Melissa Data In the News Data Cleansing: Mercury Insurance Uses Melissa Data’s Address Object - April 2006 "DM News" By Mickey Alam Khan Thousands of people visit Mercury Insurance’s site at mercuryinsurance.com to request a quote for automobile insurance or to find an agent. The auto insurer wants to catch any data entry mistakes on the front end so that it can better qualify and serve these prospects. Mercury uses Address Object to validate data that is typed into applications and forms on its site. A mailing address submitted to Mercury is matched against the most recent U.S. Postal Service database for validation, correction and standardization. The verified data then is used to process the application accurately. Address validation is used mainly to support requests for quotes on mercuryinsurance.com, said Loki Efaw, senior manager of software development at Mercury. “We need a valid ZIP + 4 Code™ to supply an accurate quote for insurance rates,” Mr. Efaw said. Auto insurance shoppers can visit the site, enter their ZIP Code and get a list of agents in their area. Mercury turns to Melissa Data’s GeoCoder Object to determine the distance between a submitted address and the closest independent agent. Results: More than 30,000 records are validated monthly. Previously technology used: Mercury Insurance has used Melissa Data for nearly three years. “Prior to that, we used a service from another company, but they were not supporting us well, the data was not fresh and there were platform limitations,” Mr. Efaw said. Other users: Car.com, Day-Timers, Quaero and QuantumMail.