DARIEN, Ill., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its 17-year tradition of bringing new tools and new information services to insurance shoppers, Quotesmith.com (Nasdaq: QUOTD - news), the only place on earth where you can get instant auto, life, health, dental, disability and long-term care insurance quotes from more than 300 companies, has today released the results of an extensive term life insurance rate comparison analysis which examined the premiums being offered by more than 100 different insurance companies.

Commenting on current term life market prices, Quotesmith.com CEO Robert Bland said, ''Many term life rates continue to hover at all-time lows, which is great news for insurance shoppers. The term life rate war is still raging. For consumers who have been considering buying a term policy which offers guaranteed premiums for 30, 25, 20, 15 or 10 years, it looks like now may be an attractive time to apply.''

Quotesmith.com maintains a continually-updated insurance information database which tracks the premium rates, policy coverages and latest financial stability ratings of more than 300 leading insurance companies. Quotesmith.com guarantees that visitors to its Web site will find the lowest term life premiums available or receive a $500 cash reward. Quotesmith.com also backs the accuracy of all of its quotes with a unique $500 cash reward program. Details of these guarantees may be found at http://www.quotesmith.com .

Commenting on the usefulness of the comparative analysis, Will Hemsworth, senior vice president of marketing commented, ''Price variances of up to 500 percent exist in the marketplace among different companies for identical term coverage, which underscores the importance of comparative shopping before you buy or renew any life insurance policy. The Quotesmith.com price comparison service makes it easy for people to instantly understand what the marketplace has to offer on any given day in terms of price, coverage and safety. Use of our Internet insurance price comparison service has been known to cause instant self-education and the complete elimination of insurance confusion.''

Instant, real-time quotes for life insurance amounts of $2,500 to $25 million are available at http://www.quotesmith.com 24 hrs. per day, 7 days per week. Each Quotesmith.com price comparison report shows the names of the companies, the latest A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Weiss ratings on each company, the plan acceptance guidelines and the lowest premiums, which are conveniently sorted by lowest cost.

The following table represents actual term life premiums that are available in the marketplace as of March 23, 2001.

$250,000 Term Life Sampler Guaranteed Annual Premiums/Guaranteed Level Term Period   Male Premiums AGE 10 YEAR 15 YEAR 20 YEAR 25 YEAR 30 YEAR 35 $ 115 $ 140 $ 180 $ 263 $ 343 40 $ 135 $ 188 $ 250 $ 350 $ 445 45 $ 213 $ 298 $ 400 $ 585 $ 715 50 $ 328 $ 440 $ 613 $ 925 $ 1,140 55 $ 503 $ 685 $ 900 $ 1,425 $ 2,785 60 $ 780 $ 1,080 $ 1,460 $ 3,630 $ 5,310 65 $ 1,305 $ 1,813 $ 2,948 $ 5,250 $ 6,720 70 $ 2,265 $ 3,440 $ 4,860 $ 8,790 $ 8,790 75 $ 3,878 $ 7,633 $ 8,100 $ 13,260 $ 13,260   Female Premiums AGE 10 YEAR 15 YEAR 20 YEAR 25 YEAR 30 YEAR 35 $ 105 $ 130 $ 160 $ 213 $ 268 40 $ 133 $ 170 $ 210 $ 283 $ 333 45 $ 185 $ 200 $ 290 $ 455 $ 488 50 $ 233 $ 298 $ 443 $ 630 $ 643 55 $ 345 $ 393 $ 640 $ 1,053 $ 1,803 60 $ 498 $ 678 $ 968 $ 2,400 $ 4,500 65 $ 798 $ 1,080 $ 1,690 $ 3,900 $ 5,700 70 $ 1,275 $ 1,930 $ 2,970 $ 7,380 $ 7,380 75 $ 2,123 $ 4,138 $ 5,820 $ 10,440 $ 10,440 (see Notes to Table, below) ''About 50 percent of insurance shoppers at Quotesmith.com choose the 20 year level term policy because it affords guaranteed premium rates for two decades. The average $250,000 20 year level term life policy is actually now available for less cost than it was prior to the implementation of insurance Regulation XXX last year, a state-by-state insurance regulation which was expected to dramatically raise term life insurance premiums,'' remarked Robert Bland. Executing Expanded Content Strategy for Information-Hungry Insurance Shoppers Quotesmith.com continues to attract additional insurers and now offers, by a very wide margin, the broadest comparative insurance content experience available on the Internet. For customers, this huge selection translates easily into maximum savings on every insurance purchase, not to mention an entirely new way to buy insurance. The company now offers: instant term life insurance quotes from 103 insurers; instant individual and family health insurance quotes from 113 insurers (including a broad range of traditional, PPO, HMO and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans for individuals and families); instant long-term care quotes from 16 insurers; instant dental quotes from 38 insurers; instant small group medical quotes from 32 insurers; instant short term medical quotes from 11 insurers; and instant Medicare supplement quotes from 76 insurers. Year 2000 Policy Sales Momentum Defines Market Leadership Momentum Quotesmith.com is a popular destination site with insurance shoppers. As previously reported, increased insurance shopper activity at Quotesmith.com resulted in a record 37,520 policies sold in 2000, up 111 percent from 17,786 policies sold in 1999. Recent Accolades for Quotesmith.com The launch of LTCompare in February follows a number of recent public plaudits for Quotesmith.com. On December 26, 2000, FinanCenter.com awarded Quotesmith.com a #1 ranking (99.3 score out of 100) based upon a multi-site comparison of term life premiums. On September 29, 2000, Money magazine named Quotesmith.com ''One of the Top 50 Financial Websites.'' On September 18, 2000, Quotesmith.com was named ''Best of the Net'' by About.com's Guide to Personal Life Insurance. On August 9, 2000 Quotesmith.com was named ''Best of the Web for Term Life Insurance'' by FinanCenter.com. On August 3, 2000 Quotesmith.com was chosen as ''One of the 100 Best Web Sites for Small Business'' by Entrepreneur magazine. About Quotesmith.com Quotesmith.com owns and operates the insurance industry's largest and most comprehensive price comparison service. The Quotesmith.com Insurance Commerce Platform allows insurance shoppers to instantly view the best prices being offered by more than 300 leading companies, achieve maximum savings and have the freedom to buy from the company of their choice. Quotesmith.com also provides personalized customer service assistance and policy placement services for its customers. Quotesmith.com generates revenues from the receipt of commissions and fees paid by insurance companies. Shares of Quotesmith.com trade on the Nasdaq Exchange under the symbol ''QUOTD.'' Notes to Table Final premiums and coverage availability can vary depending upon age, state availability, height, weight, hazardous activities, personal and family health history. The non-tobacco use premiums shown above may include: Ameritas Life, Lincoln, NE, form 2666; Banner Life, Rockville, MD, form RT-97; Canada Life, Atlanta, GA, form 10761-10773; Empire General Life, Shawnee Mission, KS, form EGT-06; Federal Kemper Life, Long Grove, IL, form R-3210; Fidelity Life Association, Long Grove, IL, form S-1200; First Colony Life, Lynchburg, VA, form ULFCL99; First Penn-Pacific Life, Schaumburg, IL, forms BT-1000 & UL-1101AA; General Life, Edwardsville, IL, form 70013; Great American Life, Cincinnati, OH, form PGRAT97NW1; Great-West Life & Annuity, Greenwood Village, CO, form J348; Jackson National Life, Lansing, MI, form L1665; John Hancock Variable Life, Boston, MA, form 98TLIFE; MONY Life, New York, NY, form B7-98; North American Life & Health, Chicago, IL, form LS108A; Ohio National Life, Cincinnati, OH, form 92-TR-1; Old Line Life, Milwaukee, WI, form LTG-2000D; Old Republic Life, Chicago, IL, form IL-D0000; Protective Life, Birmingham, AL, form TL-07; Security-Connecticut Life, Avon, CT, form 11420; Transamerica Occidental Life, Los Angeles, CA, form 1-306 11-199; Travelers Life & Annuity, Hartford, CT, form TL-12078; Valley Forge Life, Nashville, TN, form V100-1182-A; West Coast Life, San Francisco, CA, form 001139200; Western-Southern Life, Cincinnati, OH, form 9911-300 WSA. Premium rates shown are not applicable to residents of FL, NJ & NY. Policy forms vary by state. $500 lowest-price guarantee not available in SD and has specific terms and conditions detailed at http://www.quotesmith.com . California and Utah dba Quotesmith.com Insurance Services: CA #0827712, #OA13858; UT #90093. Some premiums shown are graded premium life policies and/or term-like universal life policies. Term life premium rates always escalate after initial rate guarantee period. Cautions about Forward-Looking Statements This announcement may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This announcement also contains forward-looking statements about events and circumstances that have not yet occurred and may not occur. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions including, without limitation, ''may,'' ''will,'' ''believes,'' ''should,'' ''could,'' ''hope,'' ''expects,'' ''expected,'' ''does not currently expect,'' ''anticipates,'' ''predicts,'' ''potential'' and ''forecast,'' reflecting something other than historical fact, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Investors should be aware that actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Reported Web site activity and/or quotes are not necessarily indicative of any present or future revenue. The Company will not necessarily update the information in this press release if any forward- looking statement later turns out to be inaccurate. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, Quotesmith.com's limited e-commerce operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risks of system interruption, the evolving nature of its business model, the increasingly competitive online commerce environment, dependence on continuing growth of online commerce and risks associated with capacity constraints and the management of growth. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's financial results is included in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, which is on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This communication appears as a matter of information only and is not an insurance solicitation. Accordingly, no employee of Quotesmith.com, Inc. is recommending or endorsing any specific insurance company, coverage or policy type within this communication. Some insurance companies appear at Quotesmith.com for purely informational purposes only and pay no compensation to Quotesmith.com and some insurers pay commissions or fees to Quotesmith.com based upon premium volume or traffic activity produced by Quotesmith.com. Quote availability by state of residence or any other factor is subject to change without notice. Quotesmith.com and LTCompare are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Quotesmith.com, Inc. All other names are trademarks of their respective owners.