Policy administration software
Northline develops applications for the records surrounding an insurance policy: terms, locations, endorsements and the documents attached to them. We can build a new application or work on an existing system.
Policy term begins
- Effective date
- January 1
- Document received
- January 1
The application holds the locations and documents associated with the start of this term.
Policy terms and renewals
A renewed policy may keep the same policy reference while starting a new term. The application needs to distinguish the information carried forward from the history of the term that has ended. A change to a location in the new term should not quietly rewrite the location as it appeared before renewal.
This affects more than the main policy screen. Searches, document lists and exports need enough context to identify the term they describe. A file name alone is a weak substitute for that relationship.
Endorsements and supporting documents
An endorsement can have an effective date, an issue date and one or more document receipt dates. These dates answer different questions. Keeping them separately lets the application show the sequence of effective changes and the sequence in which their documents became available.
The illustration uses a location added from April 1. Its first document arrives on April 5; a corrected document arrives on April 12. The correction belongs to the same endorsement. It should not become an additional effective change solely because it is a new file.
Policy locations and earlier versions
A location record needs a reliable connection to the policy term and the changes that affect it. An address may stay the same while other details change. Conversely, a correction to the address text may leave the underlying location unchanged.
We specify how the application identifies a location and how it displays earlier details. The insurance business supplies the rules for which changes apply to which dates. The software retains the relevant versions and makes the selected view clear.
Policy documents and replacements
| Record | Context to retain |
|---|---|
| Policy document | Policy reference, term, document type and version. |
| Endorsement attachment | The endorsement it describes, effective date and document receipt date. |
| Location document | The particular risk location and relevant policy term. |
| Claim attachment | Claim reference, relevant policy information and document identity. |
Access, retention and permitted file types are specified for the application. A replacement should be identifiable as a replacement, with its relationship to the earlier file retained where required. These are software controls; they do not determine cover or settle a claim.
Changes to an existing application
Start with a renewed policy, a location added partway through a term and an attachment replaced after receipt. We trace how the current system stores and displays each history before deciding which records or screens need to change.
The scope can be a document view, a policy history, a claim-file interface or a larger application. Testing needs to check that the existing history remains readable as well as checking the new behavior.