ePayPolicy Helps Boutique Agency LEGISequine Boost AR

by Uncategorized

“Horsemen Insuring Horsemen.” That’s the motto of Burbank, California-based LEGISequine. LEGIS agents and staff are passionate about horses, each bringing firsthand experience owning, showing, training, officiating and/or managing equine events. They also have highly specialized insurance knowledge. If it’s a risk associated with a horse or horse business, LEGIS insures it.

Operations Manager Sarah Rajoy shares how ePayPolicy is helping this high-end niche agency.

“We’re a small boutique agency with about 2,000 active clients nationwide. We work with high-net-worth clients, who have high expectations. We’re a luxury item (insurance) for a luxury item (horses). Our clients expect superb service. LEGIS delivers, and ePayPolicy delivers for us.”

Prior to moving to ePayPolicy in August 2020, LEGIS had another online payment system that Sarah describes as “dumb,” because clients could submit a payment, but it did not track to an actual invoice. The agency found ePayPolicy through Vertafore. LEGIS uses Vertafore’s AMS360 management system and integration was (and still is) a major selling point.*

Who Benefits from ePayPolicy

LEGIS agents are happy to offer multiple payment options. “Horse people are on the road a lot for shows and such. Payment due alerts give them time to move money if they need to. And they can pay from anywhere,” Sarah says. “It’s more convenient than writing checks. We also encourage automated payments so our clients can ‘set it and forget it.’”

Sarah’s favorite benefit? Not having to chase down payments. “It’s not my staff’s favorite task,” she admits. ePayPolicy sends out receivables notices, thus automating the dunning process. Sarah comments on the impact:

“I was looking at the numbers. We have decreased our aging receivables by 75 percent. That’s huge!”

Above-and-Beyond Service

Sarah makes a point of mentioning ePayPolicy’s above-and-beyond service. “I know we’re not the typical ePayPolicy client. Sometimes you’ll get a vendor that throws up their hands at a request. They say, ‘No way. That’s impossible. It won’t work.’ Not ePayPolicy. They work with you.” As an example, LEGIS had a situation involving collaboration between ePayPolicy and Vertafore engineers. Sarah says: “It was tricky. But they stayed on it and they got it done.”

In fact, she says the whole team has been great to work with. “Our service rep (Al) stays in touch just to check in. Sarah explains: “The more you live in a high-service community, the more you refuse to tolerate poor service yourself. ePayPolicy provides a caliber of service that we’re proud to offer our clients.”

Advice to Other Agencies

If you’re not sure about offering online payments or about choosing a digital payment processor for your agency, consider LEGISequine’s experience. “The biggest thing we learned is how much we could allocate resources away from AR and use them to write new business. We put that staff time into quoting and issuing policies. When you’re small and lean like LEGIS, that’s been the biggest win of all.”

*ePayPolicy integrates with today’s most popular agency management systems. If you don’t see your AMS here, please ask. Likely we’re in negotiations with your system vendor right now!

Big Sky Underwriters: An Early Adopter of Digital Payments

by Client Spotlight Series

Todd Stoudt has been with Big Sky since 2018, but his history with ePayPolicy goes back to his previous job. They had ePayPolicy at his Hull & Company agency in Pennsylvania. When Todd was offered the Accounting Lead position at Big Sky, he thought digital payments/ePayPolicy would be something new he could bring to the table.

Turns out, Big Sky had been using ePayPolicy since our earliest days (2016)! 

Todd reflects, “Coming from another office, nothing caught me off guard. It was what I was used to.” That helped make his transition smooth.

Biggest Benefits 

“We didn’t have specific problems that we needed to fix with ePayPolicy,” Todd explains. “We have a diligent person doing our AR, so there’s little bad debt or collection issues here.”

Yet when one arises, ePayPolicy is a great tool for late receivables and debt collection. “We force our agents to use ePayPolicy to clear any bad debt. Once we start issuing cancellations, I see the automatic emails come in, letting us know the payment’s been made.”

Another benefit is lump sum payments. “Our agents get their statements, reconcile, and send one lump sum. We get an automatic email about the batches, then we manually apply the payments that come in through ePayPolicy,” explains Todd.

Who’s Paying Digitally

He says, “Most of our payments are from agencies. When an agent pays us, it’s almost always ACH. Our direct payers are a mix of ACH and credit card, but mostly ACH.”

Much as Todd would like to convert everyone to online payments, Big Sky still processes a lot of checks. They’ve put in a lock box to make it safe to drop them off during COVID-19. 

Favorite Features

Todd offers his thoughts without hesitation: “Auto emails. I see when something is or is not paid. I don’t have to log into the portal. All three of us in Accounting rely on the emails to know when payments are made.” 

He also likes that ePayPolicy is so simple to use. “We direct first-time payers to the website and they can figure it out. They have the option of using a card or ACH.”

For his team, too, Todd appreciates the simplicity. “You literally can’t get confused. The fields are there for a reason. We rarely get a payment where we don’t know where to apply it.”

Other features Todd likes about us:

  • Batch in the bank is easy
  • Having the payment link on the Big Sky website
  • Being able to access information in the portal and the emails both
  • Knowing when they’re approaching a bad debt

He also says good things about our customer service. “We rarely have an issue, but it’s always solved quickly.”:

Advice to Other Agencies

If you’re on the fence about offering digital payments, Todd suggests you use Big Sky as an example. “We pay $50 a month for it.* If you can absorb that cost, go for it.” 

* Monthly fee for our Custom Plan.

About Big Sky Underwriters

Big Sky Underwriters is an independent MGA based in Missoula, Montana. The agency has been in business since 1955, and is now a division of Hull & Company, LLC. Licensed in all 50 states, Big Sky’s business mix is primarily commercial and agribusiness, along with personal lines and some religious groups. Big Sky has 35 employees and made $5 million in revenue last year.

How Independent Agents Can Communicate with Today’s Digital Consumers

by Business Strategy

In today’s increasingly digital world, independent insurance agents must go beyond phone calls and paper brochures to stay connected with clients. Leveraging digital tools like social media, email, SMS marketing, and webpage chatbots can help independent insurance agents improve the customer experience. Technology enhances communication in the insurance industry by engaging clients, building trust, and helping your agency stand out in a competitive market.

Consumers rely on digital resources to find information, and insurance agencies need to have a strong online presence to stay connected. But with so many platforms to choose from, developing an online strategy can be challenging. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve compiled this practical guide with essential digital communication tips and tool comparisons to help you save time, build trust, and deliver a better client experience.

Digital Communication Tips for Insurance Agents

As an insurance company, using digital tools strategically is how you communicate, build trust, improve efficiency, and give your clients a better experience. Here are some tips to make the most of digital tools as an insurance agent:

  • Be Responsive: Answer emails, SMS, chats, and social media messages promptly. Consider using automated acknowledgements to confirm received messages and tell the sender when they can expect a response.
  • Use the Right Channel: Account for context and message length when choosing the best digital channel for communication. For example, text quick messages or reminders, but use a secure email or portal when sharing policy documents.
  • Personalize Communications: Use automation for routine touchpoints, but always provide an option for personalized follow-up—especially after major life events or policy changes.
  • Protect Client Privacy: Always follow data privacy laws when communicating digitally with clients. Use secure platforms, protect all personal information, and use trustworthy e-signature tools for policy agreements.
  • Keep It Concise and Professional: Communicate with clients using everyday language that’s easy to read and understand. Maintain a consistent brand voice on your webpage and across channels by using a tone that aligns with your company’s goals and values—whether it’s educational, reliable, or friendly.

Digital Communication Tools for Independent Insurance Agents

Here are some of the best digital communications tools for improving customer experience as an insurance provider:

Social Media Groups

Social media platforms provide a great opportunity to build a community among your clients and allow you to connect directly with clients and prospects. Creating a Facebook Group, LinkedIn Group, or Reddit community gives your clients and prospects a dedicated online space to ask questions and share experiences. Along with getting responses from your team, clients can also gather insights from other insureds.

Social media groups also make sharing major announcements simple. The information is accessible to an engaged audience who gets notifications, increasing the odds that it won’t be overlooked.

Digital Client Toolkits

A digital client toolkit is an online central repository of helpful information and tools. This can be anything from how-to guides, checklists, and FAQs to other resources clients may find valuable. With a client toolkit, selling isn’t the primary goal. Instead, it’s about positioning your independent insurance agency as a go-to resource for helpful tips, tricks, and insights, drawing clients in with handy information, increasing engagement, and bolstering your brand.

Videos on Social Media

Video is one of the most popular mechanisms for enhancing engagement on most social media platforms and is a solid option for developing your brand’s voice.

Video can be a great way to share updates and helpful resources. Plus, most social media video formats are embeddable on websites, allowing you to add valuable ones to your client toolkit with ease.

Email Newsletters and Surveys

Email newsletters are a classic option for sharing information with clients. One of the simplest approaches involves sharing an overview of a blog, announcement, or similar content and then including a link that directs the reader to the actual post to learn more. Not only does this let you keep your newsletter short and enticing, but it also boosts traffic to your other pages.

When it comes to follow-up, emailed survey links are one of the easiest options. You can use them to gauge the client experience and identify areas where improvement would be beneficial.

Live Online Chats or Chatbots

Setting up a chat or chatbot gives clients a place to direct immediate questions and requests when visiting your website. Bots in particular can be scripted to answer common FAQs, capture leads, and collect data, including contact information and preferred times for site visitors. Since bots are automated, they allow clients to access information digitally at any time—even outside of business hours.

Live chats can improve the customer experience through real-time support. Many clients appreciate immediate, human assistance, particularly when handling urgent matters or complicated questions. Live chats may be more effective than automated chatbots if site visitors have billing questions, need claims guidance, or require assistance with policy changes.

SMS Messaging

Text message marketing can be an effective strategy to help independent insurance agents communicate with clients. This approach helps you build and improve relationships with clients while expanding and increasing policy conversations.

Brief, personalized, and actionable texts are a great way to improve the insurance digital experience by welcoming new clients, sending reminders to existing customers, and sharing notifications about changes or opportunities with policies. Unlike emails, texts are best for short and urgent notifications.

Digital Communication Tools Comparison Table

Use this comparison table to help you choose the right digital communication tools based on their strengths, limits, and ideal use cases.

Tool

Best Use Case

Pros

Cons

Social Media Groups

Community building, client education, casual engagement

Encourages peer-to-peer support, builds loyalty, helps prospects find you online

May require moderation, not all clients use the same platforms

Client Toolkits

Centralize resources for policyholders and prospects

Makes it easy for prospects and clients to find information, positions your agency as helpful and reliable

Takes time to set up, requires regular updates and additions

Videos (Social Media)

Brand storytelling, client education on products and services

Creates visibility, high engagement, shareable

Can be time-consuming to produce

Email

Newsletters, surveys, detailed updates, sharing secure documents

Automation-friendly, great for long-form and detailed content

May get caught in spam filters, lower open rates

Live Chat

Personalized client help and real-time support

Direct human interaction, helpful for sensitive, complex, or nuanced issues

Depends on staff availability, higher cost

Chatbots

Lead capture, after-hours support, immediate answers to FAQs

Automated, scalable, always available

Limited responses

SMS Messaging

Urgent updates, reminders, confirmations

Immediate visibility, high open rates

Limited space, requires consent

How To Increase Engagement With Your Online Resources

Implementing engagement strategies encourages clients and prospects to interact with your digital channels, fostering communities and driving visitors to your online resources. Here are a few opportunities to improve engagement and create a better customer experience with your online resources:

  • Incentivize Participation: Offering rewards for engagement and participation is an effective way of getting people to interact with your online tools. For example, send swag, an e-book, or a discount opportunity when someone signs up for your newsletter.
  • Personalize Experiences: Use data to segment your audience and personalize messages and experiences. By helping audiences within different demographics find and access relevant information, services, and products, you improve the likelihood of them engaging with your digital resources.
  • Interact in Real Time: Communicating in real time through live chats or comments on social media pages is a great way to connect with your audience, provide a personal experience, and encourage community development.

At ePayPolicy, we understand the importance of engaging with your clients and embracing digital tools as part of the modern insurtech landscape. Our products and digital solutions, including customizable payment pages and dashboards, make it easy for your customers to access online resources while reinforcing your agency’s brand identity. To learn more about how ePayPolicy can improve your agency’s online presence, schedule a free 30-minute call.

Arizona Agency Values the Simplicity of ePayPolicy

by Client Spotlight Series

Dick Gufstason founded Dickson Insurance in Mesa, Arizona in 1995. Today it is run by Dick’s sons Simon and Jake, who took the reins in 2010. Jake started with the agency in 1998, specializing in trucking insurance. He then branched out, now also selling personal lines and managing the agency’s accounting functions.

Jake says Dickson has had the ability to handle credit card and ACH payments for 10 years. The problem was, they had to be manually entered. The agency also took a lot of fax checks. Jake wanted a system to relieve the manual entry burden. He also didn’t want to worry about the high fees his credit card processor charged him.

How Dickson Chose ePayPolicy

Dickson Insurance is big on industry referrals. Their website lists recommended professionals ranging from real estate agents and title companies to janitorial and auto glass repair services. In this case, it was IIABAZ that connected Jake with ePayPolicy.

Jake saw ePayPolicy listed on the IIABAZ site as a recommended product. He says, “They called me. We went through a demo. I made the decision based on that interaction. Within a day it was up and running. It made total sense.”

The timing of that call was perfect. Dickson installed ePayPolicy in 2019. “It turned out to be great for us during COVID,” he mentions.

He also shares that Dickson’s business has doubled “three or four times” since 2012. Their business mix is 80 percent trucking/business insurance and 20 percent personal lines. Most of the growth comes from trucking. Jake is happy to have a secure payment system in place “with that kind of money flowing through the agency.”

Customer Response to Digital Payment

They did not promote credit card or ACH payment much prior to ePayPolicy because those payments were almost as time-intensive to process as checks (and expensive). 

He says, “I still have to promote it to my agents. They’re stuck in their old way of doing things.” But since COVID, that’s really changing.”

He says most customers who use ePayPolicy use ACH rather than credit or debit cards. There are still the occasional few who don’t want to pay even a $3 transaction fee* but otherwise, Dickson customers love the convenience.

Benefits to the Agency

According to Jake, the top three benefits Dickson Insurance gets from ePayPolicy are:

  1. “It’s a time saver for me, not having to deposit money.”
  2. “The ease of using it; it streamlines taking money from the customer.” 
  3. “If someone’s credit card payment isn’t approved, we know right away.”

He’s also pleased with ePayPolicy’s service. “CSR has been great. I had to switch banks and sent a message to support through the portal. We got a call back right away. No problem.”

Advice to Other Agencies

Jake is direct in his recommendation: “If you are taking a lot of payments in-house, this is a function that will ease the process for the entire agency. For your agents and your accounting staff, it eases the entire process.”

* ePayPolicy passes the transaction fee along to the payer, separating it out from the payment and depositing only what the agency is owed. This net funding process provides a simple and easy way for accounting to track and manage inbound digital payments.

 

Features Feature: AutoPay and Recurring Payments

by Digital Payment Processing

ePayPolicy offers two features that make payment a “set it, and forget it” proposition for those paying you. We get a lot of questions about the difference between AutoPay and Recurring Payments. Here’s a quick overview to take the mystery out of these convenient features:

Recurring Payments

Recurring payments are available with our Custom Payment Page subscription. The ability to set up recurring payments is embedded right on your payment page to make the payment experience seamless for your payer. Once the payer is logged in, a simple toggle turns it on and they can set up payments to occur on a set schedule. The payer sets the start date and end date, according to frequency (e.g., monthly, semiannually).

The payer can easily track payments directly through your payment page on the Recurring Payments page. You can also track their recurring payments through your dashboard.

Main benefits: Payers don’t have to remember when payments are due. They control the schedule of payments and can turn the feature on themselves and change the schedule at any time, if needed.

AutoPay

This feature is available to clients with an Integration. We integrate with today’s most popular management systems, with new ones being continuously added. (Here’s a list of current integrations.)
AutoPay is automatically enabled so your payers are ready to set up automatic payments for their account. Payment is made directly from the payer’s account (ACH or debit or credit card) as soon as an invoice is posted from the management system. The payer gets an automatic e-receipt of the transaction and the activity writes directly back into the management system.

Main benefit: It’s all done automatically—for your payer, and for you. It guarantees that your invoices will be paid as soon as you submit them to your payers—making things simple for you and your clients.

Which is better for your agency?

Both Recurring Payments and AutoPay add an extra layer of convenience—the whole point of offering digital insurance payments. Both reduce (or even eliminate) the problem of missed or late payments. Both offer you and the payer the ability to easily track when payments are made.

The difference is your ePayPolicy subscription. If you’re not ready to integrate ePayPolicy with your AMS (or if we don’t yet integrate with your management system), you can’t go wrong with a Custom Payment Page subscription, offering your payers the easy option of turning on recurring payments.

For more information on ePayPolicy features, follow us on Facebook. Already a client? Be sure to join our Facebook Users Group!

Tech Evangelist Stephanie Beninati Describes ePayPolicy in Two Words

by Client Spotlight Series

Strategic Insurance Services (SIS) is a woman-owned agency specializing in industry-specific insurance and hard to place risk. Based in Denver, SIS is licensed in 18 states.

Broker/owner Stephanie Beninati says she’s been trying to implement processes and technology “from day one.” But finding solutions for SIS hasn’t been easy. “We do construction and excess and surplus lines. We don’t write with the big carriers, where you can type in a few things and get a quote. Our policies don’t download into our system.” She adds: “Where other agents may talk to a client once a year, I’m on the phone all the time. Our clients constantly have urgent needs (e.g., subcontractor certificates). We love it—but it’s time-intensive. ”

Stephanie’s a big fan of third-party vendors. She’s always on the lookout for partners who can automate business functions and make things easier for her clients. Two years ago, she switched her agency management to EZLynx.

Credit Card Payments

Next up on her list: a system to process credit card payments. Initially, she signed up with a credit card company. But they charged a hefty percentage per transaction. She knew there had to be a better way. She asked and asked. Finally, at a PIIAC event, she picked up an ePayPolicy brochure. And there was her answer: a digital payment portal designed exclusively for the insurance industry.

Stephanie describes ePayPolicy in two words: so easy. “I just called them up. It took five minutes. It was so easy to set it up. I did the 10-minute intro training and haven’t had to call them since.”

“ePayPolicy literally changed my life”

She mentions again that she outsources as much as possible. “I hired a guy to handle our AP/AR who was willing to learn our EZLynx and ePayPolicy. Ever since:

    • People have an easy way to pay
    • Everything gets paid on time
    • We no longer have to chase people down for money. We just give them the payment link and they can pay on the spot.
    • I don’t ever have to look at money!”

Advice on Technology

“As a society, we are moving faster and faster, and you have to adapt. You have to be smarter and quicker than others to survive. Technology is the revolution.”

Of her highly specialized work, Stephanie says, “I can train people on the business, but they have to have that fire in their belly, that “how do I make it better?” attitude. I look for people with tech backgrounds, or the willingness to learn new technologies—just like I’ve done myself.”

She’s so committed to speed, ease, and efficiency that she even switched SIS over to Macs and said goodbye to her PCs. Her employees were fully comfortable in just a few days. Like ePayPolicy, she describes Mac and the iOS operating system as “so easy.”

Advice on using ePayPolicy

ePayPolicy took a problem most insurance agencies didn’t yet see as a problem. And they engineered digital payment technology that’s easy to implement and use.

Stephanie says: “There is no reason in this day and age not to offer credit card and ACH payment.”

Her reasoning: “Taking money should be the easiest thing we do. Once we sell the product, if we can’t get paid for it, our cash flow suffers. Writing a big check makes you feel bad. No wonder clients drag that payment out. Digital payment is instant. When clients can pay quickly, they do. And they feel good.”

Plus, “It makes you look like a larger agency.”