What is a program?

A program is the landing page for a policy sold by your MGA to insureds (for Direct Bill policies) & retailers/wholesalers (for Agency Bill policies). A program is similar to a shopping cart containing quotes/policies to be billed together. Each program creates a single checkout link for payment. Once a program has been purchased (invoice has been paid for) the policy(s) in the program can be endorsed and canceled. Programs also allow premium financing to be offered if they are direct-billed to the insured.

Once created a program is created, the Program page will be the central source of information regarding the purchased policies, including:

• Payment history

• Quote / Policy details & changes

• Insured details

• Agency payouts (related to a specific policy or policies)

• MGA payouts (related to a specific policy or policies)

• Automated email communications sent to the retailer and/or insured

How-to Guide

Step-by-Step Instructions

How to create a new Program

1. Begin on your dashboard home screen

2. Select +New Program from the top right corner

   

3. Search for and select the Billing Account (retail/wholesale partner who sold the policy). This is the party who will receive commission once the payment is made (direct bill) or pay premium net of commission (agency bill)

   1. Add the Billing Type - Agency or Direct Bill

   2. Agency bill means the invoice is expected to be paid by the retailer/wholesaler net of their commission.

   3. Direct bill means the invoice is expected to be paid by the insured, and is how you can offer premium financing directly to the insured.

4. Select an Account Manager for the program

   • The user selected as the Account Manager will receive all program-related emails (failed payment, successful payment, policy-related questions)

5. Enter the insured's information (either commercial business name, or personal individual name)

   • If the customer already exists, you will be prompted to select that account from a dropdown. You will be able to select an existing insured entity or add another for that client.

6. Proceed to enter the Quote Details.

   • Enter Quote number, Policy number, and Carrier / Writing company

   • Enter Premium, Taxes and all fees

   • Confirm that the pre-filled Commission % and Account Fee are accurate. Adjust if needed.

     If the policy was placed through a marketing company / MGA (ie your company is a wholesaler), add the marketing company/MGA in the "Wholesaler/MGA" field.

     If you use Ascend's automated payables feature, the Carrier/Writing Company and Wholesaler/MGA fields control where funds will be sent.

7. Attach the quote or policy document to the program

8. If you have multiple quotes or policies to include, you can add another using add another quote buttons located the bottom and the lefthand side of the page.

9. Click Save program to proceed. This action will not trigger the purchase link to be sent to your customer.

10. You will now be directed to the new Program Page. From this page you can view, edit, and send the purchase link to your client.

11. To send the link, simply click Start email campaign in the banner at the top of the page. You can also click "Get it here" to generate a PDF invoice that can be shared with your customer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I send the payment link to the agency or insured?

There are 2 ways to share the payment link:

1. From the program page, click the purple Start email campaign button near the top right side. This will begin the email campaign flow to collect payment to your insured.

   • Emails sent from the program will be displayed at the bottom of the program page under the Communications section.

2. Highlight & copy the payment link from the purple banner and share it with the agent or insured for payment directly.

How do I edit the quote details after I created the program?

Edits made to quotes must be made before payment is initiated on the program. To make changes to a program in Payment due status:

1. Scroll down to the Policies section on the program page

2. Hover over the row of the quote you'd like to edit

3. Click the Actions button and select Edit policy

   

4. Once all edits are made, click the Save changes button in the top right corner. The existing payment link will update as needed; you will not need a new payment link if changes are made before the initial payment has been initiated.

Can my insured split their payment

Yes, you can allow the insured to split their initial payment (ie down payment or payment in full) by clicking the checkbox that says "Allow splitting initial invoice":

Once enabled, your insured will see the "Split payment" option on the online payment page, which will allow them to choose between two cards, two bank accounts, or one of each. They can also customize the amount they want to charge to each payment method.

I received the invoice, how do I upload it?

1. Scroll down to the "Policies" section of the program in question

2. Click on the policy that you received the invoice for

3. Drag and drop the invoice where it says "Upload a file" or click on the box to open your computer's file system.

Contact Us

Need more help? Contact us at [email protected] for more help.