Insurance Software

Managing policy lifecycle manually is challenging, as it involves large volumes of documents (such as policy forms, client details, and compliance forms) and collaboration between multiple parties (such as carriers, agents, and clients).

Insurance agency software is a one-stop solution that helps manage policy lifecycle digitally, improve collaboration between stakeholders, and automate payments to agents.

We’ve prepared this guide to help you select the right insurance agency software for your business. Here’s what we’ve covered:

• What is insurance software?

• What are the deployment options for insurance software?

• What are some common features of insurance software?

What is insurance agency software?

Insurance software helps businesses automate document management, compliance, and payments to process insurance claims. It helps users manage the following aspects of the insurance process:

• Policy management: Manage policy renewal, lapse, adjustment, and cancellation; generate, receive, and attach policy documentation (such as identity proof); link policies to quotes, automate broker commissions, and maintain audit trails. 

• Accounting: Reduce data entry by pulling data from policy forms, track payments and graduated commission structure (incremental increase in commission with an increase in sales volume), split commission tracking (a division of commission between two or more parties). 

• Carrier integration: Integrate with carriers to make changes to policies or post insurance transactions to a carrier website (such as premium payments and claims settlement); work with multiple carriers such as property, general liability, personal auto, and commercial auto. 

• Policy servicing: Give clients 24/7 information access (such as proof of coverage) through online self-service portals; share documents with clients via email and instant messaging and add these documents directly to the workflow. 

What are the deployment options for insurance agency software?

To select the right insurance agency software for your business, you need to understand the deployment options available. Here are the main deployment options for this software:

Cloud-based deployment: Software vendors host the solutions on their own servers or third-party servers. You can access the solution through a desktop or a mobile app. Cloud solutions vendors usually offer a subscription-based pricing model that requires you to pay an annual or monthly fee (per user) to access the software.

On-premise deployment: Businesses host on-premise solutions on their own servers. These can be accessed via a desktop application and are available for a one-time, per-user license fee. However, you might need to spend an additional amount on in-house server hardware and active IT support. 

Key questions to ask your vendor before you buy: What will be the total cost of ownership after including the cost of implementation, additional equipment, and IT support?

What are some common features of insurance agency software?

Once you’ve checked the deployment options, it’s time to learn about the common features of insurance agency software. This information will help you shortlist products according to your requirements.

Here are the common features of insurance (agency) software:

Document management: Digitally sign, email, store, and retrieve documents. Search and track uploaded documents, forms (such as policy forms, ownership change forms, and annuity forms).

Document management in NextAgency

Reports and dashboards: View key metrics such as application rate, claim type, and claimant information through interactive dashboards. Generate and store reports on income, expenses, premiums, receivables; convert reports to formats such as PDF and JPEG.

Insurance dashboard in PolicyFlow

Client management: Create individual client files for storing forms, certificates, e-signatures, and policy data; organize this data into folders for quick annual renewals.

Customer data in NextAgency

Commission management: Create commission plans and policies. Calculate commission based on insurance type and carrier policies; set payment frequency (weekly, biweekly, bimonthly, and monthly) for premiums, renewals, and new policies.

Commission management in NextAgency 

Key questions to ask your vendor before you buy: Other than these features, are there any features in your software that might be useful to my business?

Back to insurance agency software directory

*Note: The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context, and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations, obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.