Add Appointment Counties

Florida individual resident producers need a state appointment as well as an appointment in the county of their residence. Individual non-resident producers who represent insurance products in Florida without actually being there in person, such as telesales or call center agents, need only a Florida state appointment. However non-residents who are physically in Florida marketing and selling insurance lines need an appointment in every county in which they do business, as well as a Florida state appointment.

You may submit a county appointment together with a state appointment on the Add Appointments page. Or, you may use the Add Appointment Counties page to submit a county appointment request to a state, subsequent to a state appointment.

ClosedView screen capture of appointment data entry

ClosedView screen capture of appointment transaction confirmation

To open the Add Appointment Counties page, click the Add New Appointment Counties link in the Appointment Counties sub-section of the Appointments section of a producer record that is open in the Review/Update Producer page.

The Add Appointment Counties page contains the following sections:

ClosedRecord Summary

Displays summary information of the producer record currently open for review and/or updating.

ClosedView screen capture

Fields and controls in the Record Summary section include the following:

  • Search Producer: Click the link to start a new search for a producer record. For more information, see Searching for Records.
  • [Producer Name]: Displays the name of the individual or firm producer whose record currently is open in theReview/Update Producerpage. An icon to the left of the producer name signifies the producer's entity type, either individual () or firm ().Click the producer name link to refresh the producer record that is currently open in the Review/Update Producer page or to re-open the producer's record in the Review/Update Producer page from any other page in the system.
  • Rating: If a producer has been assigned a productivity rating (no stars, meaning “not rated;” one star, “poor;” two stars, “satisfactory;” three stars, “good;” four stars, “outstanding;” or the symbol signifying a “Do Not Contract” alert), the display-only rating will appear to the right of the producer’s name.
  • SSN: Individual producers only. Displays an individual producer's Social Security Number. The Social Security Number can be set per security role to mask the first five digits and display only the last four digits. For more information, see Maintain Security Role.
  • EIN: Firm producers only. Displays a firm producer's Federal Employer Identification Number.
  • External System ID: Displays the producer's identifier code in the external system that has been Vertafore-configured as your company's "preferred" system. For more information, see External System IDs, Configuration Options, and Advanced Producer Search.
  • Active BU: Displays the short name of the business units to which a producer is actively assigned (sorted alphabetically). To expand the field to display all active business units, click the node ().
  • NPN: Displays a producer's unique National Producer Number, assigned by the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR).
  • Resident State/License: Displays the codes of the states that a producer claims as a resident state for licensing purposes (sorted alphabetically) and the producer's license numbers in those states. Includes active or inactive licenses. To expand the field to display all resident states and license numbers, click the node ().
  • Additional States/Licenses: Displays the codes of the states in which the producer holds non-resident licenses (sorted alphabetically) and the license numbers in those states. Includes active or inactive licenses. To expand the field to display all resident states and license numbers, click the node ().
  • Producer Contracting Workflow: If your company uses the onboarding and maintenance transaction component of the Sircon Platform, Producer Express, and a producer currently is associated with a request record in Producer Express, you can click the number in the field to launch Producer Express and view or work with the request record. (For more information, see the Sircon Producer Express Online Help.)
  • Missing Required Information Alert: Displays an alert that the producer record lacks information that has been configured to be required in your company's deployment of the Sircon Platform. A producer record deficient of required information is considered "incomplete," and appointment or termination requests may not be submitted for the producer until the deficiency is corrected. Review the Quick Links box to identify and correct the specific details sections in the record with missing required information. For more information, see Configuration Options.
  • CE Compliance: Display-only indication of a producer’s unfulfilled continuing education requirements. Indication will not appear if producer is current with continuing education requirements. Available by Vertafore configuration only; for more information, seeConfiguration Options.

ClosedCurrent State Appointment

Displays a table listing existing appointment information for the selected producer in the selected appointment state.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • NAIC ID: For each appointment listed, displays the appointing company's National Association of Insurance Commissioners identifier.

  • Company:  For each appointment listed, displays the appointing company's name.

  • Appointment Type: For each appointment listed, displays the state-specific description of the appointment type.

  • Tied to an Application:  For each appointment listed, displays a checkmark if the appointment is related to a state license application for the selected producer. Displays no checkmark if the appointment is not related to a state license application.

  • Status: For each appointment listed, displays the current status of the appointment, either Active or Inactive. (Note that Pending status will display as Active.)

ClosedEffective Date

Set the effective date for the selected producer's county appointment.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • Effective Date: Required. May default to the current date. If you are submitting an electronic county appointment request, enter the date on which you are requesting the appointment to become effective, subject to state backdating or system future-dating rules. Or, if you are adding a record-only appointment, enter the date on which the producer appointment became effective. Use the mmddyyyy date format, or click the Calendar button () to open a popup calendar from which you can click to select a date.

ClosedSubmission Method

Choose the method by which you want to submit an appointment request or add "record-only" appointment information for the selected producer.

Note that if you leave the default Electronic Processing option selected, the system automatically will choose the best allowable processing method for each state, with the exception of Florida outsourced individual appointments. (See Notes and Tips, below.)

Choose from among the following:

  • Electronic Processing: Default. Click the radio button to trigger the system to submit the county appointment request to a state electronically. The Appointments data section of the selected producer record will be updated automatically with system and state processing information, including state approvals, denials, and errors.

  • Paper: Required for Florida outsourced individual producer county appointments only. SeeNotes, below. Click the radio button to trigger the system to send the appointment request to a holding queue for processing by Vertafore Outsourcing Services.

  • Record Only: Click the radio button to trigger the system to only update the Appointments data section of the selected producer record with county appointment information. The system will not submit an appointment request to a state, and state regulators may not have a record of the county appointment.

ClosedCost Center

Offers edit fields you can use to select a cost center to which to assign the cost of a county appointment request submitted to a state.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • State Cost Center: From the dropdown menu, select a cost center to which to globally apply the costs of all appointment requests that you are submitting to the selected state in this transaction. Your selection will automatically populate the Cost Center fields displaying in the Companies sub-section. If only one cost center has been configured in your user account for the producer's business unit, it will display as the only option.

  • Companies: Sub-section displays a table listing all appointing companies selected in the Appointing Companies field in the State and Appointing Companies section. Fields and controls include the following:

  • NAIC ID: For each appointing company listed, displays the appointing company's National Association of Insurance Commissioners identifier.

  • Company: For each appointing company listed, displays its name.

  • Cost Center: By default, displays the selected value of the State Cost Center dropdown menu. If multiple cost centers have been configured in your user account for the producer's business unit, you may override the default selection on an individual appointment basis by selecting a different option.

ClosedLicense

For a state that requires license information to be included in an appointment request, displays a table listing one or multiple licenses held the selected producer in the state to which you are submitting a county appointment request. Allows you to select the state license you wish to include in the county appointment request. If the selected producer has only one license in the appointment state, it will be selected by default and cannot be unselected.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • : Click to select the radio button that corresponds to the license you wish to include in the county appointment request. Maximum one license per appointment transaction.

  • License: For each license listed, displays its description.

  • Status: For each license listed, displays its current status on the producer's record in Producer Manager.

  • Status Date: For each license listed, displays the date on which the value of the Status field last was updated.

  • License Number: For each license listed, displays its license number.

ClosedSelect Appointment Counties

Offers data input fields to submit one or multiple county appointments.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • : Click to checkmark the checkbox corresponding to one or multiple counties to which you want to submit an appointment request for the selected producer.

  • Select All Counties: Click to checkmark the checkboxes corresponding to all counties displaying in the Appoint in the following counties field.

  • Unselect All Counties: Click to uncheckmark the checkboxes corresponding to all counties displaying in the Appoint in the following counties field.

ClosedComments

Offers an input field to enter a free-form text comment.

Fields and controls include the following:

  • Comment: Enter a text comment. Maximum 2000 characters.

ClosedPage Controls

Fields and controls include the following:

  • Save: Click to submit a county appointment request or save a record-only appointment. The appointment confirmation page of the "wizard" will open.

  • Next: Click to validate data entered on the current page and open the successive page in the "wizard."

  • Refresh: Click to reload the Add Appointments page to review an update in appointment processing status.

  • Return: Click to open the Producer Manager Home page.

Notes

Note: You may submit Florida individual producer county appointment requests through Vertafore Outsourcing Services for expedited processing. If your company subscribes to the outsourcing service, select a Submission Method of Paper. Or, for a regular Florida non-resident individual county appointment request submitted through PLM, select a Submission Method of Electronic Processing. Please note that you may not submit an electronic Florida state or county appointment request for a Florida resident producer using Producer Manager (see note above). For more information about outsourcing services, please contact your Vertafore representative.

Note: You cannot add an appointment for a producer who is associated with a business unit that has not been configured for use in your user account. For more information, see Maintain Staff Member Business Unit.

Note: By default, the Effective Date field is populated with the current date. However it is Vertafore-configurable to contain no default value, using the APPT_TRMN_DFLT_EFF_DTE_IND business rule.  For more information, see Configuration Options.

Note: By default, for a county appointment request with a Submission Method of Electronic Processing or Paper, you may enter a past date in the Effective Date field that complies with the maximum number of days prior to the current date that is allowed under the appointment state's backdating rules. The Effective Date field, however, is Vertafore-configurable through the APPT_TRMN_DFLT_EFF_DTE_IND business rule to allow only the current or a future date. Note that no backdating restriction applies to a record-only appointment, except that is must not pre-date the Effective Date of the selected producer's license or qualification.  For more information, see Configuration Options.

Note: The Cost Center section displays only if the COST_CNTR_RQD business rule has been Vertafore-configured to require a cost center to be selected with every appointment transaction. For more information, see Configuration Options. All data input fields in the Cost Center section are active only if a cost center has been configured for the producer's business unit in your user account. For more information, see Maintain Staff Member Cost Center.

Note: A value entered and saved in the Comments section is viewable in the Comments data section of a producer's record open in the Review/Update Producer page.

Note: Producer Manager performs a high degree of validation and error-checking on requested appointments. Should you encounter an error, seeError Messages for troubleshooting guidance. For additional assistance, contact your Vertafore support representative.

Note: You may request a "future-dated" county appointment by entering a date in the Effective Field that, by default, is no more than 12 months subsequent to the current date. The system will hold the county appointment request until the specified date, at which point it will submit the request to the state. The system is Vertafore-configurable through the FUTR_APPTTRMN_EFF_DTE_IN_MNTHS business rule, however, to allow entry of a future date that is more or less than 12 months. For more information, see Configuration Options.

Note: You may use the Abort Appointment Request page to cancel any county appointment request (including future-dated) that the system has not yet passed to the Vertafore PLM transaction engine (Compliance Express) for subsequent submission to Vertafore Outsourcing Services or the NIPR Gateway. Such requests will bear a status in the Appointments data section of "Active-Pending Submission."