Mandatory Electronic Document Submission Is Now Live

Effective Thursday, January 24, 2013, agents must upload all personal lines ePAS policy submissions through the Electronic Document Submission (EDS) system. This includes all new-business applications and the associated required documents, as well as policy changes, cancellations and other similar requests. Citizens announced this requirement earlier in IE #001-13: Personal Residential Policies: Mandatory Electronic Document Submission and Upcoming Training.

Citizens has enhanced the EDS system to provide a more efficient new-business submission process. Agents will receive validation when they have uploaded all the required documentation for an application. The application then will be auto-approved or sent for underwriting review.

This will reduce unnecessary follow-ups, and administrative costs and will shorten overall processing time.

EDS enhancements include:

• A document upload ”staging” area for awaiting documents
• An individual folder per document for easy identification
• An Upload/View Documents link to view documents already uploaded
• A document upload summary report
• A Refresh button for real-time status of uploads

Note: A future release will increase the document upload limit from five to seven documents.

Refer to IE #001-13 for a description of the EDS enhancements, and review the updated online tutorials, printable training materials and reference sheets.

Reminders for Agents:

• Applications will be sent for underwriting review only after all required documents are uploaded.
• Policies rewritten using the Copy/Rewrite function on or after January 24, 2013, are subject to this submission process.
• Please ensure that all submitted documents are current and accurate for each new-business application submission. Underwriting does not transfer documents from a previous policy to a new application.
• Citizens’ fax numbers no longer will be available for submitting required documents.
• Please share this important information with all agency staff to ensure compliance.