Policy Basics
Roadside assistance is not fun for anyone involved, unless you really like towing vehicles for a living, I guess. You receive a call asking how many tows Roadside Assistance will provide. They say they remember being allowed 7 tows in a 6-month period. What do you advise this policyholder?
There is a limit of 3 disablements per covered vehicle within rolling 6-month period (disablements do not need to be in same policy term). Flat tire, lock out, tow, etc count as disablements.
A policyholder is calling in to add a Ford Econoline to the policy. Don't let the funny name fool you, these can be tricky.
Sometimes these are considered commercial vehicles. Google 'Ford Econoline'. What would this vehicle have to have in order to be an acceptable risk?
WINDOWS! Without windows, this is a basic 'panel van' utility vehicle.
Alright Mr/Ms/Mx Policyholder, we have completed your policy changes, and you are getting a refund! Yay! How long is it going to take for each payment method go through a hold period, and to go back to the named insured, assuming this is not a manual refund?
Card - 2 Hold days (3 - 5 business days)
EFT - 12 Hold days (12 - 15 business days)
Mail - 15 Hold days (2 - 3 weeks)
A customer is calling in on the weekend trying to connect with Underwriting AND IVT. You know they are not open on the weekends, and you feel for the customer, but there is nothing you can do at the current moment to help them. What do you advise?
UWT: Unfortunately there is no direct number to provide as we have many different UW teams. Advise them to call back during hours of operation.
IVT: Provide caller with external phone number 800-776-4737. Advise them to call back during hours of operation & request to speak to Insurance Verification team. Do not transfer after hours, as voicemail is not available.
A NJ policyholder calls about their lovely Coverage Selection Form. Unfortunately it was rejected. When you check the notes, it says there were scribbles in the margin of the document. What would the policyholder have to do in order to make this document, and the stray notes in the margins, acceptable?
There is NO guideline for this, but maybe it should be added to the guidelines.
The policyholder must INITAL next to those scribbles to confirm that they had made the mistake. Otherwise, the form will be invalid.
Named insured's son is listed on the policy, but not as a named insured. He wants to add a new vehicle he just purchased. Before asking if the named insured is available, where can we look to see if he has been given permission to speak on the policy?
Policy notes!
When going over vehicle use, the named insured discloses that she will be using her vehicle to transport cleaning products from one location to another as she cleans office spaces, apartments, etc for a living. She says she uses the vehicle for personal use, is that correct?
No, her vehicle falls under Business Use and would need to be coded as such.
Mr Named Insured just sold his older vehicle on the policy and is now going from two vehicles to one. He is expecting to get a refund for the balance on the previous vehicle that was paid. Before advising him of the balance, what can we do to mitigate frustration?
Explain that he will be losing the multi-vehicle discount. I like to offer a CRA as a replacement if applicable (Renters, Home, Motorcycle, Snapshot, etc). Letting the policyholder know beforehand sets you both up for success.
A Policyholder calls in and expresses their frustration about not being able to connect with their claims representative. They do not need helping to schedule any repairs, they just want to go over their claim. Who would help this policyholder?
Connect to claims speed dial #425
Uh oh, a Named Insured in Florida wants to cancel their policy. It is an Agency policy. There is no "Do Not refer to Agent" memo on the main compass page. What is the first step before we cancel?
Refer the customer to their agent. If the customer insists on cancelling with us, then process the cancellation.
A named insured's life partner has just passed away. After offering your condolences, you remove their partner using DOD +1, only to discover their insurance is going to increase. Is there anything we can do?
Place customer on hold, AND contact Assist to remove restriction, if applicable. It is not a guarantee, but we will do what we can.
A customer says they purchased a new vehicle (yay!) but it is titled under their business name, for tax purposes. Very interesting to disclose, nonetheless, can they add this vehicle to their personal auto policy?
No! It is technically owned by a business and would require a business policy.
A customer purchases a 2026 BMW. They say that with all of the safety features associated with their new vehicle, they are expecting that the rate will be signification cheaper than the rate they have with a Liability only Ford F150. What can you explain during the quoting process to mitigate expectations?
Get ahead of the game!
Advise that the following vehicle information can affect premium:
Someone, typically a child, just got their license in North Carolina! Congratuladolences! Who handles this call? What do they need?
Us! They need a DL123.
Please do not transfer DL123s to IVT, they will want to cry (more than likely).
We can access this form in the interactive forms section of Compass Utilities.
A policyholder is expressing interest in bundling their home and auto insurance with us. They have an auto policy, and want to know if they got a quote, how would the new property policy impact their auto rates. What will you do?
Navigation
Discounts
Update discounts
Enter mock number and date for policy
Confirm eligibility and provide quote.
When adding another vehicle to an insured's policy, they give you a different zip code than what is currently listed. After a few more probing questions, you realize the policyholder has moved. The policyholder gets uncomfortable about changing their address and insists on not updating their address.
It is time for another personal favorite: A Policy Verification!
Please do not argue with the customer or get defensive as it can inflame the situation. Quietly take down the information that was provided and issue a PV. Easy Peasy!
Yayy... we discovered through a MVR that there was a youthful driver living in the same household as the named insured and they received a notice that they were going to be added to the policy. Needless to say, the policyholder is not happy. There is no speed dial in the transfer notes, what do you do?
You are handling an irate caller who begins critiquing your mannerisms. You are not sure if they called in for a specific problem as, right after verification, they begin telling you they don't like their tone, and that you will not speak until spoken to. This makes you uncomfortable and singled out. You remind them that you are here to help with insurance and try to apologize, but it does not help. Is there anything you can do?
Yes! While they are not cursing at you, this does fall under harassment and abusive policyholder procedures and should be handled accordingly. If you give them the first warning and they do not let you proceed, advise you will give them another opportunity to let you help them. If they keep criticizing your cadence after the second warning, that is your third strike and queue to disconnect.
The customer who uses her vehicle for her cleaning job is NOT happy. She retracted her statement and no longer wants to list the vehicle as used for business. What now?
Notate in the comments that you added the vehicle with business use and warm connect to the applicable department:
A policyholder is calling in for a rewrite to their policy. The have not said the magic words that they are shopping around. Assuming you have completed a policy review, and they are still asking to rewrite the policy, who would we get them over to?
CPT not needed as long as it is not an agency policy. If the customer doesn't say the magic words they are shopping around, connect them to a sales agent using your interactive speed dial.
Renewal payments can be challenging. If a payment is not received by the day of renewal, which states will allow a payment to be received after the payment date without a lapse in coverage?
Effective Date/Binding - Renewals
Underwriting issued a notice that there were changes to the policy made in regard to a claim follow-up. The named insured insists that the information is incorrect that we received from claims and is adamant that they want to reverse the changes. What do we do?
Request Proof!
If proof has already been received, contact Assist.
A policyholder calls in about documents that are past due. You see in the notes that a rush request was denied for the documents that are being requested. They want to know how long the turnaround time for our processing department is?
The turnaround time for the processing department as listed in the Processing Requests guideline is up to 2 weeks. 3 - 5 business day turnaround may set the customer and your peer up for failure if the policyholder calls back within that time.
Do you love RTA's? If a policyholder is purchasing a vehicle from a private seller AND they have the information from the title, who do we get them over to for help? What is their extension?
Insurance Verification Team - Speed dial#657
A policyholder calls and lets slip that her two sons live with her. She gives you their names and dates of birth but is adamant that she does not want them on her policy and refuses to give you more information. What do you do?
Definitely don't inflame the situation! This customer will more than likely get heated in a back and forth, and we care about her business.
Instead, take the information provided and issue a policy verification on the policy. Underwriting has it from here!