Page 134 - The UnCaptive Agent

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED AND WHEN YOU’LL NEED THEM 107

While, as of this writing, commercial lines
multi-company rating systems have not become prac-
tically viable, I expect they will be shortly. There are
several “insuretech” firms who are developing this capa-
bility. Applied Systems™ has purchased one such system
and is working to integrate it with their management
system. I expect that Vertafore will do the same and that
there will also be standalone systems available soon. In
order to future-proof your agency, you should pay close
attention to these developments. Whether or not you
intend to sell commercial insurance now, it is highly
likely that you will in the future. These systems, once
they are widely available, will be as important to your
operations as personal lines comparative raters are for
today’s personal lines agency.
Another potentially important decision point is whether
the management system includes adequate agency billing
and receivables management capability. If you will be
selling policies on an agency bill basis, including excess
and surplus lines policies, then you will be involved to
some degree in agency bill. If your agency will specialize
in commercial insurance, particularly middle market or
larger accounts, you will also be very involved in billing
policies on an agency bill basis. If that will be your situation,
you should strongly consider going with one of the two
market leader’s larger and more sophisticated products, so
you’ll have strong agency bill- and receivable-management
capabilities built into the system. While the other, smaller
agency management systems may give you some capa-
bility in this area, you, along with whoever will do this
accounting, need to ask for very detailed demonstrations
to ensure that you will have neither a problem nor a lot
of additional work to manage receivables.
Another key decision point is website integration.
Does your proposed system allow you to put a portal