliated agencies and agent Internet initiatives. Our insurance subsidiaries are rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. National Interstate is an independently operated subsidiary of Great American Insurance Company, a property-casualty subsidiary of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: AFG). The Company is headquartered in Richfield, Ohio, which is located in northeastern Ohio between Cleveland and Akron.

SOURCE National Interstate Corporation

Product, John Hollar of National Interstate Insurance Company,
+1-800-929-1500 x255,
or john.hollar@nationalinterstate.com,
or Investor Relations, Tanya Inama of National Interstate Corporation,
+1-877-837-0339,
or investorrelations@natl.com 

May 1, 2006 - New York - In an effort to improve the quality, availability and performance of its Web-based Policy Express policy issuance system, Hastings Mutual Insurance, a regional insurance company serving the Midwest, has deployed AppSight Application Problem Resolution System from Identify Software. Policy Express is a vital business application that is accessed by nearly 850 Hastings agents each day as they quote and write customers’ policies. Ninety percent of all new homeowners and personal automobile policies that Hastings issues are processed though Policy Express.

“We were initially looking for a performance management solution to improve our service levels by detecting application performance problems before they become a productivity issue for our agent community,” says Bob Eshelbrenner, CIO of Hastings Mutual Insurance. “With AppSight, we can not only identify our applications’ performance problems faster, we also gain the visibility to rapidly determine the root cause, leading to a much faster resolution, which is the end-game after all.”

Identify claims that the AppSight Application Problem Resolution System has been proved to eliminate up to 80% of the cycle time traditionally consumed by root cause analysis. AppSight leverages patented black box software to monitor actual application execution (in production, as well as in development and QA) and automatically detect faults and performance issues in .NET, Windows, and J2EE applications. When a problem is detected, AppSight captures a synchronized, real-time log of user actions, system events, performance metrics, configuration data, and code execution flow - much like the “black box” flight recorder on an aircraft captures a real-time record of a flight. The captured information can be analyzed by the entire problem resolution team, using role-specific views, to rapidly pinpoint the root cause of performance, configuration, application code, or user errors.

AppSight proved its value very quickly at Hastings. The company had been experiencing a chronic performance issue with Policy Express that had many agents experiencing long transaction execution times, and even caused some users to be locked out of the system. Hastings’ support team had been working on this issue for several weeks and had successfully isolated the problem to a single page. But, they were not finding it easy to determine the root cause.

http://www.insurancenetworking.com/protected/article.cfm?articleId=4028 (1 of 2)5/1/2006 9:28:52 AM

With AppSight, Hastings’ support team was able to quickly pinpoint and resolve the issue. “If we’d had AppSight from the beginning, we would have saved weeks of problem isolation time. Because of the visibility and insight that AppSight provided, we had a game plan for the fix by the end of the day,” says Ryan Peel, application programming supervisor for Hastings. “Fixing this one issue alone gave us an immediate 5% response time improvement in one of our business-critical applications.”

Hastings Mutual Insurance receives hundreds of help desk calls each month from users of its Web-based policy issuance system. Nearly 10% of these are escalated to the development team, pulling them away from other high-value activities. The company will run AppSight in a continuous low-level recording mode that can be configured to automatically capture a deep record of application execution, when triggered by a performance problem or application error. The company also plans to use AppSight’s Web support portal for resolving issues experienced by its agents in the field.

“With AppSight, we’ve gained a powerful solution for improving the performance, availability, and quality of our applications, which we believe will have a direct impact on our agent community, our clients, and on the top line of our business,” says Eshelbrenner. “Based on the immediate efficiency gains that we experienced using AppSight, we plan to extend our use to our development and QA teams to accelerate our delivery cycles, which will help us continually stay ahead of the technology curve.”

Source: Identify Software

Frankenmuth Insurance Company was named for the thirteenth time in fifteen years to the Ward’s 50 Benchmark Group of outstanding insurers in the United States by Ward Group, a management consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry.

Ward Group analyzes over 2,900 property-casualty insurers annually and identifies 50 top-performers to serve as the benchmark against which all others are measured. These 50 are selected for their outstanding financial results over a five-year period, and Frankenmuth Insurance again earned a spot.

Notably, only eleven of the 50 insurers named to Ward’s 2005 group, including Frankenmuth Insurance, have been recognized thirteen or more times since the list’s inception in 1990. Mr. Jeff Rieder, Partner of Ward Group, explains, “This is a testament to Frankenmuth Insurance Company’s consistent financial stability. They maintain, over the long-term, outstanding results to the benefit of their clients.”

Gerald L. Stanton, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Frankenmuth Insurance, defers credit for the company’s latest accomplishment. “I’ve said it before and it bears repeating. Credit for our thirteenth appearance on the Ward’s 50 Benchmark list goes to our professional and dedicated employees and independent agents. Their effort and a fiscally conservative corporate philosophy enable us to provide the stable financial platform our policyholders depend on.”

Frankenmuth Insurance Company began as the German Frankenmuth Aid Association in 1868 to protect the property of its 200 members against the peril of fire. Many years-and hundreds of thousands of policies-later, Frankenmuth Insurance Company now actively writes business in seven states with plans to add two more by year-end. Please learn more about Frankenmuth Insurance Company by visiting your local independent insurance agent. Also, learn more about Ward Group and Ward’s 50 Benchmark Group of Insurers by visiting http://www.wardinc.com/.

Michigan-based property and casualty insurer, Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company, part of the Frankenmuth Financial Group, announced it has entered into a merger agreement with Patriot Mutual Insurance Company, a Maine-based property and casualty insurer.

The agreement reached between the parties describes a two-step transaction. Initially, Patriot Mutual will enter into a mutual holding company reorganization, become a wholly owned stock company of the mutual holding company, and change its name to Patriot Insurance Company. Secondly, the mutual holding company will merge into Frankenmuth, with Frankenmuth as the surviving company. At the conclusion of these transactions, Patriot Insurance Company will be a Maine domiciled wholly owned subsidiary of Frankenmuth. Completion of these transactions is subject to the customary regulatory and member approvals.

Gerald L. Stanton, Frankenmuth’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “The merger with Patriot provides Frankenmuth a great opportunity to expand in the Northeast through an existing company having both local market expertise and strong relationships with its professional independent agency force. Frankenmuth plans to couple Patriot’s strengths with its financial strength, A+ (Superior) rating from A.M. Best, and industry recognized state-of-the-art technological capabilities to enable Patriot to grow its existing personal lines business and to efficiently and effectively execute a commercial lines strategy offering products that meet the needs of policyholders. As a result, Patriot will be a more valuable insurance carrier for the region’s consumers and professional independent agents. The merger is also intended to improve Patriot’s A.M. Best rating, with Frankenmuth’s A.M. Best rating of A+ (Superior) being unaffected.”

About Frankenmuth
Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company, founded in 1868, is a Michigan-domiciled property and casualty insurance company licensed in 47 states. Frankenmuth writes both personal and commercial lines in ten states through 450 professional independent agencies. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2005, Frankenmuth’s policyholders’ surplus and written premiums approximated $286 million and $363 million, respectively.

About Patriot
Patriot Mutual Insurance Company was incorporated as Blue Alliance Mutual Insurance Company in 1966. Today, Patriot is licensed and writes primarily personal lines business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont through 100 professional independent agencies. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2005, Patriot’s policyholders’ surplus and written premiums approximated $19 million, and $37 million, respectively.

January, 2005

Armed with an A. M. Best A+ rating and the financial strength, history and technology of Frankenmuth Financial Group, Ansur America Insurance Company brings new breath and opportunity to insurance markets in Georgia and Tennessee.

Ansur America, a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of Frankenmuth Insurance Company, was founded under the philosophy of providing unequaled service through leading-edge technology, conservative management and 136 years of experience. The result is a revolutionary concept blending the time-tested independent agency system with the power of e-commerce.

Ansur will serve like no other company can.

Real-time quote and issuance capability
24-hour access to policy, claims & billing information
Data bridging from our website to agency management systems
Comprehensive package and monoline insurance products
More

Ansur America has gained a foothold in Georgia thanks to appointment of some of the state’s finest independent agencies. Tennessee will soon follow with the recent addition of field management personnel to the Ansur staff.

Ansur America looks forward to meeting the insurance needs of Georgia and Tennessee’s business community in 2005 and beyond.

January, 2006

Frankenmuth Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Ansur America, continue to grow in premium, policyholders’ surplus and new states. We are pleased to announce that we will be entering two new markets: North Carolina and South Carolina.

We have built a reputation of reliability and strength, thanks to an A.M. Best A+ rating and the superior technological support and guidance of Frankenmuth Financial Group. Frankenmuth Insurance and Ansur America are vital and growing companies that pride themselves on exceptional service, the latest in e-commerce innovation and a solid history based on 137 years of exceeding the needs and expectations of our policyholders.

By adhering to these tenets, Frankenmuth Insurance Company and Ansur America are bringing new ideas and opportunities to the insurance market in Georgia and Tennessee, and we want to do the same for the Carolinas. With the help of our knowledgeable field management personnel, we will be appointing new independent agency partners to help establish profitable and successful relationships in North Carolina and South Carolina.

We are excited to enter these diverse and challenging markets and look forward to introducing our financial strength, franchise value and partnership to the insurance marketplace.

BEVERLY, MA – Electric Insurance recently received an impressive 2nd place ranking in the New York State Insurance Department’s 2005 Annual Ranking of Automobile Insurance Complaints. Electric Insurance was one of only 2 companies, from a field of 48, to not receive any consumer complaints that were upheld by the New York State Insurance Department in 2004. Auto insurers with written premium totaling at least $10 million were eligible for the 2005 ranking.

According to the New York State Insurance Department, the ranking is based on the number of complaints consumers filed against their auto insurer in the previous calendar year, how many of those complaints were determined to have merit, and what the trends are in context of the insurer’s total premiums written statewide.

“World-class service, along with delivering competitive rates, have always been Electric Insurance’s main priorities,” said Mike Mucher, Vice President of Sales at Electric Insurance. “We pride ourselves in listening to our customers and responding to their claim and customer service needs.   To be recognized by New York’s State Insurance Department via their Annual Ranking is gratifying and a key foundation element to our planned growth in the State. “

About Electric Insurance

Electric Insurance is a premier provider of high quality personal lines insurance products—auto, homeowners, and umbrella—offered at competitive rates. Incorporated in 1966 to serve the needs of GE employees, Electric Insurance has since expanded to the general public, through their Independent Agents channel and direct-to-consumer website. Electric Insurance has over $160 million in personal lines written premium for more than 125,000 policyholders. The company holds solid credit ratings from top industry raters, including an “A-/Excellent” from A.M. Best and an “A/Strong” from Standard & Poor’s.

Business Editors

MCLEAN, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 30, 2006–Ninety-three percent of Americans are well aware of the growing crime of identity theft. Yet despite free access to credit reports and numerous educational efforts, a new survey from leading financial services company Capital One (NYSE:COF) and national advocacy group Consumer Action finds that many consumers are still unaware of the financial damage that can result from the crime and the steps to take if they fall victim. The survey also suggests that older and younger generations are particularly vulnerable.

Among the survey’s key findings:

Forty-four percent of consumers do not realize that their personal information can be used to obtain a mortgage and 32 percent do not know that thieves can obtain a drivers license or photo ID card with such information.

Forty-one percent of older Americans (70+) do not realize that identity thieves can obtain a drivers license or ID card with their information, while 54 percent of younger Americans are unaware of this risk.

Thirty-two percent of Americans are putting themselves at risk for identity theft simply by carrying their Social Security Cards in their wallets or purses and 45 percent of those polled incorrectly think that a new Social Security Number (SSN) should be obtained if you are a victim.

“Identity theft and fraud are crimes that we can’t simply ignore. For victims, it can take a considerable amount of time and effort to clear up credit records and repair the financial damage caused by the crime,” said Diana Don, director of financial education at Capital One. “There are danger signs that we look out for as a financial institution, but it’s equally important that we help consumers minimize their risk by arming them with the right information.”

Because of the financial harm that can result from identity theft, Capital One uses numerous security and assistance measures, such as regular account monitoring, to ensure customers’ information is protected. In addition to those efforts, Capital One and Consumer Action, through their national MoneyWi$e financial literacy partnership, have developed a free, multilingual consumer guide called ID Theft/Account Fraud Prevention and Clean Up, available at www.money-wise.org.

“The MoneyWi$e guide on ID Theft/Account Fraud Prevention and Clean Up offers practical guidance on the simple steps you can take to help prevent identity theft, or, if you are a victim, to clear up the problems created by the crime and lessen its impact on your life,” said Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action.

Despite educational efforts, many consumers are still uninformed about the crime.

Despite numerous educational efforts from the government, consumer groups and the financial industry, the Capital One-Consumer Action survey finds that consumers still do not realize the financial harm that can result from identity theft. For example, 15 percent do not realize that their personal information can be used to open lines of credit for products such as credit cards, while 24 percent do not know that identity thieves can use their information to apply for a job. Consumers were equally unaware of the steps they should take if they are victims of identity theft. Forty-five percent of Americans report that a new SSN should be obtained while 35 percent report that a new SSN is not necessary. The remaining 20 percent were unsure.

According to the MoneyWi$e guide on ID Theft Prevention and Clean Up, a variety of personal information can be used to commit ID theft and account fraud, including a person’s name, SSN, birth date, mother’s maiden name, credit report, driver’s license, and credit card and bank account numbers. Although many victims of identity theft believe a new SSN will solve their problems, this is usually not possible since credit reporting bureaus may combine the records of your old and new SSN. The Capital One-Consumer Action guide suggests several core steps to help consumers’ spot potential signs of ID theft and account fraud:

Check your credit report. You can get one free copy of your credit report annually from the three national credit reporting bureaus. Go to the official Annual Credit Report site (www.annualcreditreport.com) to get your free reports. Review your reports for accounts you don’t recognize or information from companies you don’t do business with.

Monitor your mail for missed bills, credit card statements and other mail. A missing bill might mean that a crook has taken over your account and changed your billing address.

Investigate mysterious purchases, charges, bills or collection calls immediately. If you receive a credit card that you didn’t apply for or find a charge on your credit card bill that you don’t recognize, call the companies immediately to address the problem.

Question credit offers. If you know you have good credit but your application for a new credit card is denied, it could be a sign of ID theft. When you are denied credit, you can get a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau used by the lender. Some generations appear more vulnerable to crime.

Surprisingly, the Capital One-Consumer Action survey on identity theft finds the youngest and oldest generations most vulnerable to the crime. Both generations tend to carry their Social Security Cards (43 percent of 70+ Americans do this while 44 percent of younger Americans ages 18-19 do), putting them at increased risk for the crime. The survey also suggests that older Americans may not realize the negative financial impact that can result from the crime - fifty-five percent do not realize that identity thieves can use stolen information to buy a home/obtain a mortgage.

Equally troubling is fact that younger Americans, ages 18-19, are misinformed about ID theft, considering that the crime may disrupt future attempts to obtain car loans, mortgages or apply for jobs. Fifty-two percent of this age group do not realize that their personal information can be used to rent an apartment and 75 percent do not realize it can be used to buy a home/obtain a mortgage.

MoneyWi$e program arms consumers with financial tools and information.

Education is the key to a healthy financial future. To help consumers protect against identity theft and improve their knowledge on other financial topics, Capital One and Consumer Action created the MoneyWi$e financial education program. MoneyWi$e combines free, multilingual financial education materials on a variety of financial topics with community training and seminars to give consumers at all income levels the information and the practical assistance they need to make smart financial choices. Consumers can obtain free brochures by visiting www.money-wise.org.

Survey Methodology

For the joint Capital One-Consumer Action study, Braun Research was engaged to conduct 1003 interviews with adults age 18 years of age or older across the United States. Surveys were conducted by telephone from August 29th through August 31st, 2006. The margin of error for the research project is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Interviews were monitored and verified at random. Sampling for this study was conducted using a national probability sample of all exchanges and area codes known in the continental United States. All interviews were conducted using a computer assisted telephone interviewing system. Statistical weights were designed from United States Census Bureau statistics.

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (http://www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company, with more than 342 locations in Texas and Louisiana. Its principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One, F.S.B., Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One’s subsidiaries collectively had $48.2 billion in deposits and $112.2 billion in managed loans outstanding as of September 30, 2006. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 500 index.

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action is a national non-profit education and advocacy organization founded in San Francisco in 1971. Consumer Action serves consumers nationwide by advancing consumer rights, referring consumers to complaint-handling agencies and publishing multilingual educational materials. Consumer Action also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers and annually conducts comparison surveys for consumers on credit cards, banking issues and telecommunications issues.

CONTACT: Capital One Financial Corporation
Diana Don, 703-720-2371
Diana.don@capitalone.com

SOURCE: Capital One Financial Corporation 

MCLEAN, Va., Jun 01, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) — As hurricane season approaches, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) today released disaster-planning guidelines and a checklist to help small businesses prepare for emergency situations.

The checklist provides details to help small businesses:

– Develop a continuity plan that addresses post-disaster recovery procedures;

– Consider alternative operational locations;

– Equip backup operations sites with critical equipment, data files and supplies;

– Safeguard property;

– Gather current contact information for employees, vendors and customers;

– Develop multiple and reliable communication methods to reach employees;

– Communicate details of the plan to employees;

– Let customers and vendors know the business’ plan and what to expect from the business;

– Develop a detailed action plan in the event of a mandatory evacuation; and

– Prepare for emergency cash management to handle cash flow.

“It is important that small business owners take the necessary precautions to allow business continuity in the event of an emergency situation,” said Dave Wasik, senior vice president of Small Business at Capital One. “Business owners should address chief concerns including meeting payroll obligations, paying bills, restoring critical technology and communicating with employees, customers and suppliers.”

The Capital One Small Business web site (www.capitalone.com/smallbusiness) also contains additional information and business tips to help them operate more effectively and efficiently. Direct deposit, online bill pay and corporate credit cards are just a few of the tools that businesses can explore.

Capital One also offers the following planning recommendations to help businesses plan and prepare for potential emergencies:

– Transport physical records when a business evacuates. Records should always be kept where they can be removed quickly and easily to a safe location.

– Conduct a disaster-plan-building exercise with key employees.

– Identify which aspects of operations can be suspended temporarily and which must be maintained. List the business tools they will need to perform operations essential to sustaining business during a disaster and the recovery period that follows.

– Review communications capabilities for maintaining contact with employees. E-mail and text messaging should play a large role in employee communications planning.

Editor’s Note: Checklist located at bottom of press release.

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company, with more than 316 locations in Texas and Louisiana. Its principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One, F.S.B., Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One’s subsidiaries collectively had $47.8 billion in deposits and $103.9 billion in managed loans outstanding as of March 31, 2006. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 500 index.

Capital One offers a range of products to meet small business needs, including small business credit cards, small business loans and lines of credit, and small business savings accounts. As the largest issuer of small business Visa credit cards, and the third largest lender of SBA loans, Capital One provides specialized support designed to make it easier for small business customers to manage their finances so that they can focus on what’s important to them. Capital One small business products are available via direct mail, capitalone.com, phone (877.561.9847) and fax.

                 BUSINESS DISASTER PLANNING CHECKLIST
                 ————————————

    Planning Before a Hurricane or Other Disaster Arrives is Key to
                          Business Survival.

    These guidelines help businesses develop a strategy to minimize
                         damage and lost time.

Develop a business continuity / disaster recovery plan.

–  Establish a disaster-recovery team of employees who know your
    business best, and assign responsibilities for specific tasks.

–  Identify your risks (kinds of disasters you’re most likely to
    experience).

–  Prioritize critical business functions and how quickly these must
    be recovered.

–  Establish a disaster-recovery location where employees may work
    off-site and access critical back-up systems, records and
    supplies.

–  Obtain temporary housing for key employees, their families and
    pets.

–  Update and test your plan at least annually.
Alternative operational locations. Determine which alternatives are
available:

–  A satellite or branch office of your business.

–  The office of a business partner or even an employee.

–  Home or hotel.
Backup site. Equip your backup operations site with critical
equipment, data files and supplies:

–  Power generators.

–  Computers and software.

–  Critical computer data files (payroll, accounts payable and
    receivable, customer orders, inventory).

–  Phones/radios/TVs.

–  Equipment and spare parts.

–  Vehicles, boats and spare parts.

–  Digital cameras.

–  Common supplies.

–  Supplies unique to your business (order forms, contracts, etc.).

–  Basic first aid/sanitary supplies, potable water and food.
Safeguard your property. Is your property prepared to survive a
hurricane or other disaster:

–  Your building?

–  Your equipment?

–  Your computer systems?

–  Your company vehicles?

–  Your company records?

–  Other company assets?
Contact information. Do you have current and multiple contact
information (e.g., home and cell phone numbers, personal email
addresses) for:

–  Employees?

–  Key customers?

–  Important vendors, suppliers, business partners?

–  Insurance companies?

–  Is contact information accessible electronically for fast access
    by all employees?
Communications. Do you have access to multiple and reliable methods of
communicating with your employees:

–  Emergency toll-free hotline?

–  Web site?

–  Cell phones?

–  Satellite phones?

–  Pagers?

–  BlackBerry(TM)?

–  Two-way radios?

–  Internet?

–  Email?
Employee preparation. Make sure your employees know:

–  Company emergency plan.

–  Where they should relocate to work.

–  How to use and have access to reliable methods of communication,
    such as satellite/cell phones, email, voice mail, Internet, text
    messages, BlackBerry(TM), PDAs.

–  How they will be notified to return to work.

–  Benefits of direct deposit of payroll and subscribe to direct
    deposit.

–  Emergency company housing options available for them and their
    family.
Customer preparation. Make sure your key customers know:

–  Your emergency contact information for sales and service support
    (publish on your Web site).

–  Your backup business or store locations (publish on your Web
    site).

–  What to expect from your company in the event of a prolonged
    disaster displacement.

–  Alternate methods for placing orders.

–  Alternate methods for sending invoice payments in the event of
    mail disruption.
Evacuation order. When a mandatory evacuation is issued, be prepared
to grab and leave with critical office records and equipment:

–  Company disaster-recovery plan and checklist.

–  Insurance policies and company contracts.

–  Company checks, plus a list of all bank accounts, credit cards,
    ATM cards.

–  Employee payroll and contact information.

–  Desktop/laptop computers.

–  Customer records, including orders in progress.

–  Photographs/digital images of your business property.

–  Post disaster contact info inside your business to alert emergency
    workers how to reach you.

–  Secure your building and property.
Cash management. Be prepared to meet emergency cash-flow needs:

–  Take your checkbook and credit cards in the event of an
    evacuation.

–  Keep enough cash on hand to handle immediate needs.

–  Use Internet banking services to monitor account activity, manage
    cash flow, initiate wires, pay bills.

–  Issue corporate cards to essential personnel to cover emergency
    business expenses.

–  Reduce dependency on paper checks and postal service to send and
    receive payments (consider using electronic payment and remote
    deposit banking services).
Post-disaster recovery procedures.

–  Consider how your post-disaster business may differ from today.

–  Plan whom you will want to contact and when.

–  Assign specific tasks to responsible employees.

–  Track progress and effectiveness.

–  Document lessons learned and best practices.

For more business continuity planning tips, visit the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security Web site at www.ready.gov/business.
SOURCE: Capital One Financial Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation, McLean
Pam Girardo, 703-720-2351
pam.girardo@capitalone.com