Innovation Group's BPO Business Partners With Estimator Technologies to Offer the First Direct to Consumer Instant Estimates for Auto Damage

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL and SIMI VALLEY, CA--(Marketwire - May 19, 2011) - The Innovation Group plc ("Innovation Group"), a global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) and software solutions to the insurance, fleet, automotive and property industries, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Estimator Technologies' Instant Estimator to enhance Innovation Group's BPO service, Innovation Auto. The partnership and combined solution offers the industry's first direct to consumer, web-based auto damage estimator solution, allowing consumers to interact directly with repair shops, regardless of insurance coverage. The easy-to-use estimator solution improves customer service and increases referrals and repair work to Innovation's Managed Repair Network (iMRN) of over 2,500 auto body shops across North America.

Instant Estimator empowers users, including policyholders, agents, adjusters and body shops, needing a damage estimate, to generate their own detailed, accurate estimate and auto body evaluation, with an innovative, simple and user-friendly online tool, with little or no auto body repair experience. Empowered with this estimate, users can determine if damage exceeds their deductible and easily obtain quality referrals for nearby auto body shops within Innovation Group's network of qualified and reputable auto body shops. Auto body shops benefit from additional referral business and the speed, accuracy and ease of use of the tool.

This innovative combined offering means consumers do not have to contact their insurance company or invest their own time to visit multiple body shops for estimates. The former required auto owners to file a claim regardless, even if the damage did not exceed the deductible, while the latter resulted in significant inconvenience and lack of information about the integrity and quality of the shops. Furthermore, the offering supports the direct to consumer market trend due to the growing power of customers and their expectation of self-service by providing access to an online, accurate damage estimate and a network of over 2,500 qualified auto body shops.

"The strategic partnership with Estimator Technologies and their Instant Estimator solution enables both organizations to offer an innovative, customer-centric, and valuable service to our Innovation Auto network across North America," said Bill Langley, CEO BPO North America for Innovation Group. "This partnership will truly deliver a win for everyone involved from auto owner to insurer to repair shops."

"We are pleased to partner with Innovation Group for the benefit of policyholders and body shop owners," said Craig Schulz, founder and CEO of Estimator Technologies. "This partnership is consistent with our strategy to expand our reach globally, enhance our body shop referral network, and reinforce our industry leadership position. Leveraging Innovation Group's impressive network of body shops will allow us to offer consumers additional quality choices for their auto body repairs while driving qualified leads to repair shops with little or no effort on their part. Bottom line: the Estimator Technologies and Innovation Group partnership offers a value proposition that's hard to beat."

About The Innovation Group plc
The Innovation Group plc (LSE: TIG.L) is a global provider of business process outsourcing and software solutions to the insurance, fleet, automotive and property industries. Innovation Group provides contact centres, repair networks, process management, supply chain and technology operations and decision support analytics to support accident management, repair and estimation and claims management services. Innovation Group has over 800 global clients including AXA, Insurance, RSA, American Modern Insurance Group, LeasePlan, The Ford Motor Company, Aviva, Toyota and Zurich. The Group processes more than 4 million claims per year with 20 percent direct claims cost saving achieved. Innovation Group's 2,300 people are located in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain and United States. www.innovation-group.com

About Instant Estimator
Instant Estimator was developed as a Web-based tool to help policyholders evaluate and estimate their auto damage before initiating a claim. Instant Estimator estimates are calculated from a current and comprehensive nationwide database of repair facility parts and local labour rates. Empowering policyholders with this information enables them to quickly and accurately make informed decisions based on the severity and estimated cost of repairs. For more information, visit www.estimatortechnologies.com.

About Estimator Technologies
Estimator Technologies is a solutions provider for diverse business verticals including: insurance carriers, auto body repair shops, car dealerships, municipalities, parking companies, fleet owners, auto paint vendors, and windshield and auto glass repair shops. With revolutionary technology and relationships with some of the top tier companies in each business sector, Estimator Technologies is transforming the auto estimation process. For more information, visit www.estimatortechnologies.com.