The Hartford Launches XactPAY Web(SM) for Business Owners: Insurance carrier to offer patent pending workers' compensation premium billing solution that integrates with QuickBooks(R) Payroll

HARTFORD, Conn., Jan 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Managing workers' compensation premium payments presents a challenge for the country's millions of small and medium-sized businesses. Now, there is a service that automates workers' compensation premium calculation and payment when businesses run payroll, helping to save time and reduce costly mistakes. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, announced that it has launched XactPAY Web, a QuickBooks Silver Certified product that alleviates the burden of manually monitoring cash flow issues associated with workers' compensation payments for policyholders of The Hartford. "We know business owners have their hands full providing the best service and products to their customers. Now, QuickBooks Payroll users can purchase The Hartford's workers' compensation policy through their independent agent and save significant time and expenses," said Ray Sprague, senior vice president, small business insurance at The Hartford. "That's a great added value for our customers and there's no additional charge for this service." Companies use QuickBooks to track expenses and inventory, prepare and send invoices, and for many other accounting tasks in addition to running payroll. "Since QuickBooks has the largest market share of accounting products for small business in the country, it's familiar to our insurance customers. Our agents have asked us to offer the XactPAY premium billing service so their commercial clients can leverage the cash management advantages of paying workers' compensation premiums more easily," added Sprague. Once The Hartford's workers' compensation policy is issued, the insured receives a login and password, which allows them to download and install the XactPAY Web utility on their PC. The XactPAY Web utility will automatically take the payroll information generated by their QuickBooks Payroll program and securely transmit the data to XactPAY Web. Based on that data, their workers' compensation premium is calculated and automatically withdrawn, given prior approval, from the business' bank account via electronic funds transfer. There is no charge for any part of this service. Among the benefits of using XactPAY Web: -- Eliminates hefty premium down payments. -- Improves cash flow by enabling as many payment installments as there are pay periods. -- Avoids finance, service and late fees through automated payment plan. -- Minimizes the potential for audit adjustments at the end of the policy term. -- Helps reduce costly mistakes that may result in fines for inaccurate workers' compensation computations. To learn more about XactPAY Web(SM) visit www.xactpayweb.com. Business owners interested in purchasing The Hartford's products and services can do so through a vast network of independent agents which distributes the company's business insurance products across the country. Businesses can find a list of local agents at http://sb.thehartford.com/find_insurance_agent.