Editing Carrier/MGA Information

The information entered in Carrier/MGA Setup for each carrier/MGA determines the lines of business and default coverages available when a new policy is inserted for a specific carrier.

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.

To learn how to add and configure a new carrier/MGA, see Adding a Carrier

To learn how to review previous edits to carrier/MGA information, see Reviewing Changes to Carrier Information.

If you need to copy information from one carrier/MGA to another, such as configured application types and lines of business, see Copying a Carrier.

This task is typically performed by an Owner/Administrator or a Manager.

From the desktop: Open the  Setup menu, and then select Carrier/MGA Setup.

From the HawkSoft Browser app: Select Carrier/MGAs from the Agency Setup menu bar.

The Carrier/MGA Setup dialog opens in an Agency Setup window.

If you need to add information that exists on another carrier, you may be able to save some time by copying the information. See Copying a Carrier for details.

Click on the carrier you are editing and select each tab to make changes as needed.

The Editing Carrier/MGA - [carrier name] screen is open by default.

This is the name that the carrier/MGA will appear as, on clients, policies, reports, and Tasks, but not on forms and correspondence.

The Error Updating Carrier/MGA: Name is reserved. notification will appear if you attempt to rename an existing carrier/MGA with the same name as a HawkSoft managed carrier/MGA. See Troubleshooting for more information.

This table includes each of this carrier/MGA's writing carriers (a.k.a. sub-carriers) and their associated NAIC codes.

If your agency writes auto policies in states that require a state-specific Company Number on Auto ID cards, you can configure each writing carrier's Company Number in this table.

When a writing carrier is selected on a policy, its name appears as the legal carrier/MGA name on forms, correspondence, and ID cards for that policy. It also provides the NAIC code and Company Numbers.

If this carrier/MGA does not have any writing carriers/sub-companies, enter the full legal name of the carrier/MGA and their NAIC code as the single writing carrier in this table.

Managed carriers automatically flood Writing Carriers and NAIC codes into this table, marked with a tag.

Optionally, you can un-check the box next to a Writing Carrier your agency does not use to prevent it from being selected on policies. See Carrier Downloads Overview for more information.

To add a new Writing Carrier, NAIC code, and state-specific Company Number:

  1. Click + Add Writing Carrier and NAIC Codes.

    The Writing Carrier Details dialog appears.

  2. Enter the full legal name of the Writing Carrier and their associated NAIC Code.

    If this carrier does not have any sub-carriers, enter the full legal name of the carrier and their NAIC code as the single Writing Carrier.

  3. Conditional: Add any number of State-Specific Company Number(s).

    1. Click the + New button to enter a state's Company Number.

    2. Select the appropriate state from the State drop-down menu.

      Only states that you have checked in the Carrier/MGA States checklist on the Carrier/MGA Info tab appear in the States drop-down menu.

    3. Enter the Company Number in the Company Number field.

    4. Optional: Repeat steps a-c to add additional Company Numbers.

    5. Once this writing carrier's details are saved, the specified Company Number will appear on Auto ID Cards for policies in that state. See State Specific ID Cards for more information.

  4. Click Add and Continue to save this Writing Carrier and enter the next one.

    OR

    Click Add to save this Writing Carrier and close the

To copy a Program to a Writing Carrier (custom carriers only)

For agencies who migrated to HawkSoft 6 prior to November 2025, Programs on custom carriers in HawkSoft 5 were not inserted as Writing Carriers.

HawkSoft includes a feature to copy a custom carrier's Programs to Writing Carriers, to avoid the need to manually add them if they already exist as Programs.

  1. In the Programs section, click Copy to Writing Carrier.

    The Copy Programs dialog launches.

  2. Use the checkboxes to select which of the carrier's Programs to copy to Writing Carriers.

    You can copy all programs with Select All.

  3. Click Copy.

    A confirmation message is displayed, and the selected Programs are added to Writing Carriers.

    If some or all selected Programs are already in the Writing Carriers list, HawkSoft returns an error message and only new items are copied.

  4. Optional: Edit the new Writing Carrier(s) to add their NAIC codes and Company Numbers.

    Writing Carriers added via copy from Programs do not have an NAIC code pre-filled.

    See "To edit or delete an existing Writing Carrier/NAIC code" below for more information.

  5. Click Save to save changes and close the
    Editing Carrier window.

To edit or delete an existing Writing Carrier/NAIC code

Only user-created Writing Carriers can be modified or deleted. Any Writing Carrier with a tag is automatically created by HawkSoft, and cannot be modified or deleted.

  1. Click the Edit button next to the Writing Carrier/NAIC code to be edited or deleted.

To add an additional program to this carrier, enter the new program into the Add a Program... field below the list of existing programs.

To remove a program, click the X button next to the program to be deleted. To remove all programs from the carrier, click Remove All.

The Carrier States section enables you to select which states this carrier's policies can be written in. This carrier can only be selected for policies in states checked in this list.

Only states that your agency does business in appear in the list of available Carrier States. See Agency States for steps on adding a new state for your agency.

To remove a state, click on the state to de-select it.

To add a state to the carrier, click Show All, then click the inactive state (white background) to make it active (blue background).

The Carrier Notes field enables you to keep a record of agency-specific notes regarding this carrier. You can enter any notes about this carrier that your agency may need to know or find useful about this carrier. For example, if only certain agents write policies or certain LOBs under this carrier, you could record that information here.

Only other users with access to the Carrier Setup permission can access and modify Carrier Notes.

The Primary Contact Information fields are where this carrier's primary Customer Service Phone, Claim Phone, Underwriting Phone, Fax Number, and Email are listed.

The contact information entered here will flood to the appropriate fields on forms and correspondence.

You can store additional contact information for this carrier on a Carrier Client, then link the Carrier Client to this carrier to see these additional contacts in the Client Contacts section. For more information, see Inserting a New Carrier Client.

The Addresses table enables you to keep a record of all physical and mailing addresses associated with this carrier.

Click + Add Address to add a new address.

Click the Edit button next to an address to update it.

You can check the "Use this address for populating ID Cards, ACORD forms and merge fields" check-box if this is the carrier address you want to appear on all ID cards, forms, and correspondence for this carrier's policies.

The address will be marked in the table with a blue Merge icon to signify that this address will populate this carrier's ID cards/forms/correspondence.

Only one address can be used for populating ID cards, forms, and correspondence.

The Client Contacts section enables you to link a Carrier Client to this carrier. A Carrier Client enables you to store additional contact information for a carrier beyond the primary contact information.

For full instructions on creating a Carrier Client, see Inserting a New Carrier Client.

To link a carrier client

  1. Click the Link Carrier/MGA Client button.

    The Search Carrier Clients dialog opens.

  2. Enter the carrier's Business Name, and then click Search.

  3. Select the carrier client from the Search results.

    The carrier client is now linked to the Carrier.

The Terms list determines which Policy Term lengths can be selected for a policy under this carrier. Add or remove term lengths as needed to match this carrier's policy term lengths. By default, all new carriers start with terms of 12 Months, 6 Months, 3 Months, and 1 Month.

The Agent Codes table lists all agent codes given to your agency by this carrier. You can also add a description to each agent code (such as which agent(s) the code belongs to), and if your agency has multiple offices, you can choose which agent codes can be used by a certain office.

If only certain offices are checked, all other offices not checked will not be able to select this agent code on policies under this carrier.

The Receipt section enables you to choose which values appear for the Reference and Payee fields on receipts generated on this carrier's policies.

Use the Reference drop-down to select whether receipts for this carrier should use the value in the Policy Number field, or the Account Number field (both from the Policy Information screen), as the Reference number.

Use the Payee drop-down to select whether the payee (carrier name) should appear as the Carrier/MGA selected, or the Writing Carrier selected.

The Website tab enables you to enter Agent websites and Customer Websites.

Agent Website settings

You can specify the following settings for this carrier's Agent Website:

URL — The Agent Website URL for this carrier.

Quotes — When selected, this carrier's website appears as a quoting option when Quote/Export is chosen from the Action Menu.

Browser — Select which browser opens the Agent Website when the button is clicked on the main HawkSoft toolbar (available when a policy with this carrier is selected).

The following browser options are available:

  • User Preference means this carrier website will open in the user's preferred browser, as determined in each user's User Preferences.

  • HawkLink for Google Chrome means this carrier website will open in Google Chrome with HawkLink enabled.

    If Google Chrome is selected, the carrier website will open in Google Chrome with HawkLink disabled.

  • HawkLink for Microsoft Edge means this carrier website will open in Microsoft Edge with HawkLink enabled.

    If Microsoft Edge is selected, the carrier website will open in Microsoft Edge with HawkLink disabled.

  • Windows Default Browser means this carrier website will open in the browser that is set as default on the user's computer.

HawkSoft recommends leaving the Browser drop-down set to User Preferences, HawkLink for Google Chrome, or HawkLink for Microsoft Edge, unless the carrier website will only work in a specific browser.

If any other browser option is selected besides these two options, HawkLink will not function for this carrier's policies.

Customer Website URL

You can include a Customer Website URL, which can be provided to customers looking to service their own policy.

The Lines of Business tab enables you to configure this carrier's settings for:

  • Default lines of business and their default coverages, limits, and deductibles

  • State availability restrictions for specific LOBs and coverages

  • Custom Policy Titles and Policy Snapshot Override settings

The tab contains eight sub-tabs — Personal, Commercial, Agriculture, Life, Health, Surety Bond, Other, and Employee Benefits— each corresponding to a policy Application Type. Because the Application Type selected on a policy determines its available LOBs, coverages, Custom Policy Titles, and Policy Snapshot Override setting, each sub-tab maintains its own independent configuration for these settings.

See Carrier Coverages and Lines of Business for full instructions on completing the Lines of Business tab.

After completing edits to this carrier, click Save at the bottom-right to confirm all changes.

Modify additional carriers as needed, or close the Agency Setup window when finished.

  1. Click on the carrier you are editing and select each tab to make changes as needed.

    The Editing Carrier/MGA - [carrier name] screen is open by default.

    This is the name that the carrier/MGA will appear as, on clients, policies, reports, and Tasks, but not on forms and correspondence.

    The Error Updating Carrier/MGA: Name is reserved. notification will appear if you attempt to rename an existing carrier/MGA with the same name as a HawkSoft managed carrier/MGA. See Troubleshooting for more information.

    This table includes each of this carrier/MGA's writing carriers (a.k.a. sub-carriers) and their associated NAIC codes.

    If your agency writes auto policies in states that require a state-specific Company Number on Auto ID cards, you can configure each writing carrier's Company Number in this table.

    When a writing carrier is selected on a policy, its name appears as the legal carrier/MGA name on forms, correspondence, and ID cards for that policy. It also provides the NAIC code and Company Numbers.

    If this carrier/MGA does not have any writing carriers/sub-companies, enter the full legal name of the carrier/MGA and their NAIC code as the single writing carrier in this table.

    Managed carriers automatically flood Writing Carriers and NAIC codes into this table, marked with a tag.

    Optionally, you can un-check the box next to a Writing Carrier your agency does not use to prevent it from being selected on policies. See Carrier Downloads Overview for more information.

    To add a new Writing Carrier, NAIC code, and state-specific Company Number:

    1. Click + Add Writing Carrier and NAIC Codes.

      The Writing Carrier Details dialog appears.

    2. Enter the full legal name of the Writing Carrier and their associated NAIC Code.

      If this carrier does not have any sub-carriers, enter the full legal name of the carrier and their NAIC code as the single Writing Carrier.

    3. Conditional: You can add a state-specific Company Numberif your agency does business in a state which requires a state-specific Company Number (also called a "Company Code" or "ICC Code" by some states) to appear on insurance documentation (such as Auto ID Cards).

      1. Click the +  New button to enter a state's Company Number.

      2. Select the appropriate state from the State drop-down menu.

        Only states that you have checked in the Carrier/MGA States checklist on the Carrier/MGA Info tab appear in the States drop-down menu.

      3. Enter the Company Number in the Company Number field.

      4. Optional: Repeat steps a-c to add additional Company Numbers.

      5. Once this writing carrier's details are saved, the specified Company Number will appear on Auto ID Cards for policies in that state. See State Specific ID Cards for more information.

    4. Click Add and Continue to save this Writing Carrier and enter the next one.

      OR

      Click Add to save this Writing Carrier and close the dialog.

    To copy a Program to a Writing Carrier (custom carriers only)

    For agencies who migrated to HawkSoft 6 prior to November 2025, Programs on custom carriers in HawkSoft 5 were not inserted as Writing Carriers.

    HawkSoft includes a feature to copy a custom carrier's Programs to Writing Carriers, to avoid the need to manually add them if they already exist as Programs.

    1. Under Programs, click Copy to Writing Carrier.

      The Copy Programs dialog launches.

    2. Use the checkboxes to select which of the carrier's Programs to copy to Writing Carriers.

    3. Click Copy.

      A confirmation message is displayed, and the selected Programs are added to Writing Carriers.

      If all selected Programs are already in the Writing Carriers list, HawkSoft returns an error message and no items are copied.

      1. Conditional: Click Confirm on the Duplicates Detected popup, if prompted.

        This popup is displayed when some, but not all, of the selected programs are already on the Writing Carriers list.

    4. Optional: Edit the new Writing Carrier(s) to add their NAIC codes.

      Writing Carriers added via copy from Programs do not have an NAIC code pre-filled.

      See "To edit or delete an existing Writing Carrier/NAIC code" below for more information.

    5. Click Save to save changes and close the
      Editing Carrier window.

    To edit or delete an existing Writing Carrier/NAIC code

    Only user-created Writing Carriers can be modified or deleted. Any Writing Carrier with a tag is automatically created by HawkSoft, and cannot be modified or deleted.

    1. Click the Edit button next to the Writing Carrier/NAIC code to be edited or deleted.

    To add an additional program to this carrier, enter the new program into the Add a Program... field below the list of existing programs.

    To remove a program, click the X button next to the program to be deleted. To remove all programs from the carrier, click Remove All.

    The Carrier States section enables you to select which states this carrier's policies can be written in. This carrier can only be selected for policies in states checked in this list.

    Only states that your agency does business in appear in the list of available Carrier States. See Agency States for steps on adding a new state for your agency.

    To remove a state, click on the state to de-select it.

    To add a state to the carrier, click Show All, then click the inactive state (white background) to make it active (blue background).

    The Carrier Notes field enables you to keep a record of agency-specific notes regarding this carrier. You can enter any notes about this carrier that your agency may need to know or find useful about this carrier. For example, if only certain agents write policies or certain LOBs under this carrier, you could record that information here.

    Only other users with access to the Carrier Setup permission can access and modify Carrier Notes.

    The Primary Contact Information fields are where this carrier's primary Customer Service Phone, Claim Phone, Underwriting Phone, Fax Number, and Email are listed.

    The contact information entered here will flood to the appropriate fields on forms and correspondence.

    You can store additional contact information for this carrier on a Carrier Client, then link the Carrier Client to this carrier to see these additional contacts in the Client Contacts section. For more information, see Inserting a New Carrier Client.

    The Addresses table enables you to keep a record of all physical and mailing addresses associated with this carrier.

    Click + Add Address to add a new address.

    Click the Edit button next to an address to update it.

    You can check the "Use this address for populating ID Cards, ACORD forms and merge fields" check-box if this is the carrier address you want to appear on all ID cards, forms, and correspondence for this carrier's policies.

    The address will be marked in the table with a blue Merge icon to signify that this address will populate this carrier's ID cards/forms/correspondence.

    Only one address can be used for populating ID cards, forms, and correspondence.

    The Client Contacts section enables you to link a Carrier Client to this carrier. A Carrier Client enables you to store additional contact information for a carrier beyond the primary contact information.

    For full instructions on creating a Carrier Client, see Inserting a New Carrier Client.

    To link a carrier client

    1. Click the Link Carrier/MGA Client button.

      The Search Carrier Clients dialog opens.

    2. Enter the carrier's Business Name, and then click Search.

    3. Select the carrier client from the Search results.

      The carrier client is now linked to the Carrier.

    The Terms list determines which Policy Term lengths can be selected for a policy under this carrier. Add or remove term lengths as needed to match this carrier's policy term lengths. By default, all new carriers start with terms of 12 Months, 6 Months, 3 Months, and 1 Month.

    The Agent Codes table lists all agent codes given to your agency by this carrier. You can also add a description to each agent code (such as which agent(s) the code belongs to), and if your agency has multiple offices, you can choose which agent codes can be used by a certain office.

    If only certain offices are checked, all other offices not checked will not be able to select this agent code on policies under this carrier.

    The Receipt section enables you to choose which values appear for the Reference and Payee fields on receipts generated on this carrier's policies.

    Use the Reference drop-down to select whether receipts for this carrier should use the value in the Policy Number field, or the Account Number field (both from the Policy Information screen), as the Reference number.

    Use the Payee drop-down to select whether the payee (carrier name) should appear as the Carrier/MGA selected, or the Writing Carrier selected.

    The Website tab enables you to enter Agent websites and Customer Websites.

    Agent Website settings

    You can specify the following settings for this carrier's Agent Website:

    URL — The Agent Website URL for this carrier.

    Quotes — When selected, this carrier's website appears as a quoting option when Quote/Export is chosen from the Action Menu.

    Browser — Select which browser opens the Agent Website when the button is clicked on the main HawkSoft toolbar (available when a policy with this carrier is selected).

    The following browser options are available:

    • User Preference means this carrier website will open in the user's preferred browser, as determined in each user's User Preferences.

    • HawkLink for Google Chrome means this carrier website will open in Google Chrome with HawkLink enabled.

      If Google Chrome is selected, the carrier website will open in Google Chrome with HawkLink disabled.

    • HawkLink for Microsoft Edge means this carrier website will open in Microsoft Edge with HawkLink enabled.

      If Microsoft Edge is selected, the carrier website will open in Microsoft Edge with HawkLink disabled.

    • Windows Default Browser means this carrier website will open in the browser that is set as default on the user's computer.

    HawkSoft recommends leaving the Browser drop-down set to User Preferences, HawkLink for Google Chrome, or HawkLink for Microsoft Edge, unless the carrier website will only work in a specific browser.

    If any other browser option is selected besides these two options, HawkLink will not function for this carrier's policies.

    Customer Website URL

    You can include a Customer Website URL, which can be provided to customers looking to service their own policy.

    The Lines of Business tab enables you to configure this carrier's settings for:

    • Default lines of business and their default coverages, limits, and deductibles

    • State availability restrictions for specific LOBs and coverages

    • Custom Policy Titles and Policy Snapshot Override settings

    The tab contains eight sub-tabs — Personal, Commercial, Agriculture, Life, Health, Surety Bond, Other, and Employee Benefits— each corresponding to a policy Application Type. Because the Application Type selected on a policy determines its available LOBs, coverages, Custom Policy Titles, and Policy Snapshot Override setting, each sub-tab maintains its own independent configuration for these settings.

    See Carrier Coverages and Lines of Business for full instructions on completing the Lines of Business tab.

  2. After completing edits to this carrier, click Save at the bottom-right to confirm all changes.

  3. Modify additional carriers as needed, or close the Agency Setup window when finished.

The carrier is updated, and the updated information will be shown on clients, policies, and reports in HawkSoft.

HawkSoft gives you the option to automatically create carriers in Carrier Setup when you receive a download from a new or unknown carrier. This helps ensure that policies created from downloads are linked to a valid carrier on your carrier list. However, HawkSoft only includes the carrier name, writing carriers, and NAIC codes on carriers added automatically by download. Therefore, it's important to manually complete and review these automated carriers to make sure their information accurate.

To facilitate the process of finding and reviewing these download-added carriers, HawkSoft marks automatically added carriers in Carrier Setup with a chip.

HawkSoft recommends taking some time to review the list of carriers in Carrier Setup regularly, and to especially keep an eye out for carriers with a "Needs Review" chip. When you find these chips, open the associated carrier, review the information, and complete the carrier's details as needed.

Once these carriers are updated by a user, the "Needs Review" chip disappears from their entry in Carrier Setup, and the changes are listed in the carrier's History.

See Carrier Downloads Overview for more information about carrier downloads in HawkSoft.

The Error Updating Carrier/MGA: Name is reserved. notification will appear if you attempt to rename an existing carrier/MGA with the same name as a managed carrier/MGA in Carrier/MGA Setup.

All HawkSoft managed carriers/MGAs are listed as such in the Type column of the Carrier/MGA list. They have a chip in the upper right when opened for editing, have been certified for downloads with HawkSoft, and their writing carriers and NAIC codes are automatically added to the carrier profile by HawkSoft.

This typically happens when HawkSoft later adds a managed version of a carrier you previously created as a custom entry. To resolve this and keep policies consistent, merge the custom carrier/MGA into the managed version. See Merge Duplicate Carriers for instructions.

To view which carriers/MGAs in your agency are listed as HawkSoft Managed Carriers/MGAs, click the  Setup menu, select the Carrier/MGA Setup, and then view the Type column of the Carriers/MGAs list.

In order to complete the tasks in this article, user permissions must be set to include:

Agency Setup > Carrier Setup

See User Permissions for more information.

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