Paperless Savings

The iconic image of a broker’s desk cluttered with stacks of insurance applications, policy word-ings and billing statements is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Less paper exchanged among brokers, carriers and their clients means more efficient workflows that allow for real-time, in-stantaneous transactions.

While the most obvious benefits of adopting paperless workflows are less printing, faxing, scanning and mailing, there are several other important benefits brokers can enjoy by moving to a paperless environment.

With the proliferation of personal computers, mobile devices and the Internet, clients now ex-pect to receive information right away, and hav-ing a paperless office is a key element in meeting those client expectations.

Through paperless activities, brokers are able to accelerate their business processes and provide an improved client experience by delivering sub-stantial time savings, thereby helping to meet the growing demands of clients for rapid service.

Enhanced security is another key benefit a paper-less office provides. Locked cabinets can be broken into, but with the right computer security software

and procedures in place, a paperless office can add several layers of security to keep unauthorized in-dividuals from gaining access to sensitive material.

Role-based security and permissions can also be added — companies can provide certain em-ployees with the capability to read, write, modify and delete specific files, something that is much more difficult to do with a paper-based system. With well-managed electronic storage, there is also better disaster recovery and back-up of files.

When a paper file is destroyed in a fire, for ex-ample, there is no chance of recovering that piece of paper. But if a digital file is accidentally deleted, it can usually be recovered with the correct infor-mation management procedures in place.

The labour savings of a paperless office are also considerable. Paper requires a great deal of time and labour to organize, file and retrieve. Working with digital files is much quicker for employees.

Retrieval of information is almost immediate in a well-managed paperless office. Electronic data can also be accessible from remote sites to many individuals at the same time, making remote col-laboration and working with off-site colleagues much faster.

Catherine Smola President and Chief Executive Officer,Centre for Study of Insurance Operations

Going paperless offers the promise of some significant efficiencies and costs savings. Combining different solutions, however, can provide brokers the biggest bang for the buck.

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The Insurance Institute of CanadaThe professional educational arm of the industry.www.insuranceinstitute.ca

Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.Dedicated to advancing the practiceof effective risk management.www.rims.org

CLAIMS ADJUSTING FIRMSCrawford & Company (Canada) Inc.Enhancing the customer experience,every day.www.crawfordandcompany.com

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creating a seamless paperless insurance transaction than simply obtaining a digi-tal signature, which contributes signifi-cantly to a paperless workflow.

HARD SAVINGSA broker can measure the dollar savings that have been gained through adopting a paperless workflow. For example, a broker on average may do the following:•receive100policiesadayfrominsurers;•payanadministrativesupportemploy-

ee$16/hourtogather,organizeandar-chive policy documents (spending four hoursadayonthistask);

•spend $100/month on documentshreddinganddisposal;and

•spend$100/monthonexternaldocu-ment storage.Using eDocs to establish a paperless

workflow, this sample broker can realize morethan$18,000inannualcostsav-ingsand125workdaysintimesavings.These savings are in addition to the cost of postage and mailing. Consider that the cost of mailing a standard letter in Can-adasoared35%in2014,from63centsto85cents.

Using the CSIO eDocs Savings Cal-culator allows brokers to calculate the potential time and cost savings of eDocs for their own brokerage.

In addition to the aforementioned costs, it is important to consider the cost asso-ciated with obtaining signatures on pa-per documents. “A study in the (United States)estimatedthatthereare30billionpaper documents copied or printed an-nually, and when you factor in the cost of copying, scanning, archiving, routing and retrieving lost documents, the estimate was that each paper signature costs around $6.50,” says Daniel Fabiano, a partnerat Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and author of the CSIO eSignatures Advisory Report. “There’s no reason to think that the cost per signature would be any different in Canada;infact,itcouldbehigher.”

SOFT SAVINGSBut there are also soft savings that cannot be so easily translated to specific dollars, such as response time and increased client satisfaction.

One could argue that a paperless en-vironment can even improve employee morale. With employees no longer spend-ing time on tasks such as sorting and filing paper, they are able to spend their time more productively.

A paperless office may also be ben-eficial in attracting promising new hires who are drawn to workplaces that are innovative and efficient, leveraging tech-nology and tools to support a paperless workflow.

POSITIVE GROWTHPaperless benefits have been demonstrat-ed. Thanks to emerging technologies, paperless offices are growing in popu-larity and companies are experiencing substantial time and cost savings, while at the same time decreasing their envi-ronmental footprint.

Technology solutions developed by the Centre for the Study of Insurance Opera-tions (CSIO) — combining eDocs, eSigna-tures, CSIOnet and CSIO industry forms — seek to work individually (but pref-erably combined) to help brokers reach the goal of a paperless environment.

Serving as a cornerstone of a bro-kerage’s paperless workflow, the eDocs standard allows policy documents (usu-ally PDFs) to be downloaded directly from an insurer’s system to a broker man-agement system (BMS) via CSIOnet and automatically attaches transmitted documents to the client file in the BMS.

Beyond eDocs, though, further effi-ciencies can be gained by implementing eSignatures, the process of obtaining an electronic signature from a client. eSigna-tures produce digital signatures that are authentic, verifiable, tamper-proof and legally compliant.

The notion that physical insurance documents need to be signed for most types of contracts is actually a miscon-ception, not a legal requirement.

Published in November 2013, theCSIO eSignatures Advisory Report explains that businesses can use eSignatures for most internal and external documentation, eliminating the need to print, scan, fax and shred documents.

Electronic signatures are more about

“I’ve been using eDocs together with eSignatures sinceearly2014,and theytie in quite well together,” says GordThompson, an account executive at Christie-Phoenix Insurance, based in British Columbia. “Instead of chasing clients around for statements of values or letters of brokerage, and sometimes waiting weeks, I’ll now get them back in10minutes.It’sanight-and-daydif-ference,”ThompsonsaysofeSignatures.

Clients also increasingly prefer the con-venience of receiving a digital file and are not demanding paper as frequently.

“From a client perspective, eDocs are becoming more common because I’ve noticed clients don’t want the hard cop-ies anymore,” he says. “It’s easier forthem to record it on their phone, pull it up on their tablet, refer to it electroni-cally...that’swhattheircomfortlevelis.”

NET & FORMSEfforts to create a paperless environment can be further enhanced with CSIOnet, which transmits data between insurance industry trading partners, namely bro-kers and insurers.

And although it might seem counter-intuitive because of their long-time as-sociation with paper, CSIO forms actu-ally contribute to the paperless workflow as well. Although for many the word “form” conjures up images of paper,more and more forms are being inte-grated into BMSs, using the vendor’s own user interface.

Their appearance may be different on screen, but the forms can help brokers achieve a paperless workflow by using data standards, which CSIO develops and maintains for the industry in col-laboration with its members in working groups. This standardized forms data is then efficiently transmitted between the broker and insurer over CSIOnet.

CSIO will continue its work on other initiatives to support the paperless work-flow. A strong foundation for eDocs has been built for personal lines, and as more insurers adopt the solution for com-mercial lines, the paperless workflow can be achieved for commercial business as well.

Putting the pieces together.

Events and Seminars CalendarYou work hard to protect your clients’ property. Now, it’s time to ensure that you apply the same kind of energy and commitment to your own success. CIP Society Events and Seminars give you the opportunity to learn,to network, to catch up on industry developments and to think about your career.

CIP Society Events:

Halifax – Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 9

Edmonton – Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 14

Hamilton – Volleyball Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 27

Brooklin, ON – Beach Volleyball Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 4

Toronto – Indoor Beach Volleyball Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 30

Edmonton – Battle of the Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 7

North Bay – Curling Bonspiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 30

Keeping you at the forefront of the P&C industry.

The CIP Society. MEMBERS BENEFIT.www.insuranceinstitute.ca/cipsociety

Professional Development Courses:

Vancouver – Essential Management Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 24-26

Vancouver – Think on Your Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 7-8

Edmonton – Think on Your Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 21-22

Edmonton – Building Better Relationships at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 23

Calgary – Think on Your Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 28-29

Winnipeg – Essential Management Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 4-6

Ottawa – Essential Management Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 11-13

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