As an insurance agency, you no doubt spend a good deal of time sending, signing and receiving contracts. This process can be surprisingly complicated, especially with deadlines, a lack of scanners or faxes, and recent changes to contract privacy and security policies. It can be hard enough to get a client to agree to a contract, so you want to make the process quick, yet you still need to take the time to ensure compliance with legal regulations and protect client information.
Your solution lies in electronic signature and delivery verification apps. These cloud applications take the hassle out of scanning and faxing contracts for signatures, and keep all sensitive information stored securely and up to legal regulations. As an insurance agency, you no doubt spend a good deal of time sending, signing and receiving contracts.Using email to obtain signatures is becoming the standard, especially since secure email methods are available, and using e-sign methods will speed up the contract process to save you time and money.
No matter which app you chose, be sure to check its compliance with guidelines set by ESIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act) and UETA (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act). The examples we’ve selected are all ESIGN and UETA compliant, and should be used as one option for your clients. Although it is likely most will chose to sign contracts via email, in order to stay within privacy regulations you should always offer hard copy signing as an option, too.
DocuSign
True to its name, DocuSign allows for easy document signing via email. The app is easy to use and has a reputation for being a more cost-efficient choice than others. It synchs with file storage applications like DropBox or Google Drive, making it easy for you to drop pre and post signatures contracts in these secure locations. When sending, DocuSign allows for different types of what they call “envelopes,” including requesting delivery confirmation or allowing the recipients to make changes to a document.
DocuSign’s standouts are the ability to have multiple signers and showing detailed stages of completion. If multiple people are signing one document, DocuSign allows you to add tabs for each recipient with a unique recipient ID. Once you’ve sent your document , DocuSign lets you know when it has been sent, viewed, edited (if applicable), signed, declined or even if it bounced-back with an auto-respond. Seeing these various statues let you know your next steps immediately, so you won’t be waiting for a contract that a client hasn’t even seen.
Silanis
With Silanis, you get greater visual proof of a document’s stages as it shows you the appearance and order of all web screens seen by the recipient, including legal disclosures presented. Silanis also tracks time spent on each page and the actions taken on each page (i.e. clicking to accept, signing, initialing, confirming, etc.). Having such detailed information bolsters your E & O compliance greatly.
For extra security, Silanis uses SMS messaging to confirm a signer’s identity. When the document is sent, a 4-digit code required for signing is also sent to the recipient’s phone. If a client prefers in-person signatures, Silanis is functional on tablets or smartphones to allow for touch-screen signing. Also, Silanis has a great integration edition designed to synch easily with your agency’s current applications.
RPost
One of the more well-known e-signature apps, RPost is certified to provide legal proof of email delivery and is part of Partner XE 2.0’s Outlook integration. Once you’ve installed RPost, you can easily send secure messaged simply by clicking “send registered mail” on your email service. After sending a secure message, you’ll receive an acknowledgement email from RPost letting you know when it was delivered along with a registered receipt that is automatically filed within the RPost system.
RPost has a special eContract mode specifically designed for sending and e-signing contracts. In this mode, you can attach a Word doc which is automatically converted to a PDF for secure, tamper-free sending. Once sent, a recipient can click anywhere to type in the designated text fields and can use their mouse to securely sign the document.
Due to RPost’s easy integration with Outlook, we’ve included it as part of Partner XE 2.0 so you can easily attach contracts to profiles within your agency management system. With this integration, every step from prospect to contracted client is synched in one place. SIS client John Heinsz of Heinsz-Schaefer-Garwitz Insurance Services uses the RPost integration, saying “(t)he most immediate impact has been the use of the Esignature feature. Our producers immediately saw the time savings with this feature and have loved it…Now, instead of having to send a PDF and have our client print it, sign it, scan it and send it back to us… we can have our client esign it…and then save the final document either as a PDF or as part of the email saved with the Outlook PlugIn.”
To find out more about how to use XE’s RPost integration, contact us at 800.747.9273 or [email protected].
