US Assure, a program administrator and insurance servicesprovider for the property & casualty industry, will launchdirect billing and a new commission payment process in late secondquarter of this year.

“These new capabilities are part of our mission to provideour distributors not only the products but the infrastructure,systems and advanced technologies and services they need to buildand enhance customer relationships,” says Andy Ferguson, presidentof US Assure. “Making it as easy as possible to do business with USAssure is our number-one goal.”

Direct Billing

In late second quarter of this year, several of the company'sproducts will transition to direct bill, including the BuildersRisk Plan, Contractors Equipment, and Specialty Auto.

For these products, customers will now receive and pay premiuminvoices directly with US Assure. All other policy servicing andtransactions will remain the same, with distributors continuing tomaintain direct relationships with customers. Online features fordirect bill customers include the ability to make a payment online24/7 and schedule reoccurring payments when on a premiuminstallment plan.

“Our distributors have invested heavily in their customerrelationships,” Ferguson said. “Their customers value theirpersonalized service and expertise—and so do we. Now, instead ofcollecting premium payments for these programs, our distributorscan focus on what is important to them—customer relationships andsales.”

Online Capabilities

In addition to direct billing, US Assure is also introducing newonline capabilities. When the system goes live, agencies will beable to view policy billing transaction details, access theiraccount summary and commission statements, and, if they choose todo so, receive commission payments via electronic deposits.

After spending over a year fine-tuning the billing andcommission payment system, US Assure is now focusing on making thetransition to the new process as seamless as possible.

The new process is just one of many recent changes for USAssure, which changed its name from Zurich Insurance Services lastyear. The insurance company is well known for its relationship withZurich as the exclusive program administrator for the Builders RiskPlan.