ACT Report?Going Paperless: Phase II
NU Online News Service, July 16, 11:29 a.m. EDT?Before insurance agencies stop printing documents, they should make sure they have proper electronic systems in place for downloads, an insurance industry group examining paperless work processes recommends.[@@]
"Turning off the Paper to Agents" is an ongoing report from the Agency Council for Technology, an agent-carrier-vendor technology partnership that examines issues within the industry. The group is affiliated with the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, based in Alexandria, Va.
Its phase-two report, "Recommended Agent and Carrier Workflows," is a follow-up to last year's first report, "The Key Responsibilities for Each of the Parties."
"The trend for carriers to turn off the paper to their agents is a reality today," said Bob Slocum, chairman of ACT and the work group that produced the reports. He is also president of Slocum Insurance Agency in Warwick, R.I.
"The report's overarching recommendation is that a carrier should not mandate the shutting off of paper to the agent unless there is an effective download in place," added Jeffrey M. Yates, ACT executive director.
The report provides a series of recommendations to agents and carriers depending on whether the transaction is downloaded or not.
Where there is an effective download, agents should be able to rely on "spot checking" the downloaded items for accuracy and viewing the electronic documents on the carrier's Web site when needed.
The report suggests that even where download is in place for a line of business, there are likely to be some transactions relating to that business that are not downloaded. Examples might include notices of cancellation, audits, property valuations and correspondence regarding underwriting issues sent directly from the carrier to the insured.
The carrier should either continue to send the paper for these transactions or "push" the electronic information, or links to it, to the agent.
The ACT report also praises carriers that e-mail or download daily transaction reports to their agents with links to electronic documents.
The complete text of both reports is available at www.independentagent.com by clicking on the "ACT" link and then clicking on the "Technology Reports" section.
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