Herald Changelog
The latest updates at Herald.
The changes below are Herald additions and updates that are backwards compatible. In the event of a change that may affect your integration with Herald, you'll be contacted in advance to ensure you have sufficient time to adjust. Read more in our guide to High Impact Changes at Herald.
Introducing Data Extractions (Beta)
Streamline quote-and-bind workflow with PDF extraction
Herald recently announced the launch of its Data Extraction feature to streamline the insurance quote-and-bind workflow by enabling brokerages to extract unstructured data from PDF documents—such as application forms—and integrate them into their systems
You can leverage the /data_extraction endpoint to post and retrieve data from PDFs that you upload via the existing /files endpoint. See step-by-step guidance here.
Note that /data_extraction is a beta endpoint. If you would like to request access to this beta release, please contact support@heraldapi.com.
Shareable links in HeRB
We’ve enabled customers to share links at every stage of the quote and bind process in HeRB. For example, you could easily share a link to a quote with your colleagues via email, or share with Herald customer success representative a bind application you need help with.
Additional feature enhancements and bug fixes
- We’ve added customer and agent facing tooltips to the appendix, allowing customers to view tooltips in the /application endpoint response
- We’ve simplified our /insurance_parameters relevance and combined identical conditionals for different products
- We’ve removed a set of conditional parameters for a carrier’s EPLI product to stay in sync with carrier requirements
- We’ve fixed a bug related to authorized vendor parameters for a Management Liability product
- We’ve fixed a bug related to re-rate flow
- We’ve fixed a bug related to a carrier’s MPL file failure in the new quote processor flow
Tightening the screws
Fixes and improvements
We’re working hard in the background updating our API to support submissions for multiple lines of business while integrating workers’ compensation products. As a result, this week’s release focused on “tightening up the screws.” Here’s what we fixed and improved:
- We removed risk values from our GET /quotes/:id response that were duplicative with the GET /submissions/:id response.
- We built internal infrastructure that makes it easier to add distribution platforms. This work relates to, but is different from, earlier work that makes it easier for any distribution platform to configure individual producers.
- We fixed a bug where our GET /quotes/:id response returned different coverage values than originally requested if a quote is declined.
- We added the ability for distribution partners include or exclude coverage for acts of terrorism (also known as TRIA).
Puzzling class codes
Simplifying puzzling class codes
Insurance companies sometimes allow external parties, usually wholesale brokers, managing general agents (MGAs), or managing general underwriters (MGUs) to use their discretion about the risk associated with a specific applicant. In these cases, users of quoting technology must provide values for fields that indicate an estimated level of risk. This release, we enabled and simplified this behavior for a certain set of businesses (which are denoted using “class codes”) when applying for specific general liability products.
Fixes and improvements
In addition to simplifying the experience for these tricky class codes, we also made some other fixes and improvements:
- We created default values for the tricky class codes we mention above to streamline showing median prices in scenarios where users can exercise underwriting discretion.
- One of our carriers requires a business description in order to get a quote under certain circumstances. We updated the value we send in this case from “TBD” to an automatically-generated description that is much more helpful to the carrier.
- We improved our ability to configure which producers and insurance products are available to specific distribution platforms.
- We expanded internal tools that add producers and authenticate them with carriers, which accelerates how quickly we can add our customers’ users and builds a foundation for automating that in the future.
First quote in production
Liftoff
This changelog is short and sweet. We’d like to share a major milestone for us: we delivered our first live quote in production.
It’s important to appreciate this milestone while also remembering that this quote is the first of many to come. We remain focused on expanding our reach to more insurance carriers, lines of business, and distribution platforms over time.
Until then, thank you to everyone who helped us get here. Here’s to many more milestones in the future!