- Implement download functionality for whatever transactions are offered by your carriers and vendor.
- Take advantage of vendor, carrier, user group and association download training opportunities. (Tools: AUGIE’s “Commercial Lines Policy Detail Download: Agency Start-Up Guide” available via www.getrealtime.org/active/resourcesdownload.asp, as well as vendor- and carrier-specific information.)
(Tools: AUGIE’s “Commercial Lines Policy Detail Download:
Agency Start-Up
Guide” as well as vendor- and carrier-specific information.)
- Test downloads as thoroughly as possible prior to implementing a new carrier or new line of business, so you understand the impact download will have on your agency management system database.
(Tools: AUGIE’s “Commercial Lines Policy Detail Download:
Agency Start-Up
Guide” featuring recommended testing procedures that apply to personal and commercial lines download.)
- When a carrier’s download does not deliver data you anticipated, or if it overwrites areas you entered manually, report the problem to the carrier and your agency management system vendor. Work with the carrier and/or vendor to fix it. (For example, commercial auto may not download drivers and, instead, sending nothing, so the schedule is lost. Tell the carrier and vendor; don’t assume commercial auto download does not work and simply turn it off.)
- Use carrier marketing visits, advisory councils and every other opportunity to encourage your carriers to provide you the download transactions that are available.
- If you believe you would benefit by receiving download for a particular line of business or transaction not currently available, let your agency management system user group know about it. (For example, commercial umbrella, flood, claims download, commission rate and dollar amount included in daily policy download.) The same holds true for your carriers—tell them what you want.
- Keep current on your vendor system version to take advantage of new download capabilities, corrections to previous download issues and the most current ACORD forms.
- Prior to updating or changing your agency management system, notify the carriers you receive downloads from to be sure they support the new version or system.
- If parts of the download process cause you pain, report them to your user group so they can evaluate ways to improve this with your vendor. (For example, automated download reconciliation tool to check what is currently in your database against the download and provide a report of what has changed.)
- If a carrier changes how the download is sent (for example, they require you to use a proprietary download program to pick up only their download files), let them know if this affects your workflow negatively. Most agencies prefer a standard way to receive download from all of their carriers.
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