Create Clients and Policies from an Initial Download

HawkSoft can automatically create clients, policies, and carriers during an "initial download". An initial download, also called an "initial load" or "synchronization download", is when your carrier sends you a copy of all active clients and policies your agency has written with that carrier. An initial download can be a valuable tool for quickly adding clients and policies to your database.

After performing an initial download, use our reporting feature to quickly review the downloaded clients and policies. This helps to verify accuracy and resolve any duplicate or incorrect records, keeping your database clean and reliable.

For more information on how to review and clean up the client and policy information, see Cleaning up Policy Data after an Initial Download.

Not all carriers offer initial downloads, and the information contained in the initial downloads varies by carrier. To see which carriers offer initial downloads, see our Carrier Downloads and Real-time Integration website.

HawkSoft recommends Processing Carrier Downloads during day-to-day operations, and only using the initial download workflow when you are:

  • Setting up HawkSoft for the first time.

  • Adapting to carrier changes in policy structures.

  • Onboarding a new carrier partnership.

By default, the Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies setting is disabled, and the system matches downloads to client policies using the policy number and line of business; if no exact match is found, it sends the download to unmatched downloads.

When Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies is enabled, it first attempts to match by policy number and line of business; if unsuccessful, it searches by the client’s last name and mailing address, creating a new policy for a matched client or a new client with a policy if no match exists. When this setting is disabled, the system matches downloads only by policy number and line of business; if no exact match is found, it sends the download to unmatched downloads.

When Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies is enabled, the system processes all downloads this way. Review the download report to ensure any downloads, not part of the intended load. are processed accurately. See Cleaning up Policy Data after an Initial Download for more information.

For the best results, ask the carrier for a specific date for the Initial Download so you can set up HawkSoft accordingly. It also helps to have a list of clients and policies the carrier will send to ensure everything is accurate.

Prior to processing your initial download, configure HawkSoft to automatically create clients and policies.

In order to complete this task, user permissions must be set to include:

Downloads > Downloads Dashboard and Report > Download Configuration and Tasks

See User Permissions for more information.

  2. Click Activities, and then select Download Dashboard.

    OR

    1. Log into the HawkSoft Web app, accessed from any computer.

    2. Click the Download icon in the left column of the HawkSoft web start page to access the Carrier Download Dashboard

      For more information about logging into the HawkSoft web app, see Logging In and Out of HawkSoft.

    3. The Downloads dashboard opens in your web browser.

  3. Click the Configure link in the upper right of the downloads dashboard.

    The Download Rules page opens.

  4. Click the toggle for Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies to switch it to active (blue).
    Optional: Toggle the Auto-Create Nonexistent Carriers on to automatically add carriers that are not in the system.

  5. Click Save in the lower right of the Download Rules page.

    Auto Create Unfound Policies is now enabled. Any unmatched download will automatically create a new client and/or policy rather than be sent to Unmatched Downloads.

    Turn off the Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies/Carriers settings as soon as initial loads are processed.

    Because of the issues that using Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies can cause, it is critical that you only use Auto-Create when expecting initial loads from a carrier, and turn it off as soon as you receive the initial downloads.

After turning off the Auto-Create Nonexistent Policies setting, review the received downloads for accuracy. If expected downloads were not received, contact your Carrier to confirm they were sent, then contact HawkSoft Product Support.

  1. Click Reports > Agency Intelligence from the main HawkSoft menu bar.

    OR

    1. Log into the HawkSoft Web app, accessed from any computer.

    2. Click the Reports icon in the left column of the HawkSoft web start page to access Analytics and Reporting, then click on Agency Intelligence.

      For more information about logging into the HawkSoft web app, see Logging In and Out of HawkSoft.

  2. Select Policies in Force on the left menu.

  3. Use the Group By drop-down to select Carrier.

  4. Compare the number of Policies and the Annual Premium to the number provided by your Carrier.

  5. Optional: Click on the number in the Policies column to view the report details.

If you find discrepancies, request a book of business report from the carrier and compare it to the HawkSoft report.

Check any policies that may have been processed while synchronization downloads were coming in to ensure they came from other carriers and to prevent duplicates or errors.

  1. Click Activities, and then select Download Dashboard.

    OR

    Log into the HawkSoft Web app, accessed from any computer.

    Click the Download icon in the left column of the HawkSoft web start page to access the Carrier Download Dashboard

    For more information about logging into the HawkSoft web app, see Logging In and Out of HawkSoft.

  2. Click Reporting in the upper right corner.
    The Report Dashboard opens in a new tab.

  3. Click New Report.

  4. Select Download Activity.

  5. Use the drop-down to select a preset date range, or select a custom date range in the Received Date Range section.

  6. Click Run Report.

  7. Click the Summary button.

  8. Use the drop down to select Carrier.

  9. Click Summarize.

  10. Click the number under the "# of Items" column to launch the detailed report for any Carrier not sending a Initial Download during this time frame.

    Double click on any line in the download report to launch the client.

  11. Confirm the download was matched to the correct client and did not create a duplicate policy.

You can manually correct any errors or visit Cleaning up Agency Data for bulk fixes.

See Cleaning up Policy Data after an Initial Download for more information.

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