NEW ONLINE HOME SAFETY MANUAL GIVES HOMEOWNERS TIPS ON PROPERTY PROTECTION AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION

NEW YORK, NY, April, 2003 -- “Your Safety: Part of Our Mission” is a new online guide that provides homeowners with nearly 50 different things they can do around the house and in the car to help prevent accidents and injuries.

Available online from the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, the 12-page primer can be viewed or printed and features suggestions that homeowners can do themselves or that will help guide professionals and contractors they choose to repair or maintain their property.

Developed by experts with decades of experience in analyzing and controlling losses, this full-color manual provides timely maintenance tips for outside the house including the roof, pool, decks and patio areas. And it provides room-by-room suggestions for inside the house, including bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen, family rooms and the home office.

A separate section in Your Safety: Part of Our Mission makes recommendations about car safety, including how to help prevent automobile theft and carjacking. For example, the guide suggests drivers park with their emergency brakes on and wheels turned sharply to the left or right to prevent thieves with tow trucks from stealing a car. It also recommends that vehicle owners mark their vehicle identification numbers under the engine hood, trunk lid or battery with permanent paint or marker.

“Many of the tips are commonsense suggestions that most homeowners already employ to protect their property,” notes Dan Olmsted, senior vice president of Atlantic Mutual’s Personal Insurance Division. “But there are others you wouldn’t necessarily have on a list such as checking the bottom of a water heater older than five years for evidence of leaks or rust or keeping a multipurpose fire extinguisher at hand and making sure all members of your family know how to use it.

“Many people are unaware that the insurance industry is a major force behind many of the safety rules and regulations we take for granted,” notes Olmsted. “An important part of our mission is to do whatever we can to help prevent injuries to homeowners and their families.”

To learn more about Your Safety: Part of Our Mission, click on the Atlantic Mutual Companies Website at http://www.atlanticmutual.com/brochures/safety.pdf

About The Atlantic Companies

The Atlantic Companies, also known as Atlantic Mutual, is a group of diversified financial services companies with a Wall Street heritage dating back to 1842. The group is widely known for the Atlantic Master Plan insurance program, which is designed specifically for affluent individuals and sold through a select group of independent agents. The Atlantic Companies acts as a property-casualty insurer, manages claims for commercial insurance, and helps other business partners target profitable niches in the insurance marketplace. Additional information about The Atlantic Companies and the Atlantic Master Plan can be found at www.atlanticmasterplan.com.


Contact: Peter G. Scott
Corporate Marketing & Communications
973-408-6044