Proxies (Producer Teams)

What is a Proxy?

In our documentation on Producers, we define Producers as: an agent or broker authorized to distribute an insurance product on behalf of one or more insurance carriers…

In practice, many producers work as a part of team. While the producer may own the client relationship, they have colleagues obtain insurance for that client: they compile the application, obtain quotes, and prepare and compare the quotes for the client.

Different firms give these individuals different titles, ranging from Staff, to Account Manager, to Client Service Representative. We use the term Proxy to denote anyone in a role where they do the work on behalf of a producer.

It can be important to identify the Proxy separately from a Producer for a few reasons:

• Carrier follow-up emails: when carriers receive a submission via API, they also return quotes via API. However, some also send information back via email. For example, if a carrier takes 5 minutes to generate (maybe they are running an online security scan), they may send an email back to notify that the quotes are now available. Since a Proxy is the one who is responsible for generating and comparing quotes, it is important to direct those emails to the Proxy, not he the Producer.
• Accessing quotes in portals: Most carriers have an online portal where submissions made via API can be viewed and worked on (e.g., to bind). It is important to ensure the submission shows up in the Proxy’s portal (and not the producers) so that they can log in and complete their work.

How to use Proxies?

You send Herald information about a Proxy in the application when making a submission—Proxies do not need to be set up in advance. This is in contrast to Producers, whose information needs to be pre-configured. Most commonly, carriers require a Proxy’s email, but in some cases may require other information such as their name.

To send Proxy information to Herald, provide values for the relevant Admin Parameters. For example, send [.h-code]adm_g9vk_proxy_email[.h-code] to provide an Proxy’s email.  The admin parameters for proxy information, along with the [.h-code]admin_values[.h-code] array in a submission, are optional. Here's an example:

POST /submissions

Copied

{
  "producer_id": "c5358d67-9692-43e7-a64a-5fd8d5760fd2",
  "application": {
    "products": [
      "prd_mc4r_herald_general_liability"
    ],
    "admin_values": [
      {
        "admin_parameter_id": "adm_g9vk_proxy_email",
        "value": "sauna@heraldagencies.com"
      },
    ]
    "risk_values": [
      {
        "risk_parameter_id": "rsk_m4p9_insured_name",
        "value": "DeLorean Real Estate, LLC"
      },
        ...
    ],
    "coverage_values": [
      {
        "coverage_parameter_id": "cvg_48oo_gl_effective_date",
        "value": "2022-05-03"
      },
      ...
    ]
  }
}
 

To see the list of products for which carriers accept information about a Proxy, visit the Admin Parameters tab of the Appendix. When Herald receives information about a Proxy, we send the values to the carriers to ensure ensure that carrier follow-up emails and carrier portal access are granted to the Proxy rather than the Producer.

[.icon-alert][.icon-alert] This feature is in Beta. If you are interested in accessing it, please reach out to your Herald Customer Service representative.

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