The ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) announced it is promoting a new questionnaire form allowing independent agencies to eliminate carriers' redundant data requests.
The form, Agency Questionnaire (ACORD 812), was developed after agents and brokers expressed concern that too much time is spent filling out multiple questionnaires, according to ACORD, Pearl River, N.Y.
“Every carrier seems to ask agencies the same questions every year,” said Jo Ann Litwin, who chaired the AUGIE working group that addressed the problem. “The questions are generally valid, but many are also redundant from year to year and carrier to carrier.”
The new form allows an agency once each year to fill out or update as much information as it wants and to make that available to all its carriers, said ACORD. This procedure will save hours of time over the course of a year, said Ms. Litwin, principal of Litwin, Castle & Christ, an Orchard Park, N.Y.-based agency.
The questionnaire form includes data fields for primary contact name and e-mail; agency profile (principals, managers, CSRs, producers) and license numbers; agency office information, such as branch locations; agency premium and mix of business; interface information (download, upload, real time, etc.); technology information, such as agency management system version and Internet connections; and other commonly requested information.
A non-fillable version of the form is incorporated in AUGIE's Productive Agency Visits by Insurance Carrier Marketing Reps: A Guide to Improved Communications on Workflow & Technology, available at www.acordadvantage.org/resources/resources.aspx, said ACORD.
A fillable version of the form is available at no charge to members of ACORD Advantage, a program offering a variety of benefits to agents, including access to a range of forms.
ACORD said its fillable forms have the same look and feel as paper and PDF versions, but offer the ability to fill out each form on screen; and, with the click of a button, e-mail, print, save or fax it.
Several agency management system providers are expected to add the Agency Questionnaire to their lists of available forms, meaning that most data can be extracted from the systems without re-keying, Ms. Litwin noted.
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