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  2. Submissions & Quotes

Quotes

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 Smart Q&A 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.

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

quotes on the markets selector

Note: If a market that provided a quote was removed from the Quote request page, or if a submarket that provided a quote was unselected, their documents will be moved to the Documents page.

Once added, a quote can be expanded with a cover page, released, or deleted. It can also be shared 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.

Note: A quote (indication, quote request row) will be highlighted in yellow if it has been recently generated, or its status has recently changed.

Uploading a quote

  • Agency users can upload a quote on behalf of a market after they click Request 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 do not use the Appulate submission type for this insurance line.

Note: The Upload quote button will appear both for the market and submarkets regardless of the root market's submission type.

If you're a market user, the Upload quote button will be displayed as the main action button on the Markets Selector.

uploading a quote

To upload a quote:

  1. Click the three-dot button on the Markets Selector and choose Upload quote from the dropdown list that opens.
  2. Select the file on your computer and click Open.
  3. Fill in the information on the Quote markup and Quote details tabs of the Quote from [Market] page. The Billing plan field is required. Once finished, click Save.

The uploaded quote will appear under the market.

Note: After you have uploaded a quote, click Edit quote in the quote's three-dot menu to edit information on the Quote from [Market] page.

Note: If a market user uploads a quote before clicking Request quote on a non-Appulate market's level, an automatic submission will be performed (the system will react as if a submission has already been made). For now, automatic submission is available only between a submitting company and a market.

 

Adding a cover page

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

Note: You can add a cover page to a quote regardless of its format. You cannot add a cover page to indications.

adding a cover page

To add a cover page:

1. Click Add cover page next to the quote.

Note: The Add cover page button won't be available if the quote has been released.

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. 

Add cover page dialog (Generate tab)

Note: Total Premium is the sum of premium and taxes. This field cannot be edited.

Note: The Remarks field allows up to 2,000 symbols. If the resulting cover amounts to more than one page, all will be added to the quote.

You can format the text you enter in the Remarks field.

  • 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 button (Delete).

add cover page - upload

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

Note: If you've uploaded a cover page but clicked Add on the Generate tab, the cover page will be generated. Click Add on the Upload tab if you want the uploaded cover page to be added. 

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.

Note: Usually, the standard Appulate cover page is added. Custom cover pages are configured for each market individually.

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 three-dot menu. 

 

Editing a cover page

You can only edit generated cover pages.

To edit the added cover page, hover over Cover page and click edit button (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.

edit cover page dialog

Note: Total Premium is the sum of premium and taxes. This field cannot be edited.

The Remarks field will be prefilled with the text previously entered in the Add cover page dialog for this quote.

 

Deleting a cover page

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

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

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Note: You can only delete cover pages your company uploaded. The Delete button won't be available if the quote has been released.

 

Releasing a quote

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

Note: This action is available only to market users.

releasing a quote

To release a quote:

1. Click the Release button in the Action column in the quote row.

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

Note: This agency will be assigned to all quote requests and policies for this insured.

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2. If your market has the Quote release setting enabled (Setup menu> Settings), clicking Release (on the Markets Selector or the Release quote dialog) opens 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). They are attached separately as agents usually add their own cover page when sending the quote to the insured.

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 one you have on the Markets Selector);
  • the cover page and quote as one document. It will be displayed if both the cover page and quote are in pdf.

Send cover letter dialog

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.

Note: The quote will not be released if this letter has not been sent.

Clicking the Cancel or Close buttons in the Send Cover Letter dialog will trigger a warning message: "The quote document will not be released if you do not send a related cover letter. Are you sure you want to close this window and postpone the release?"

 

Deleting a quote

To delete a quote, click the Delete button in the Action column in the quote row.

Note: This action is available only to the company that has uploaded or generated a quote. If a quote has already been sent for signature, the sending will be canceled in this case.

deleting a quote

Quote icons

Quotes may have different icons to indicate some specifics:

image1
  • A quote that has been generated or uploaded by a market user but hasn't been released to the submitter.
  • A quote that has been generated by an agency user.
image3
  • A quote that has been generated or uploaded by a market user and released to the submitter.
  • A quote that has been uploaded by an agency user.
image2

A quote that has been accepted by the insured (even if it wasn't signed).

The Accepted by Insured status can be set automatically when the insured signs the quote. You can also set this status manually. If the status changes from Accepted by Insured (for example, to Requested to Bind), the icon will stay the same.

image4 An indication (a non-binding rate). You will need to make a submission to the underwriter to get a bindable quote.

Status changes

1. After receiving an RFQ 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.

Note: If an agency uploads a quote on behalf of a market, the quote status will be Quote Released on the agency's and market's side.

Both the market users and the agency users can set each of these statuses at any step of the submission process. The set status can also be restored.

status changes-Jan-16-2023-03-21-40-7832-PM

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.