By now you should have received a SoftSync update from us containing upcoming Rate Changes with additional New Customer discounts. We thought it would be helpful to list the details of your carrier(s) changes. See below:

Arbella - Auto
Updated Rating Factors effective 4/1/2010.

Commerce - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• Added a Smart Driver discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

MAIP - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• Added Low Frequency Eligible discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

• Added Operator Continuous Coverage discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

Quincy Mutual - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• New Good Student discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab.

• New Student Away from Home discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab.

• Added Continuously Insured discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

• Added Good Driver discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab then select the LOW FREQUENCY ELIGIBLE option.

• The Loyalty Credit has been renamed Preferred Operator discount.

MA Fair Plan Rate - Home
Change effective 03/31/2010.

• Base Rate Change

• Endorsement Changes

Bunker Hill - Home
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010

• Introduced two new Homeowners credits: Super Preferred and Agency Loyalty Factor Credit.

• The plan Bunker Hill 1775 has been renamed to Bunker Hill 1775 (HO5).

• Underwriting Guideline changes.

Various Carriers – Dwelling Fire and Umbrella

• Minor rate changes, updates and corrections.

As of September 1st, MAIP/CAR will require your MAIP ID to be included in the information sent by SinglePoint during submission. This ID is the same one that you use to log into the MAIP website.

In accordance with this new requirement, Boston Software has released an update for WinRater which adds a new “MAIP ID” field on the SinglePoint Settings screen’s “Carrier Credentials” tab (as pictured below). This field is in addition to the current “CAR Assigned Agency Number” and “CAR Assigned Sequence Number” fields which will remain the same.

Please visit: www.bostonsoftware.com/update and click on the ENTER button to download the available update. Once completed, WinRater will prompt you to enter your MAIP ID into this new field along with any other missing credentials for other carriers.

You will be able to “Ignore” the prompt and successfully submit to MAIP without having entered your ID until September 1st. However, WinRater will continue to prompt you upon startup and upon all attempted MAIP submissions until the field is filled. After September 1st, you will no longer be able to submit to MAIP unless you have entered the MAIP ID under the SinglePoint Settings tab.

We’ve been working closely with the good folks at CAR to streamline the submission of new business applications from WinRater to the MAIP system.   We ironed out a faster “streaming” electronic transfer of data, which will eliminate a number of clicks and keystrokes for you.

The MAIP system will also be able to accept ACORD XML files now (in addition to AL3 files) from vendors like us and CGI.  XML is the latest data format, allowing for a better standard and compatibility with other vendor systems.  Adoption of a standard XML file for MA Auto by more vendors and carriers means a greater ability to transfer data with greater ease and faster resolution of problems.  CAR has been extremely responsive in this development effort.  That’s a big win for agents. 

Going forward, it also means that data exchanges with new carriers or vendors and/or for other tasks (i.e. real time rating) will come to market faster. 

By the way, our data exchange with the MAIP system will take place via our new SinglePoint platform, which you will be hearing a lot about in the next couple weeks.  SinglePont is aimed at greatly simplifying and standardizing the the submission process for independent agents.

You’ll soon be hearing a lot about our new SinglePoint software. It will make it easy to submit ACORD New Business Applications to any auto carrier and MAIP.

We had been building SinglePoint for a while, but when the Commissioner made her decision to proceed with Managed Competition we really kicked it into gear. We realized it was going to be difficult for agents to quote and submit business in this new environment. Agents were going to need a better method than re-keying quote data into different carrier web sites.

So we built SinglePoint and we included it as part of the new WinRater Comparative Auto Rating Software. Agents will be able to get an accurate quote for all their carriers, select the carrier (or MAIP) they want to submit to, and launch SinglePoint where all the rating data will prefill onto an ACORD new-business app. Agents can complete the app and click “Upload” to transfer all the data to the carrier site for verification and issuance.

We believe agents will be so busy they won’t be able to use a different workflow for each company. That’s why we created SinglePoint. The workflow will be the same for all carriers and MAIP. CSRs won’t have to learn different keystrokes and work-arounds for different carriers and rekey customer information. A standardized submission process is an absolute necessity.

We expect a number of carriers to be plugged into SinglePoint right at the start in April, with all others jumping onboard shortly thereafter.

I attended MAIA’s seminar on the Managed Competition today in Tewksbury.  If you haven’t already signed up at attend, I recommend you do.

You’ll get a pretty solid overview of where the indistry is at.  This includes a virtual presentation by the CAR staff to outline the workflow for submitting risks to the MAIP pool.  In addition, Frank Mancini and Donna McKenna thoroughly explain the rate setting process and each carrier filing.  There was ample time for Q & A’s.

I’d recommend that you do a lot of reading, questioning, and listening on your own, but this seminar is definitely a good place to gather information about the pending changes.

Thanks to the help of Frank Mancini at MAIA, a group of us will be meeting with CAR to discuss ways to improve the MAIP assigned risk submission workflow. 

After seeing the MAIP tutorial/demo at the CAR offices (December 12-14th), it became clear that agents will have to deal with a number of obstacles when submitting and managing MAIP business.   (I outlined a few of them in a previous post.)

If you attended one of the tutorials or watched it online, please let me know what your concerns and questions are.  I will try to have them addressed at this meeting.

This is important!

So I attended the tutorial/demo at CAR last week for their MAIP processing system. It looked good to me — pretty straightforward and easy to navigate. Agents can enter all the application data on a series of 6-8 screens and the system will assign the policy to one of the MAIP carriers.

Instead of keying in the application data, agents can upload to the system via WinRater or an agency management system. My sense is that agents will be pleased overall.

However, after seeing the system in action and absorbing the proposed workflow, it left most of us in the audience concerned. The reason is because CAR simply is not going to handle a lot of what agents need (after the policy has been assigned).

(more…)