Quotes

Overview

A quote is a document that is issued by the carrier. It contains the terms and conditions on which a policy will be provided, as well as its premium, limits, and deductibles, and other relevant information.

You can compare different quotes and request to bind the most suitable one, after which it becomes a policy.

Some markets may provide indications. An indication is a non-binding rate that contains preliminary information on the premium. If you want a policy on these terms, you first need to get a bindable quote by answering further questions and submitting it to the underwriter on the Quote request page or the market's website. However, you can mark as indication as bound within Appulate. 

In Appulate, quotes and indications are located on the Quote request page. All quotes that are available for your company and insured are also shown on the Compare quotes page.

You can add quotes to Appulate whether you are an agency user or a market user. The buttons used to perform actions upon quotes are located in the Action column:

• you can get a quote using the Get instant quote button (this applies to markets with auto-quote generation, indicated by the flash in the market's icon)
• you can upload a quote using the Upload quote button.

Once added, a quote can be expanded with a cover page, released, or deleted. You can also share it with the insured so that they could compare the quotes and decide which one they would like to request to bind.

A quote or indication's status changes in accordance with the actions performed upon them.

Uploading a quote

You can upload a quote:

• by clicking Upload quote on the Quote request page;
• by clicking Add quote on the Compare quotes page.

On the Quote request page,

• Agency users can upload a quote on behalf of a market after they click Start quote on this market's level. It is applicable to markets with both Appulate and non-Appulate submission types.
• Market users can upload a quote after receiving an agency's or another market's (MGA) request for a quote, or on behalf of other markets if these markets don't use the Appulate submission type for this insurance line.

To upload a quote:

1. Click the menu near a market you want to upload a quote for on the Quote request page and choose Upload quote from the dropdown list.
2. Select the file and click Open.
3. Fill in the quote's information on the Quote markup and Quote details tabs of the Quote from [Market] page. This information includes the billing plan, premium, taxes, broker fee, effective and expiration date, and other details. You can choose a generated or a custom quote name. The Billing plan field is required. Once finished, click Save.

The uploaded quote will appear under the market.

To edit an uploaded quote's information, click Edit quote in the quote's menu and edit information on the Quote from [Market] page.

Naming an uploaded quote

When you upload or edit an uploaded quote, you can select either a generated or a custom name for it:

• Generated file name is set according to the quote's insurance line template. It includes Quote number, limits, and Premium (with Taxes and surcharges). Their values are taken from the information you've provided for this quote. If you change these values anywhere in Appulate, the quote's name will be automatically regenerated to include the updates.

• Custom file name is the original file name. You can change it by clicking (Rename). The name cannot be empty.

You can switch between these naming options by clicking (Switch) on the Quote markup and Quote details tabs, at any time.

Adding a cover page

After a quote has been uploaded or generated, both agency and market users can generate or upload a quote cover page.

To add a cover page:

1. Click Add cover page next to the quote.

2. This opens the Add cover page dialog, where you can generate or upload a cover page:

• To generate a cover page, fill in the information on the Generate tab. 

• To upload a cover page, choose it from your files or drag & drop it on the Upload tab. There aren't any file type restrictions for uploaded cover pages.

Once you've uploaded the cover page, a preview may be available if its file type allows it. Otherwise, the tab will display "Preview not available".

You can delete the uploaded cover page there and then by clicking (Delete).

3. Once ready, click Add. The cover page will be added to the quote.

If you've generated the cover page, its name will include the quote's name, so that if you release or share several quotes with cover pages at once, you'll be able to discern between them.

You can release or share a quote and its cover page separately, or as one document. The merged quote and cover page document will be available if both the cover page and quote have the .pdf format.

The cover page's name will change if you change the quote's name.

To download the cover page, click Cover page. Hovering over the Cover page button displays additional actions: Edit (only for generated cover pages) and Delete.

You can download a cover page added by the company you've received the quote from by clicking Download received cover page in the quote's menu  . 

Editing a cover page

To edit the added cover page, hover over Cover page and click (Edit). The Edit button won't be available if the quote has been released.

• Clicking Edit will open the Edit cover page dialog.
• Once ready, click Edit in the dialog.

Deleting a cover page

To delete a cover page, hover over it and click (Delete).

• This will open a confirmation dialog.
• Click Delete to confirm.

Releasing a quote

After adding a cover page, market users can release the quote.

To release a quote:

1. Click Release on the Quote request page.

On the Compare quotes page, you can click Release quote to release one quote, or select multiple quotes and click Release in the group actions to release them all at once.

If no agency is assigned to this quote request, you'll see the Release quote (Release indication) dialog. Select an agency from the Agency dropdown and click Release.

2. If your market has the Quote release setting enabled (Setup menu > Settings), clicking Release quote or Release (on the Quote request page, the Release quote dialog, or the Compare quotes page) will open the Send Cover Letter dialog, where:

• if specified, the agency's contact will be included in the To field (1 in the figure below). If absent, this field is left empty;
• you can choose between a default or a custom template if it's available (2). You can add a custom template in the Setup menu > Email Templates;
• the current quote and, if available, your market's cover page are attached as separate documents (3). If you're releasing multiple quotes (from the Compare quotes page), all will be attached, including their cover pages.

By default, a quote and its cover page are attached separately, as agents usually add their own cover page when sending the quote to the insured. However, you can also release a quote and its cover page as one document by selecting it in other attachments.

You can choose other attachments by clicking Add Existing. This opens the Quotes and indications dialog (4), which contains:

• your market's cover page;
• the quote or indication;
• the cover page and quote as one document. It will be displayed if both the cover page and quote are in pdf.

If you enter an email address that doesn't exist in the submitting agency in the To field, and this agency has the Control of agency users by markets setting enabled, the Add contact dialog will appear:

• A new agency viewer will be added when you click Add in the dialog, even if you don't send the email.
• The email will still be sent to the new email address, even if it's impossible to create a new viewer in the submitting agency.

3. Once you compose the letter, click Send. The following will happen:

• the letter is sent to the recipient (Producer or CSR);
• the quote is automatically released, appearing under a market or submarket row on the submitter's side (agency's or MGA's).
• the agency (MGA) user will receive an email notifying them that the quote has been prepared and released with the corresponding quote attached.

Deleting a quote

Quote details

You can view and enter a quote's limits, deductibles, rating, coverage and terms & conditions in the Quote details dialog. To open it, click on a quote's level.

You can also set your preferable details for all quotes within the selected insurance line on the Insured tab:

• in the Preferable Policy Details or Policy information section for mono-line quote requests with the default insurance line form;
• in the Package information section for Package quote requests.

These preferable details will be prefilled in your company's quote requests to markets within this insurance line. However, you can always set market-specific policy details via the Quote Details dialog or on the Market Smart Q&A page.

Quote icons

Quotes may have different icons to indicate some specifics:

Status changes

1. After receiving a quote request from an agency, the market uploads a quote but does not release it. This quote is available on the market's side only, and its status is Quote Prepared.

2. The market releases the quote. The quote status on the market's side is Quote Released, and its status on the agency's side is Quote Prepared.

3. After the agency sends the quote to the insured, the status on both sides changes to Sent to Insured. If the market sends the quote, the status does not change. If you delete the uploaded quote and send an email without attachments, the quote status will not change.

4. The insured can accept or decline the quote. The quote status will change to Declined by Insured or Accepted by Insured. If the insured has signed a quote, the status will also be Accepted by Insured. The quote can also be declined by the agency, setting the status to Declined by Producer.

Information about quotes is logged on the Activity page accessed via the Quote request page and the Activity Log page accessed via the Activity menu.