One of SLA’s primary responsibilities is to increase broker compliance, and it is also very important for us to make our brokers’ jobs easier and to be a good corporate citizen. The upgrade from SLIP 1.0 to SLIP 2.0, which is considerably more efficient and user-friendly, is helping SLA fulfill all these responsibilities.
After the nine-month, $275,000 project to upgrade to SLIP 2.0 concluded last August, there has been a major increase in the number of policies being filed electronically with SLA. As of the end of March, SLA is processing more than 15,000 items per month through SLIP, up from 9,000 in the final month of SLIP 1.0. That represents an increase of approximately 67 percent in items filed online.
The growth of online filing by SLA members is crucial in terms of compliance for numerous reasons, and one of the most important is the fact that we know SLIP reduces filing errors and, therefore, reduces tags. We have found that the error rate for paper filings is consistently more than 30 percent, but for batches filed through SLIP, that number plummets below 3 percent. That in itself would be enough to justify the considerable time and expense involved in implementing SLIP 2.0, but consider also the other benefits to brokers:
· Online filing is much more time-efficient than paper filing
· Fewer tags means less time spent identifying and fixing errors
· Tags can be answered online for faster resolution
· Brokers can access data online for their brokerages
· Online payments with credit cards for SLA invoices
· Reports that allow brokers to choose their preferred format
· Filings do not get lost in the mail
· Batch confirmations are sent by e-mail
· Status of submitted batches is available online
In short, by making SLIP easier and more user-friendly, SLA has gotten considerably more brokers to use the system, which in turn saves our members time, money and effort. With the difference in the error rate being so large, additional electronic filing means increased compliance with state laws and regulations, which in turn ensures that California’s insurance consumers are better protected.
It is also important to note that electronic filing ties in with SLA’s ongoing move toward a paperless association. Using less paper reduces our costs for paper products and ink, and every reduction of SLA’s operating costs helps SLA keep the stamping fee low. Because of this and other efficiencies in 2013, SLA was able to keep the stamping fee at 0.2 percent for 2014, and we continue to strive to ensure stability in the fees we must charge to continue processing your business.
Even more importantly, however, SLA’s paperless initiative is helping us to be a good corporate citizen. By using less paper, we are doing our part to help protect the environment; we require fewer trees and we produce less waste.
We are grateful to all of our members who have made the switch to SLIP, and we urge all California surplus line brokers to do so. To sign up for SLIP, please contact Michael Caturegli, our Information Technology manager, at (415) 434-4900, extension 164, or mcaturegli@slacal.org.
After the nine-month, $275,000 project to upgrade to SLIP 2.0 concluded last August, there has been a major increase in the number of policies being filed electronically with SLA. As of the end of March, SLA is processing more than 15,000 items per month through SLIP, up from 9,000 in the final month of SLIP 1.0. That represents an increase of approximately 67 percent in items filed online.
The growth of online filing by SLA members is crucial in terms of compliance for numerous reasons, and one of the most important is the fact that we know SLIP reduces filing errors and, therefore, reduces tags. We have found that the error rate for paper filings is consistently more than 30 percent, but for batches filed through SLIP, that number plummets below 3 percent. That in itself would be enough to justify the considerable time and expense involved in implementing SLIP 2.0, but consider also the other benefits to brokers:
· Online filing is much more time-efficient than paper filing
· Fewer tags means less time spent identifying and fixing errors
· Tags can be answered online for faster resolution
· Brokers can access data online for their brokerages
· Online payments with credit cards for SLA invoices
· Reports that allow brokers to choose their preferred format
· Filings do not get lost in the mail
· Batch confirmations are sent by e-mail
· Status of submitted batches is available online
In short, by making SLIP easier and more user-friendly, SLA has gotten considerably more brokers to use the system, which in turn saves our members time, money and effort. With the difference in the error rate being so large, additional electronic filing means increased compliance with state laws and regulations, which in turn ensures that California’s insurance consumers are better protected.
It is also important to note that electronic filing ties in with SLA’s ongoing move toward a paperless association. Using less paper reduces our costs for paper products and ink, and every reduction of SLA’s operating costs helps SLA keep the stamping fee low. Because of this and other efficiencies in 2013, SLA was able to keep the stamping fee at 0.2 percent for 2014, and we continue to strive to ensure stability in the fees we must charge to continue processing your business.
Even more importantly, however, SLA’s paperless initiative is helping us to be a good corporate citizen. By using less paper, we are doing our part to help protect the environment; we require fewer trees and we produce less waste.
We are grateful to all of our members who have made the switch to SLIP, and we urge all California surplus line brokers to do so. To sign up for SLIP, please contact Michael Caturegli, our Information Technology manager, at (415) 434-4900, extension 164, or mcaturegli@slacal.org.
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