Carrier Setup Overview

The information entered in Carrier Setup defines the lines of business and default coverages available when creating new active or prospect policies in HawkSoft. It also serves as the central location for maintaining carrier details, ensuring accurate policy entry, and configuring carrier website information for integration with tools like HawkLink, enabling streamlined quoting and policy access.

Depending on the number of carriers your agency works with, you will need to set aside adequate time for completing Carrier Setup. Make sure you have all company information, including contact information and underwriting guides. You will need the following information: Company name and address, email address of underwriter and/or marketing representative, phone numbers (customer service, underwriting, claims, fax), website address of the company's log in page or home page, as well as a full list of lines of business your agency writes for that carrier, and most common coverages written for each LOB. To save time, set up your most common lines of business and coverages (including limits and deductibles) under the Prospect Carrier. You can then 'clone' the Prospect Carrier to create a new carrier, and select which Application Type(s)' LOBs and coverages to copy to this new carrier.

Creating a Prospect Carrier

Before you can configure your agency's carriers in HawkSoft, you must configure the states in which your agency does business, and create a Prospect Carrier. The Prospect Carrier is the carrier that all prospect policies are initially assigned to. The Prospect Carrier does not represent any real carrier; rather, the Prospect Carrier can be considered a 'placeholder' carrier to be used until a quote is accepted from a real carrier.

We recommend that you use the Prospect Carrier as a 'template' carrier for creating other carriers, by adding your policies' most common LOBs and coverages to the Prospect Carrier, and then 'cloning' these coverages to a new carrier. For more information, see Copying a Carrier.

Creating a Prospect Carrier

Inserting a Carrier Client File

Creating a carrier client in HawkSoft enables you to store carrier information in addition to what is typically stored in Carrier Setup, such as additional contacts, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, commission statements, and underwriting guidelines.

Inserting a New Carrier Client

Cloning a Carrier

This article describes how to clone a carrier in HawkSoft. Cloning a carrier allows you to create a new carrier by copying much of the data from a carrier that's already in your list, such as an existing carrier who you do similar business with, or your Prospect Carrier.

Copying a Carrier

Carrier Coverages and Lines of Business

The Lines of Business tab in Carrier/MGA Setup allows Agency Managers to enter carrier-specific settings for each Line of Business (LOB). The details entered here determine which LOBs and default coverages are available on policies for the selected carrier, per application type. This tab also enables you to configure Policy Snapshots and Custom Policy Titles for each application type per carrier.

When adding a new carrier to HawkSoft through Carrier Setup, the last step is to complete the carrier's Lines of Business settings.

Carrier Coverages and Lines of Business

Custom Policy Titles

Custom policy titles help you categorize and quickly identify policies when viewing a client or running reports. This article shows you how to create custom titles that keep your policies structured and accessible.

Managing Custom Policy Titles

Editing Carrier Information

Changes to carrier/MGA contact information, carrier/MGA website information, and policy information (including policy forms, states, agent codes, lines of business, and coverages) need to be updated in Carrier/MGA Setup to keep clients and policies accurate and up-to-date. Additionally, keeping carrier/MGA information up-to-date is important to ensure policy reports contain accurate information.

This article explains how to make changes to existing carrier/MGAs in Carrier/MGA Setup.

Editing Carrier/MGA Information

Reviewing Changes to Carrier Information

Keeping carrier information up to date and accurate in HawkSoft is important to ensure that users are able to insert, edit, and otherwise work with policies quickly and easily. Your agents can view carrier contact information for the carriers the policies are written with directly from the policy, so it is important to keep your carrier information up to date.

Changes to carrier information are made either by a user with permissions to Carrier Setup or are created by a carrier merge.

To help you stay on top of the changes made to your carriers' information, HawkSoft enables you to view a Carrier History, enabling you to see when a carrier was updated, by which user, and what changes were made to the carrier info.

This article explains how to locate and understand the Carrier History information in HawkSoft.

Reviewing Changes to Carrier Information

Inactivating a Carrier

HawkSoft enables you to inactivate a carrier from Carrier Setup. You may need to inactivate a carrier if your agency stops writing new business with that carrier, or if the carrier was created erroneously. Inactivating a carrier prevents that carrier from being selected as a carrier on any new policies, and hides the carrier in Carrier Setup, unless "Show Inactive" is checked. Existing policies under that carrier will continue to list the inactive carrier as the writing carrier until modified, either manually or by policy download. If needed, you can show inactive carriers in Carrier Setup, as well as re-activate any inactive carriers.

Inactivating a Carrier

Merge Duplicate Carriers

Duplicate carriers can occur when data moves or merges between systems, or when users mistakenly add custom Carriers which are already in your Carriers/MGAs list under a different name. Follow the steps below to consolidate duplicate carriers using the Merge Carrier function and keep your setup streamlined. A well-organized carrier setup keeps your policies consistent and makes reporting more accurate.

Merge Duplicate Carriers

---