Submission Policy Transaction

Creating a submission policy transaction is one of the most common activities in PolicyCenter. The goal
is to bind and issue the submission which turns it into a policy. In a typical scenario, a producer receives
an inquiry for coverage, establishes an account, and asks some pre-qualification questions. If the
answers are correct, meaning that the risks are reasonable, the producer asks the applicant for
additional information. If the answers are not correct, then the policy may be referred to underwriting.
If both sides agree to terms and price, then PolicyCenter generates the policy and accompanying
documents, and the documents are sent to the applicant. The policy is legally binding to both parties.

PolicyCenter handles submissions through the submission wizard. After getting account information, the
Submission wizard guides you through the process of gathering the required information for the policy.
Typically, the first and last wizard steps are the same for all lines of business.
However, the wizard steps differ slightly for each line. In personal auto, some steps gather information
about the driver, the type of vehicle, the garage location, and the type of coverages. In workers’
compensation, some wizard steps require information about the business, the types of workers,
locations, and coverages. So how does a submission end? The outcome goal is to bind and issue the
submission. You can choose to issue the policy at a later date. In this case, you search for the policy then
run an issuance policy transaction.

The Difference between Quick Quote and Full Application

In PolicyCenter, you have the option of creating either a quick quote or a full application submission.
• Quick Quote gathers the minimal information needed to generate a quote.
• Full Application gathers the complete set of information needed to apply for a bindable quote.

Submission General Steps

The following diagram shows the basic steps to create a submission in the base configuration of
PolicyCenter. Your business requirements can alter the process. Also, the steps may differ slightly
between personal and commercial lines and in how you access the submission screens.
What are the Advantages of Quick Quote?
Select Quick Quote if you need to generate a quote with minimal information. Quick quote provides a
rapid assessment of whether or not the carrier can provide a policy premium that is in the applicant’s
price range. If both parties are agreeable to the quote, then additional information must be gathered in
a Full Application before a policy can be bound. You can generate as many quick quotes as you need
and save them, but you cannot bind them. From Quick Quote, you can continue to Full Application.

In all lines except personal auto, selecting Quick Quote skips selected steps in the full submission wizard.
Quick quotes skip the Risk Analysis and Policy Review steps, because PolicyCenter can generate a quote
without the information requested in these steps. Quick quotes also skip the Forms and Payment steps,
because these items do not apply to a non-bindable quote.

In personal auto submissions, selecting Quick Quote does more than skip steps in the full quote
submission wizard. Instead, personal auto line quick quotes use a separate wizard that reduces the
quote process to two steps, producing quotes for up to two drivers with up to two vehicles. As with any
quick quote, the resulting quote is not bindable. You can continue to create quick quotes if a submission
has never had a full application quote generated.

Answering Pre-qualification Questions

Pre-qualification questions are a screening tool used to determine applicant risk and to reflect the
carrier’s desire for the business. These questions determine if an applicant qualifies for the type of
insurance being sought. Depending on the answers, PolicyCenter can raise underwriting issues that
cause the policy to be referred to an underwriter. If not approved, these issues may prohibit quoting the
policy.

Selecting an Underwriting Company

Large carriers can license more than one underwriting company to underwrite policies on their behalf.
The primary reason for having these multiple underwriting companies is to accommodate jurisdictional
regulatory requirements. Many jurisdictions do not allow carriers to have more than one set of rates per
Underwriting company. Therefore, if a carrier wants to offer multiple sets of rates in that jurisdiction,
they must file each set of rates under a separate underwriting company for that jurisdiction.
Underwriting companies may also offer different coverages or limits.

Reasons for Underwriter Review in Submissions

Applications may need to be referred to an underwriter for manual review and approval. Some of the
reasons an underwriter might review them are:
• PolicyCenter raised underwriting issues because:
• Choices on the policy period are considered too risky. For example, the carrier raises an underwriting
issue for cars valued at over $100,000 on a personal auto policy.
• There are referral reasons on the policy. For example, there have been too many claims in previous
policy periods.
• The default pricing of the policy has been overridden through rating overrides.
• The applicant did not answer the pre-qualification questions correctly.
• The producer did not have the permission to bind submissions. In this case, the Bind Options menu
choice triggers the underwriting review.

Creating Multiple Versions

You can create multiple versions of a quote to help you and the insured agree on the policy contents.

For example, in a personal auto policy, the applicant can select different levels of coverages to see the
difference in premium. Select New Version in the submission wizard to create a new version of the
submission that you can change and obtain a quote on. You can also make a new version based on other
versions.

Under the Tools menu, click Policy Versions to display the Policy Versions screen where you can:
• Rename your version (for convenience).
• Click Diff to compare the differences between two versions.
• Make one version the selected version.
• Withdraw a version, while keeping the other versions.

Closing a Submission
You have the option to close a submission by selecting Withdraw Transaction, Decline, or Not Taken
under Close Options in the submission wizard. Having separate closing options for a submission that was
not bound allows you to track information such as how many were not bound or why they were not
bound.
Withdraw Transaction – A submission can be withdrawn for any reason, such as mistakes were made on
the policy. You can only withdraw a submission in Draft or Quoted status. The withdrawn submission,
and all its versions are no longer editable.
Decline – An underwriter may decide to decline a submission, and if so, must provide a reason by
entering a Reason Code. A submission may be declined for reasons including loss history, payment
history, or requested coverages and/or limits not available. The declined submission is no longer
editable.
Not Taken – Select this option when the applicant decides not to take the offered policy. You must enter
a reason. You can also enter text to create a Not Taken letter. You can select this option from both the
submission wizard and the Submission Manager. Generate the Not Taken letter from the Submission
Manager.

Differences between Binding a Policy and Issuing a Policy

PolicyCenter makes a distinction between binding and issuing a submission.
Binding means that the insured and the carrier have agreed to terms and price and a policy is in force. If
the insured has a car accident one hour after the submission is bound, the policy covers the incident
even though the insured has not received official documents.
Issuing means that a submission may be bound, but its policy documents have not yet been issued.
Perhaps the carrier needed to collect or verify additional information so the issuance of the policy occurs
after adding the information to the policy.
In PolicyCenter you:
• Bind a submission by clicking Bind Only under Bind Options in the user interface.
• Issue a submission in the submission wizard by clicking Issue Policy under Bind Options in the user
interface.
• Issue a submission at a later date through an issuance policy transaction.

Expiring Submissions
A submission is expired after a sufficient and configurable interval of time has elapsed. A policy version
can be expired when its status is either New, Draft, or Quoted. When a policy version expires, its status
changes to Expired. You can view the status in the Submission Manager screen or in the toolbar if you
are in the submission wizard. An expired branch is not editable.