T.A. Sullivan enterprises, llc

Sample Procedures Manual for Small Insurance Agencies

Tracy A. Sullivan

After 15 years in the insurance industry, eight and half of them with independent agencies, I have worked up sample procedures for small insurance agencies including sample forms.

Table of Contents

Getting the day started 1

Daily processes 2

Emails tips 3

New Business procedures 4

Renewal procedures 7

Servicing procedures 10

Cancellations 11

Reports & Forms 12

GETTING THE DAY STARTED

In reality, getting the day going begins the night before. Before leaving the office you should have a list of accounts that need follow up or a list of action items for the next day. For some this can be done through a task or to do list in your email program or agency management program. Others, like me, like to write them down on a separate notepad from where you take your daily notes.

After logging into the computer and checking voicemails the there are two main programs to open and keep running - agency management program and email. As the majority of your work will be done in these two systems these two should be available at all times.

If you are support personnel (CSR), before beginning on your to do list, go meet with the agents to confirm they do not have an immediate need. If so, plan your to do list around theirs. This, of course, is only if you do not have any immediate needs yourself. This will involve prioritizing accounts between CSRs and agents. Remember, the needs of clients come first so prioritizing will be based on the client with the most urgent request.

You will need to be flexible throughout the day. There will be times where a simple request will become complicated depending on what is requested - for example, certificates. Some are straightforward, just add the certificate holder, send it out and move on. Other times there will be a need for more information, requests for additional endorsements, etc. Make sure you can bounce between tasks. Rarely does one task get completed in its entirety in one shot.

DAILY PROCESSES

There are specifics tasks to complete daily or that when presented can be completed the same day:

1 Check emails - some of the to do’s for the day may resolve themselves

overnight - answers to questions, follow ups, etc.

2 Check the billing on accounts - this involves going to specific carrier

websites and pulling billing reports and seeing who is behind

3 Check for endorsements, renewals, cancellations - this again can be

obtained on most of the carrier websites

4 Certificates of Liability normally do not take long - these can be done

quickly, so get them out of the way as the requests come in. As

mentioned above, this is not always the case. Again, be flexible.

EMAIL TIPS

Most of you will have a system on how to handle your emails. For those that do not, I use a fairly simple system - the flags. I have a different flag for each type of email. This might be useful to some:

Red Flag = Change Requests

Orange Flag = Client Follow Ups

Green Flag = Billing Issues

Purple Flag = Quotes and Submissions

Blue Flag = Underwriter Requests

Yellow Flag = Company(ies) Issues (training, new guidelines, etc.)

When the issue in the email is resolved, just delete the flag and the email.

NEW BUSINESS

When a new account calls in for a quote, pull out the appropriate intake form(s). Some accounts can be quoted quickly (while the client is on the phone or within the same date). Others will require more paperwork and more time.

Follow the forms as lined out initially. Over time you can bounce around to make the conversation with the new client go more naturally, but initially just get used to asking the questions that need to be answered in order to give an accurate quote.

If the account is something you can quote quickly and you have the immediate time, then do so. Most accounts will take more time. Make sure you convey this to the client. Commercial accounts that will be quoted through a broker can take up to a week. Give the client a conservative time frame. As the saying goes, better to over deliver than under deliver.

Accounts need to be set up in the management system. If you work through an aggregate with multiple agents, it is always a great start to search for the client to confirm another agent in your group is not already working on the account. This is a wonderful example of professional courtesy.

Each management system is set up differently, but all will require at minimum the client’s name, business name, phone, address, EIN, etc. From there each account is different in how the information is inputted. Follow the directions of the management system procedures.

Hers is where you can also keep a separate log of new accounts coming in and to monitor follow up. I have included various forms for you to reproduce or you can make up your own.

NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED

With accounts that can be done without a broker this is the normal process:

1 Fill out the intake form2 Quote on line with whichever carrier will insure the client correctly3 Call the client with the quote and sell the policy4 Email the client the proposal and all needed forms to issue the policy5 DO NOT ISSUE WITHOUT PAYMENT6 Once all paperwork and payment have been received, issue the policy

per the insuring company guidelines7 Set up the new policy in the client’s account in the management system8 Scan and attached all the signed paperwork and copy of the payment

and attach to the client’s file9 For commercial accounts, set up the Certificate of Liability and email the

client a sample one for their records and for personal accounts, possibly issue an Evidence of Insurance to the mortgagee or the client

After the policy is issued (normally you will be able to find it online with the insuring company), save the policy and attach it to the client’s account.

NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED

For accounts that require a broker there are a few more steps to complete:

1 After setting up the client’s account in the management system, you will also need to fill out Acord forms to send to the broker and to the client

2 Supplemental forms may also be required in order to obtain a quote, make sure to get the appropriate ones from the broker so all the forms can be sent up at the same time

3 Once the Acord forms and supplements are filled out email them to the broker and also a copy to the client (the client will need to review the information, fill in missing information and sign the forms to bind anyways, so get a jump start with them too)

4 After the quote is received, as with the above contact the client and email them the quote

5 Once the policy is sold, get the signed paperwork and copy of the payment to the broker to bind the policy

6 If there is a finance agreement, send the signed form and copy of the down payment to the financing company

7 The rest is the same as above except policies will come from the broker (normally through email - very rarely do any mail the policies anymore)

MAKE SURE TO DOCUMENT IN THE NOTES, ACTIVITIES, ETC., PORTION OF THE CLIENT’S ACCOUNT ALL ACTIONS TAKEN - FOR EXAMPLE, DOCUMENT WHEN APPLICATIONS ARE SENT TO THE BROKER AND THE CLIENT, DOCUMENT WHEN YOU CALL THE CLIENT WITH THE QUOTE AND EMAIL IT TO THEM.

DOCUMENTATION IS ESSENTIAL IN PREVENTING E & O CLAIMS, SO ALWAYS, ALWAYS DOCUMENT CLIENT INTERACTIONS, COMPANY INTERACTIONS, ETC.

RENEWAL BUSINESS

To work renewals you will need to pull renewal reports. Each management system has an ability to pull various reports and this is one you will work weekly, if not daily. Pull a report for at least a three month time frame. This allows time to work those renewals that require renewal applications and supplements or may need to be rewritten.

There are basically two types of renewals - those that renew automatically and those that require paperwork. Depending on how your agency decides to handle renewals, you should contact at minimum all commercial clients.

Personal lines are fairly simple, but your agency may decide to contact them also as clients will at times upgrade or expand their homes and the policy needs to be renewed based on the current exposure.

Some brokers, if not all, will send you an email or a report approximately 45 days in advance of the coming renewal. This will allow time to gather the appropriate renewal information from the client, fill out the renewal applications, get the quote and allow the client time to come up with the down payment.

Attached in the forms section is a sample I have used in the past using an Excel program.

RENEWALS CONTINUED

Personal lines and standard commercial lines renewals normally can be found on the individual company websites. You can save the renewal to a PDF and attach it to the client’s account. Making sure you update the account as needed, i.e. premium, coverage amounts, change in ratings.

(Little side note – on your desktop you should have a file for PDFs in which you can easily grab quotes, applications, and policies to attach to emails, client accounts, upload to companies, etc.)

After you have renewed the policy in the agency management system you can send out renewal certificates for commercial clients or evidence of insurance for personal clients.

For the most part automatic renewals should be fairly simple.

RENEWALS CONTINUED

For those accounts that are not automatic renewals you should receive an email as mentioned above approximately 45 days in advance. As with the new business these will require Acord forms or supplements to obtain a renewal quote.

Most agency management systems will allow you to copy the Acords from a previous year so you only have to update exposures, if needed, after speaking with the client. Another great tool is using a PDF create program where you can save supplemental forms and reuse them year to year.

As with new business, the renewal applications should be emailed to the broker and also to the client. Once the renewal quote is received from the broker, contact the client with the premium and issue a finance agreement, if needed and the quote is accepted. Obtain the signed application and payment from the client. Forward to the broker for binding. Forward the finance agreement and payment to the finance company.

AS ALWAYS DOCUMENT EVERYTHING – ATTACH THE QUOTE, THE SIGNED APPS, AND DOCUMENT CONTACTS WITH THE BROKER AND CLIENT.

The rest is the same as with the automatic renewals once the binder is received with the new policy number. These renewal policies, as mentioned earlier, normally will be sent to you through email.

SERVICING PROCEDURES

Servicing, for the most part, is easy and can be completed in a few days (from request to endorsement issued) depending on the company. Most personal lines carriers will allow you to make changes on line and receive immediate confirmation. Commercial lines carriers usually require an email to their servicing department (this will require setting a flag in your email for follow up). Some commercial carriers will issue endorsements within a few days, others have a minimum of 30 days.

As with the above, document the change request from the client. To protect your E & O, if a client is removing or reducing coverage, get it in writing from them before completing the request. Whether they sign the change request form you use internally, the change request form from the company, they email you, mail you, whatever. Just get the request in writing.

Update the client’s account with the corrected information based on the change. Issue new certificates, evidences, id cards, etc., as is appropriate based on the change.

Once the endorsement has been issued, attach it to the client’s account as you would a new policy or renewal policy.

CANCELLATIONS

Each agency is different on how to handle cancellations. The BIGGEST exposure of any procedure is to do it all the time or not at all. This is especially important when dealing with billing cancellations (one of the largest E & O claims for agents is consistency).

While small you may be able to handle calling all clients on pending cancellation accounts, but as you grow this might not be feasible. Remember, if you call on one, you have to call on all. So, come up with a procedure that works for you and for your clients now so it does not become an issue later.

For the agents I have worked with, we did not call on pending cancellations, but if a final cancellation was issued we sent a letter to the client. This is just for those accounts who cancelled for non-payment related reasons.

If the client is requesting the cancellation – sold the property, closed the business, went to another agent, etc., then have them sign the Acord Cancellation form. This does not require additional follow up once the account is closed with the company, unless there is additional premium due after the cancellation. REMIND COMMERCIAL CLIENTS THEY WILL BE SENT TO COLLECTIONS IF THEY DO NOT PAY OUTSTANDING BALANCES!

For commercial accounts, be sure to send out cancellation certificates to all certificate holders, especially those listed as Additional Insured. This is regardless of whether the client cancelled the policy or they were cancelled for non-payment, non-renewal, etc.

(Small note – the above also applies for accounts that have expired – send a follow up letter that clearly states they are expired and have no coverage and confirm no additional certificates, evidences, etc., have been issued)

SAMPLE REPORTS AND FORMS