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Transactional Processing
The Transactional Processing feature provides an easy way to update client and policy information and to maintain a history of the changes. Additionally, the Transactional Processing window enables you to perform a variety of transactions from one page. For example, you can reinstate a policy, generate a customer letter and an invoice, and create a followup, all in a single transaction.
Transactional Processing must first be set up in Main System Setup. See Transactional Categories Setup for more information.
Accessing Transactional Processing
Access the Transactional Processing window through any of the following methods. You can access Transactional Processing and then select a customer and policy, or find the policy first and then access Transactional Processing.
To open Transactional Processing first:
You must select a customer and policy from the Transactional Processing window. See the Find a Client and Policy section below.
To open Transactional Processing from Customer Information:
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Right-click a policy and select Trans Processing, or
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Select a policy and press F4, or
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Open a policy by double-clicking, then press F4.
The Transactional Processing window opens with the customer and policy information loaded.
Find a Client and Policy
If you opened Transactional Processing from the Main Menu (or by pressing F4), the Transaction Categories list is disabled, and you cannot perform any actions until you select a client and policy. There are two ways to load client and policy information.
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If you know the policy number, enter it in the Policy # field.
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Press Enter on your keyboard. A list of policies with that number is displayed.
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Select the appropriate policy and click OK.
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Click Find to search for the client. In the Find Client window, define the search as follows:
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Select the client status (Clients, Prospects, Inactive, or All).
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Select the field you want to use for the search. Generally you will search by Name.
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Enter the search criteria. When searching using the Name field, enter the first letter of the insured’s name or a part of the name, and select Use Contains Search.
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If you have multiple agencies, select an agency or select All Agencies You Have Access To.
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When finished entering criteria, click Find.
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In the client list, double-click a record to select the client.
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The Policy List window opens. Double-click to select the policy.
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If the policy is not on the list, try changing the policy list display by clicking All Policies.
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If you are attempting to process a transaction on a Quote status policy, you will have to change the policy list display to All Policies view in order to select the policy.
The client information fields display data for the selected policy. These fields are informational only.
You are now ready to select a category to begin a transaction.
Select a Transaction Category
Once you have selected the client and policy, you are ready to initiate a transaction.
Begin a transaction by selection a Transaction Category from the list on the left. Each Transaction Category (TC) has a name and is associated with an action, such as "Edit Client Information" or "Change Policy Status" ( ). Agencies can customize the names of the TCs and select the actions that are associated with each one.
Because each agency defines its own Transaction Categories, it is not possible to list here the specific items you will see, or which item you should select to perform a certain type of transaction.
The actions that can be associated with a Transaction Category are defined by InStar. To read more about how each action functions, please see Transactional Processing Category Actions.
To process a transaction:
Select a Transaction Category by clicking it.
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As soon as you select a transaction category, InStar begins performing the action associated with the category. In some cases, there might be no prompts before the action is performed. For example, if you select a transaction category that changes the policy status to Dead, the policy information is immediately updated. Be sure you understand what actions a transaction category will perform before you click it.
Depending on the action associated with the selected transaction category, additional windows open for you to enter information necessary to complete the transaction. Because the Transaction Categories are customizable by agency, it is not possible to describe every situation in detail here. Please see Transactional Processing Category Actions for additional information about the actions that could be associated with a Transaction Category.
The following information applies only if there are open Policy Change Requests (PCRs) for one of the following policy types: Personal Auto, Personal Dwelling, Personal Watercraft, or Personal Umbrella.
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If an endorsement is related to one of the policy change requests, double-click the PCR to open it, otherwise click No PCR. If the policy has not already been updated by this policy change request, it is updated before the program displays the policy declaration window.
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Once appropriate edits are complete, click Save. If a policy change request has been selected (regardless of when it updated the policy declaration), you are prompted to mark the policy change request as completed. Click Yes to complete the PCR, which causes the PCR to display as completed on the client’s Policy Change Request List window.
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Sections on either the Personal Lines Package Policy or the Commercial Policy can only be accessed after clicking Save.
You might also be prompted to create or modify a followup, or create a letter or invoice.
Once you have entered the information in the additional windows and responded to any prompts, InStar updates the customer or policy information. Additionally, a transaction history record is created for the customer. For most types of transactions, you can double-click the transactional history record to view details. See Transactional History.
