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Letter to the Editor

ADP Claims Services Group to Acquire AutoVista Business from ComputerLogic; Unveils New Open Information Exchange Technology at NACE

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- ADP Claims Services Group has signed a definitive agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets of ComputerLogic's AutoVista(TM) claims line of business.

The AutoVista assets will be combined with ADP's Claims Gateway(TM) to provide a broad technology solution to the automotive claims industry. The parties expect to consummate the transaction by year end.

Claims Gateway is a group of services that provides a communication link among all parties in the automotive claims process, including insurance companies, independent appraisers, collision repairers, automotive recyclers, and their vendors. It helps manage customer claims and bring them swiftly to resolution, reducing cycle time and its associated costs.

"Our vision is to act as a catalyst for a technology innovation in the automotive claims process," said Gary Nixon, senior vice president of ADP's automotive claims services. "The acquisition of AutoVista takes us one step closer to our vision by accelerating our Claims Gateway initiative."

AutoVista provides an Internet-based claims processing solution to insurance companies, collision repair facilities, and independent appraisers. It translates estimates and images into an insurance company's preferred format, and uses secure Internet connections to transfer them to appropriate parties. Several key AutoVista associates will join ADP Claims Services Group as a result of the acquisition.

"Our decision to acquire AutoVista resulted from an extensive evaluation of several emerging businesses and their technology solutions," added Nixon. "AutoVista was the clear choice to help us deliver more features and services at a faster rate because of their superior technology and agile development capabilities."

"We're very excited about this acquisition," said Rick Palmer, CEO of ComputerLogic. "Like ADP, ComputerLogic has a long history of serving this industry. We've been in business over 20 years and it was important for us to identify a company that shares our values and our vision. ADP is clearly that company."

Over the past year, ADP has devoted significant strategic and financial resources to developing Claims Gateway. When fully implemented, it will act as the backbone for the claims cycle, enabling all participants who touch the automotive claims process to connect at a single point. It is currently in pilot with several ADP clients.

"To stay competitive in today's unpredictable economy, businesses are seeking strategic technology partners to provide both innovation and real-world practicality," said Hinda Chalew, ADP's vice president of product management. "ADP's financial stability and World Class Service, combined with AutoVista's quality, high-tech solutions, will help us distill complex and divergent business problems into simple, easy-to-use automated solutions."

ADP will unveil its new open information exchange technology at the NACE 2001 convention in Las Vegas. This technology, featured in ADP's Claims Gateway suite of services, will revolutionize the automotive claims process, according to an ADP press release, by allowing a truly connected, open-standards environment for the first time.

"We're doing more than just embracing open standards," said Gary Nixon, senior vice president of ADP's automotive claims services. "We are the only information provider in this industry that touches all points in the claims process -- insurers, collision repairers, auto recyclers, rental car companies, new car dealers, and others. Open standards aren't the point -- the point is to use open standards to actively facilitate the connection of all these parties."

Said Hinda Chalew, vice president of product management, "We conceived Claims Gateway to directly connect all the diverse businesses we touch at ADP. We envision an accessible, end-to-end system that streamlines the claims process for everyone including, ultimately, the consumer who files an automotive claim."

Claims Gateway is a group of services that provides a communication link among all participants in the automotive claims process. It helps manage customer claims and bring them swiftly to resolution, reducing cycle time and its associated costs.

Open information exchange will be the first introduction resulting from ADP's acquisition of AutoVista(TM). This feature provides the infrastructure for the communication link, enabling users to send assignments, estimates, and notifications to all concerned parties regardless of the estimating system used.

ADP says that it provides immediate cost savings and productivity enhancements, and will deliver additional future value with consolidated reporting and comprehensive auditing capabilities. Industry partners will be expected to agree to security and other licensing requirements. ADP anticipates release to the market late in the second quarter of 2002 and will continue to provide more detailed information to the industry as the project evolves.

The open information exchange feature of Claims Gateway will benefit all parties in the claims process, in several ways, as listed by ADP:

• Collision repairers not only can select a single estimating system of their choice, they also can create claim files with images and estimates to help them run their businesses more effectively.
• Insurers can consolidate information from all Direct Repair Program (DRP) participants for comprehensive reporting and auditing, and support DRP partners' desire for a single estimating platform.
• Business partners -- auto recyclers, towing and rental companies, glass companies and others -- can be an active part of the process for the first time and can actively connect to each other during the resolution of a claim. Each plays a critical role in the repair cycle and each can impact cycle time.
• Consumers benefit from streamlined processing and better communication that shortens repair time.

"Our clients conveyed their vision to us and we responded," added Nixon. "This is clearly what the industry wants and we are committed to providing it. Our financial strength makes us well positioned to execute our strategy. And with our product offerings, including our new releases of Shoplink with integrated imaging, and PenPro, we are confident we can win in the marketplace by providing true end-to-end solutions for our clients."

ADP Claims Services Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP - news), is a provider of integrated business solutions for clients in the property and casualty, general health, collision repair and automotive recycling industries. ADP, with approximately $7 billion in revenues and over 500,000 clients, is one of the largest independent computing services firms in the world.

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