Archives for down payment

George Washington From Dollar BillInsurance agents provide valuable services for their clients.It is important that they stay financially healthy to be able to continue to provide those services.

On many transactions the commission paid by the carrier provides adequate resources for the agency. On others, though, a reasonable Agency Fee is both necessary and appropriate, as the Texas Insurance Code has made clear since 2005:

§ 4005.003. FEES. (a) A general property and casualty agent may charge a client a fee to reimburse the agent for costs the agent incurred in obtaining a motor vehicle record or photograph of property described under Section 4005.002. The fee may not exceed the actual costs to the agent.

(b) For services provided to a client, a general property and casualty agent may charge a reasonable fee, including a fee for: (1) special delivery or postal charges; (2) printing or reproduction costs; (3) electronic mail costs; (4) telephone transmission costs; and (5) similar costs that the agent incurs on behalf of the client.

(c) A general property and casualty agent may charge a client a fee under this section only if, before the agent incurs an expense for the client, the agent: (1) notifies the client of the agent’s fee; and (2) obtains the client’s written consent for each fee to be charged.

At iMGA we’re constantly looking for ways to make life easier for agents. One of the ways we do that is by fully supporting Agency Fee collection and compliance in our Dwelling, Homeowners, MobileHome, Renters and Vacant programs.

If you enter the amount of an Agency Fee when submitting a policy, we’ll:

  • Disclose the fee on the application and on the declarations page,
  • Include the fee in the calculated down payment amount,
  • Calculate, collect and remit the surplus lines tax and stamping fee on the agency fee, and
  • Collect the Agency Fee and include it in your next monthly commission payment.

Any future renewals will also include the agency fee, including its repeated disclosure on the declarations page.

Simply have the insured sign the iMGA application with disclosure wording (or your own fee disclosure form) for your records and you’ll be in full compliance.

Visa and MasterCardsYou have been asking for credit card payment capability – and now it’s here!

Your insureds now have the option of paying installments or in full with Visa/MasterCard/Discover credit cards. This option is available on new business and renewals issued beginning December 1.

You also now have sweep capability!

If you accept payments from your insurance for down payments or installments, nothing can be easier than processing a sweep payment with us. All you have to do is make sure your agency is set up once and all future payments are as easy as possible. Just call anyone in our office and we will have you set up in minutes.

You can now also include the policy down payment information while submitting the policy. You no longer have to bind the policy then go submit the down payment separately.

If you submit the down payment information during the policy submission process, once the policy is bound you will get a confirmation as to whether the payments was or was not processed successfully. If it was not, you can still go to the policy and make the payment separately.

Regardless of which method you choose, you have the peace of mind of knowing that all payment information is stored securely and safely.

Many of our agents have asked for a way for us to save sweep account information. We’re very happy to say that it is now available!

You can call us and we can set up your sweep account, or if you’re set up with manager level access (if you have the ability to add or remove other users in your agency) you can make the change yourself.

Simply:

1. Click on the User Manager tab.

User Manager

2. Click on the Companies tab.

Companies Tab

3. Scroll down the page and enter the sweep account info and click Submit.

Enter Account Info

From then on any time any of your agency personnel are logged in and click the Make Payment option from Policy Manager, they’ll see a drop down that lets them choose either an ACH payment or a Sweep payment. If they choose Sweep they only need to put in the amount and they’re done!

We’ve Also Made Down Payments Easier!

You no longer have to bind the policy and then make the down payment on an insured-bill policy. Now, just before you bind you can enter the insured’s payment info and the amount of their payment – or, if you have sweep set up, just enter the payment amount!

If the insured elects to pay later*, you’ll get a handy reminder of the minimum due and its due date so the insured can avoid unnecessary cancellation.

We are constantly working to make things easier for our agents. We truly appreciate all you do, and hope you find these changes very helpful.

Log in now to set up your sweep account and start saving time today!

 

*Renters policies will not offer the pay later option – at least the minimum due must be collected at policy issuance.

 

We’ve been listening to our agents, and know that you don’t like dealing with Premium Finance if you can avoid it.

We agree, and we’re thrilled to announce that Texas Elite HOA/HOA+/HOB policies will no longer need Premium Finance.

As of now you are able to offer a Direct Bill option with 16% of premium plus taxes and fees down and the remaining premium spread evenly across 9 monthly payments. An installment fee of $5 will apply to each installment, but you will not need to explain Premium Finance to your clients or complete any special paperwork.

Existing policies originally issued using Premium Finance will automatically be offered the direct bill installment plan on renewal.

We hope you’re as excited as we are about this significant improvement in simplicity and ease of use.

The weather today here in Austin was crazy! The snow flurries were scary enough to shut down the schools – which means, of course, about half an inch total. 🙂

We haven’t let that slow us down on improving our Texas Personal Property products for you, though, and today our focus has been on Mobile Homes.

If you write any Mobile Homes we’re certain you’ll appreciate the following changes:

  1. Permanently attached room additions can now be included in the mobile home dwelling limit.
  2. The maximum home limit has been increased to $75,000.
  3. Personal effects can be covered up to 200% of the home limit.
  4. Adjacent structures (awnings, shelters, cabanas, porches, etc.) can now be covered up to 200% of the home limit.
  5. The maximum total limit (home plus personal effects plus adjacent structures) has been increased to $125,000.
  6. You can now add Replacement Cost coverage for both the dwelling and the contents.

Mobile Homes, depending on their characteristics, can be written on either a Mobile Home form, a TDP1 or a TDP3. Start all your quotes using the StartAllQuotesHere option and you won’t have to remember which program each risk qualifies for – the system will handle that automatically.

We’re constantly working to make things better, because at iMGA we’re focused on becoming the best MobileHome, TDP1/TDP3, HOA/HOA Plus and Vacant Dwelling market available. So, please, quote one with us now, with or without snow!

As always, we look forward to hearing your ideas of how we can improve even more. Please share them here.

The truth, of course, is that we could ALL use more time.

Well, iMGA can’t magically add more hours to the clock, but we can give your customers a little more time to make their down and renewal payments.

So, effective immediately, your iMGA renewal customers will have a few extra days in case they miss the renewal down payment. In addition, your new business customers won’t have to provide payment instantly for down payment. They’ll have a few days to pay their down payment online in case you aren’t able to collect it up front for any reason. Because we know the last thing you have time for is rewrites and reinstatements.

We’re constantly working to make things better, because at iMGA we’re focused on becoming the best MobileHome, TDP1/TDP3, HOA/HOA Plus and Vacant Dwelling market available. So, please, quote one with us now.

As always, we look forward to hearing your ideas of how we can improve even more. Please share them here.

Mardi Gras is a time for celebration and revelry, and at iMGA we’re doing much more than just joining in a parade.

We’re celebrating Fat Tuesday by giving everyone a “skinnier” down payment!

The minimum down payment on our TDP1/TDP3, HOA/HOA+ and MobileHome policies has been reduced to 15% + policy fee from 25% + policy fee!

So log in and quote our new lower-down offerings. We think you’ll like what you see. If you haven’t logged in to the iMGA web site before, enter your email address in the username field on the “forgot password” page and we’ll email you a temporary password so you can get started right away.

As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, we’d love for you to share them with us. This lower down payment was an idea submitted by an agent. Who knows – yours may be the next great idea we run with!

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