Adopting eDocs – what are you waiting for?

A lot of brokers are still taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude to switching from paper files to eDocuments. Does it work? Will it work better? Will it only be one more frustrating filing system that ultimately creates more work?

Adopting eDocs – what are you waiting for?

Industry insights

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A lot of brokers are still taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude to switching from paper files to eDocuments. Does it work? Will it work better? Will it only be one more frustrating filing system that ultimately creates more work?

It works, it is easy, and it will save time and money, says one broker-owner who participated in the pilot project on RSA Canada's EZ-Docs solution, which recently received Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) eDocs Certification.

“We’ve been using eDocs for a couple of years ago,” says Rima Dresher, the owner and general manager of Affiliated Insurance Management Inc., in Oakville, Ont. “There were immediate results once we got it up and running. It’s been great, and I don’t know why any broker wouldn’t take advantage of it.”

For Dresher, she was struck by the simplicity of using eDocs.

“All we have to do is open an activity log and we see our documents,” she says. “I don’t have to go into the portal; I don’t have to wait to log on – not to mention if something goes wrong and you have to wait while the customer is on the phone.

“With eDocs, the time savings have been tremendous,” says Dresher. “And the space, not having to sort paper files.”

For Affiliated Insurance Management, the push to get away from paper wasn’t originally driven by an eagerness for eDocs.

“That was being pushed because we had no space left,” laughs Dresher. “You are letting go of old habits and we started relying on our EDI (electronic data interchange) transactions instead of going and finding a piece of paper, looking at it and comparing it.” (continued.)
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For those brokers who may still be hanging on tightly to paper, the formatting of eDocs is designed to make it more familiar, says Dresher.

“That’s the reason they developed eDocs in the first place, brokers still rely on looking at that piece of paper when explaining a policy to a client,” she says. “So they gave us that paper look in electronic format.”

And taking advantage of EDI makes for – what has been the case so far for Dresher’s brokerage – a better filing system.

“I haven’t seen an EDI go wrong,” says Dresher, “but if it did, it won’t impact your bottom line. And those documents are stored on your system for seven years. And they won’t get lost because they’ve been mislabelled or place in the wrong box. It’s always there.”

Now, if a client calls in and has questions about their policy, it is easier to call up the eDoc and to look at it and explain what it is they have concerns about.

“And if I need to show them the policy, all I have to do is forward it,” she says. “It is instantaneous.”

Broker reluctance to embrace eDocs may be coloured by some sour experiences with previous and current Business Management System technologies.

“If you can navigate your own Broker Management System, you can use eDocs,” she says. “If anyone is doing attachments to a customer file, scanning the client file, that is exactly what you’re doing. And it is no more complex than a download. It comes in every day, and it attaches to your customer file.” (continued.)
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A major concern of brokers is the safety and security of conducting business online, and ensuring the privacy of their clients’ personal information.

But in reality, Dresher points out, every broker has been exposed to that danger as soon as they opened an email account.

“You’ve got to be concerned about all of your transactions coming in,” she says. “You’ve got your EDI, and most brokers are using EDI. There are ways to address that, through proper firewalls and security. But, if you are going to think that way, then everything in your broker management system is open to a potential cyber hack.”

But for many brokers, the proof remains in the pudding – or in this case, in the ‘doing.’

“Maybe brokers just need to see it in action before they adopt it,” says Dresher. “Maybe they can’t understand the concept or how it works, but definitely that might help another broker, to be walked through the process, and to see how it works and how to access that eDoc. It is the easiest thing in the world.”

Still not sure?  Look for the upcoming Expert Advice video on eDocs, coming soon to Expert Advice TV.

 

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