At the Annual General Meeting for the Organization of Real time Brokers Implementing Technology (ORBiT), president Wendy Watson scolded brokers for not taking advantage of technology.
“I feel like a school marm giving all the kids heck,” Watson told those gathered for the ORBiT AGM. “When Inquiry was set up, the Carriers were told, ‘If you build it, we will come.’ So the Carriers built it, but the brokers did not come. There are still a significant number of brokers who are not on eDocs. I don’t get it.”
The real-time policy change referred to (Inquiry, or Policy Inquiry) happens when a broker starts and ends a policy change transaction within his or her broker management system (BMS) Policy changes are made within the BMS, uploaded to the insurance company, and then integrated to the core carrier systems. The policy records are updated in the carrier’s policy administration system, and then returned to the BMS for final approval and update.
Michael Spiar, CSIO member engagement and communications specialist, sees only an upside for brokers who choose to take advantage of the eDocument system.
“It is a fantastic way of going paperless, of getting all those declaration pages, there’s room for growth for renewals and billings to be sent this way as well, downloaded directly to your BMS every day,” Spiar told Insurance Business. “So instead of receiving mail, having someone open the mail, sort the mail, scan the mail, shred the mail, and manually do the electronic attaching, it automatically gets sorted directly to the client’s BMS account.”
The freedom of eDocs is not just simplifying and speeding up the process, it is the sudden realization that you don’t need that extra room just for client files. (continued.)
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“All of a sudden, all that space you devoted to filing, any expansion plans you needed to handle all those files, is gone. You can redirect all that employee time to customer upsell, or cross sell, marketing efforts. It is time and money saved to redirect to better grow your company.”
iter8 has worked with Keal Technology’s sigXP and keal connect BMS solution, which is compliant with the guiding technology principles established by the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada and Centre for the Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) standards.
Watson pointed to the “slow drip” of clients away from the independents to the Directs of 1 per cent a year – a statistic that needs to be stopped and reversed now, she says.
“The Directs are ready for clients to manage in a self-service manner, but we as brokers aren’t. The resources aren’t there,” says Watson. “We are trying to build a community, and we are only going to survive if we operate as a community. The broker owners aren’t pushing the need to adapt the advances of technology – eDocs will put money in your pocket.” (continued.)
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It has been the mission statement for ORBiT since its inception in 2009, says Watson, who has been beating the drum for developing and implementing best practice and real time workflows for independents.
“We’re not asking to put one BMS/vendor ahead of another,” says Watson, “but we do need to develop best practices and implement real time workflows throughout the broker channel. And one way to do that is to promote participation in CSIO standards.”
Watson reflected on how far ORBiT has come since its inception in 2009, now representing over 100 brokerages of 5,200 brokers across Canada, including 14 insurance companies and 12 broker management system vendors. But rather than looking back, she chooses to remain optimistic and look forward.
“2013 promises to be even better with EDT & Inquiry, Commercial Lines, Password Management & Digital Client Experience working on development and implementation of their best practice workflows,” she says. “Brokers believe in what we are doing.”
