New development will allow E-docs to be transmitted in broker downloads
March 22, 2012 (Toronto, Ontario) – Today, The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) is congratulating the Centre for Studies in Insurance Operations (CSIO) on their announcement of the new CSIO XML standard which will allow for electronic documents to be transmitted in broker downloads.
E-Doc was identified as a priority by brokers in October, 2011 at the association’s annual Convention where brokers overwhelmingly advocated for standardized solutions over proprietary ones. Since October, CSIO, carriers and Broker Management software Vendors (BMS vendors) have made a collaborative effort and as a result CSIO released the much anticipated XML standard.
Since the release of the standard the IBAO has heard from a number of insurers and three BMS vendors, all of whom have committed to developing with the new standard as opposed to building proprietary ones. Included in this release are statements made by The Dominion, Intact Insurance and BMS vendors Custom Software Solutions Inc., Keal Technology and Power Broker.
“This development is an opportunity to drive real cost efficiencies into brokers’ offices,” said Rick Orr, President of the IBAO. Orr, who also sits on the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada’s (IBAC) Technology Committee expands, “It is the kind of win the channel has needed for some time. If we can demonstrate our ability to work together to find standardized solutions over non-proprietary ones, more robust projects such as the IBAC Data Exchange seem even more likely to succeed.”
Currently, brokers must visit company portals to pull electronic copies of policies one by one into their BMS. With this new development, brokers whose carriers and BMS vendors support the CSIO standards will begin to see electronic copies of policies sent automatically and seamlessly attached to their client files. “IBAO is encouraged by the attention this issue has garnered from brokers, companies and BMS vendors. We would like to congratulate those who have displayed a great deal of leadership and commitment, not only to the CSIO standard but to the broker distribution channel,” added Orr. “IBAO looks forward to collaborating with all parties to ensure these efficiencies drive positive results to our independent brokers across the country.”
Steve Zylak, President, Zycomp Systems Limited
“Power Broker has always believed that this process is paramount to brokers long term success. This
is why last year, with the help of Mastercom, Power Broker began incorporating documents with the
daily download using the AL3 standard for SGI brokers. Since making this announcement last fall
we have been seeking other carriers to work with. We believe that the release of CSIO’s XML based
standard is an important step for Brokers and will Bring real cost efficiencies to Power Brokers users.
As far as I am concerned, Power Broker is ready to collaborate with any carrier wanting to bring
these kinds of efficiencies to their brokers.”
Patrick J Durepos, President, Keal Technology
“As always, Keal is happy to support the CSIO standards and this is no exception. We have already
begun project development around building to the newly released CSIO XML standard. Keal has
been advocating for an XML based standards for the delivery of electronic documents between
insurers and brokers as we believe XML to be more suitable then the older AL3 standards. The XML
standard will give us the ability to expand functionality beyond policy declaration pages. We know
this solution presents tremendous cost savings for brokers and insurers and we will work with
brokers and insurers to bring solutions that utilize the XML e-doc standard.”
Scott Andrew, President and CEO, Custom Software Solutions Inc.
“Custom Software Solutions Inc. (CSSI) is pleased with the release of the XML Standard by CSIO
and believe this is the right direction for the industry to move. CSSI is already capable of working
within this standard and hopes to begin collaborating with carriers in the next few months. To bring
true efficiencies to the broker channel BMS vendors and carriers need to work with CSIO to help
develop standards and then take the steps necessary to work within those standards. When it comes
to the delivery of electronic documents, proprietary solutions invite risk, increase costs and
significantly slow the advancement of technology for brokers.”
Jack Ott, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Intact Financial Corporation
“We are very pleased to see an XML standard that will manage document flow directly from
company systems to the BMS without intervention. This is an important step toward improving the
efficiency of the broker channel and it sets the stage for reducing paper production and handling
costs across the board. It will be a big win for the environment too! Intact supports this standard and
we hope it will be widely adopted.”
Steve Whitelaw, Senior Vice President – Business Solutions
“The Dominion has publicly committed to building an electronic document solution to deliver
efficiencies to all of our Broker partners. We are in full support of CSIO’s XML standard, as it will
lay the foundation for future development across the industry. We look forward to collaborating with
all broker management systems to ensure these efficiencies drive positive results to our independent
Broker partners across the country.”
About The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario
The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) is a �not for profit’ association that represents and serves the interests of over 12,000 independent Property & Casualty Insurance Brokers in the Province of Ontario. For information about IBAO, visit www.ibao.org or www.ibao.org/blog to receive timely news and information updates. You can also follow IBAO on Twitter or join the IBAO Facebook Fan Page.
