Northbridge Insurance certified for eDocs computerized document transfer system

The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) recently announced it has certified Northbridge Insurance for eDocs.

Several brokers and carriers have already implemented CSIO’s Extensible Markup Language (XML) eDocs, but CSIO said on Oct. 4 that Northbridge is the first carrier to obtain CSIO certification for eDocs.

CSIO says its eDocs standard saves brokers time because it lets them download policy documents directly from a carrier’s computer system to a broker management system (BMS), and to store those documents in their BMS without manual intervention.

XML eDocs has been available to CSIO members since March 2012. Last February, Applied Systems Inc. announced it had certified eight insurance carriers for CSIO XML eDocs.

Carriers who have made eDocs available to their brokers on certain BMSs include Aviva, Economical, Intact, Portage Mutual, RSA and SGI, according to the CSIO website.

Toronto-based CSIO is a standards association of property and casualty insurers, brokers and software providers. It oversees development, implementation and maintenance of industry standards in XML, electronic data interchange (EDI) and forms. It also operates the CSIOnet, an EDI mail network service.

Last month, CSIO announced that eDocs would be the first business activity available for certification as part of CSIO’s standards certification program. CSIO plans to expand that certification program to cover other business activities, including: commercial property, liability and auto; personal property, liability and auto; claims notification; and billing inquiry.

“The CSIO Certification program meets an important industry need for recognizing consistency in standards implementation,” CSIO President and CEO Catherine Smola stated in a press release Oct 4.

“We congratulate Northbridge Insurance on being the first insurer to receive CSIO Certification for eDocs, demonstrating its commitment to enhancing data exchange and making it easier for brokers to do business with them.”

CSIO certification is free to vendors and carriers paying CSIO membership fees. Vendors and carriers interested in certification need to submit a completed application package that includes a self-assessment, including supporting documentation.

CSIO then reviews those applications. Those who are successful receive a certification letter. CSIO also adds the names of those certified to its list of certified products and post that information to its Certified Solutions page. CSIO keeps the names of certification applicants confidential, before their certifications are approved.