Give Them Credit

Pulling credit for all Named Insureds is a crucial step in the new business quoting process. Recently, BriteQuote added some new messaging that should help to streamline this process and ideally cut down on the need for agents to contact Underwriting in certain credit situations. Please see the list of current responses below and what each one means for you as the agent.

· Proceed to Quote – the system did not identify any issues on the credit report that impact eligibility for coverage. You are good to move forward with quoting as long as everything else also meets our guidelines.

· Report Requires Review – the system identified items on the credit report that need to be reviewed by Underwriting. These items may or may not meet AFM’s guidelines. You will need to contact Underwriting for credit review prior to proceeding with the remainder of the quote. Please note that a “Report Requires Review” message means that credit has been pulled successfully, and the result needs review. Please do not re-pull credit, as you will still receive the same message.

· No Hit – based on the information provided, the system could not locate a credit report for the insured. Verify the contact information for accuracy and correct any misspellings, etc. before re-pulling credit. If there is a prior address for the insured, or if the insured may have credit using a different version of their legal name like a maiden name, please update the contact information for that insured and try pulling credit again. If the “No Hit” message is still returned, you will need to obtain their Social Security Number and pull credit again. If you have confirmed name, address, and Social and credit is still resulting in a “No Hit” message, please contact Underwriting for us to review at that time.

· Ineligible – the system has identified items on the credit report which do not meet AFM’s guidelines. As this is a hard stop for eligibility, there is no need to contact Underwriting or proceed further with the quote, as AFM is not able to write the risk. Please note that credit for all Named Insureds must meet our guidelines, so even if only one Named Insured’s credit report returns “Ineligible”, AFM will not be able to write the risk. Please do not re-pull credit, as you will still receive the same message.

· Deceased – Disallowed – credit for the Named Insured is showing that the individual is deceased. Please do not re-pull credit, as you will still receive the same message. Confirm property ownership and update the Named Insureds if necessary. Please note that AFM is unable to write new business for a property currently held in an Estate. For eligibility questions related to specific situations, please contact Underwriting.

If you have any questions regarding the expanded credit messages or how they factor into the quoting process, please reach out to Underwriting for further assistance. Please note that AFM is not able to share detailed information regarding what is contained on a Named Insured’s credit report.