WESTFIELD CENTER, OH - May 24, 2007 - ACORD recently presented Westfield Insurance with two awards recognizing the company’s remote automated personal lines book transfer process on May, 20, 2007 at the ACORD LOMA national conference.

The ACORD Innovative Implementation award recognizes companies in each of the standard ACORD programs that implement XML standards in unique, exceptional and innovative ways. The External Integration Business Value award is given to companies whose XML implementations of ACORD standards have had significant impact on their business.

By leveraging technology in creative ways, Westfield created a remote automated personal lines book transfer process that fosters a significant decrease in internal resource requirements and travel costs. A complete book of business can be transferred to Westfield without traveling to the agency and re-keying policy information online. This automated remote process requires no agent interaction.

"The vision at Westfield embraces innovation and opportunities in a changing world. We are proud to receive this recognition for our creative efforts in implementing the ACORD standard," said Steve Copley, agency automation executive at Westfield.

ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is a nonprofit association that facilitates the development and used of standards for the insurance, reinsurance and related financial services industries.

"I congratulate Westfield on their two 2007 ACORD Awards and applaud them for their continued leadership and innovation in standards implementation. They have illustrated how vital ACORD data standards are for our industry," said Denise Garth, vice president, Membership and Standards, ACORD.

In business for nearly 160 years, Westfield Insurance, a member of Westfield Group, provides commercial and personal insurance and surety services to customers in 28 states. Westfield markets its products through more than 1,200 leading independent insurance agencies. Westfield Group provides banking through Westfield Bank^SM and agency support through Westfield Services, Inc.

# # #