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Some call it "Batch Filing," others "T-filing" but it is best known as Transactional Filing and it can revolutionize your business.
(Don't confuse Transactional Filing with Document Scanning, which is covered
on another page.)
Transactional filing will dramatically increase the efficiency of your office and give you the ability to rely on your computer files for servicing your customers 99.9% of the time. Increased efficiency means lower operating costs and additional profits.
Sound good? It is! But, transactional filing requires a few adjustments in most agents thinking. For one thing, you have to give up the idea of having all of your customer's papers in one manila file folder and that is a scary idea for some agents.
The information is still in one file, but it's your customer's computer file. Another important change in thinking is the daily requirement to back up your computer files. Backing up your data can be quick and easy with the right backup system.
Transactional filing in its truest form would mean no customer file folders. All documents that need to be retained would be briefly described in the customer's computer file along with the date the document was created or received in the agency. All documents created or received on a particular date are filed in a file folder marked with that date. If retrieval of the document is required, the customer's computer file is checked for the date the document was created or received and it then may be located in the corresponding date file.
Think about the concept for a moment. Documenting the item in the customer's computer file with a brief description almost always gives you the details that you need when the customer, company or lienholder calls regarding the customer's policy. It is no longer necessary to have the document in hand to be aware of its content or effect on the customer's policy. Therefore, the likelihood of needing the document from the date file is practically zero.
Here how it works. First sort the daily mail into three categories, notices of
cancellation, items to be transactionally filed, and items to be discarded. If document imaging is used in the agency, a fourth category would be those items to be scanned. (Scan only those which do not lend themselves to be briefly described on an
T-file entry, such as correspondence, dec pages, schedules, etc.). Items to be discarded are payment notices, Intents to Cancel, etc. Cancellation Notices are separated so that they may be entered with a diary date and worked to retain the business or cancelled on the appropriate date if no reinstatement is received.
After sorting the daily mail and documents, it is time to begin updating your customers' transaction history with our
T-file Quick Entry feature. This allows you to enter a brief (one line) description of the document and gets your computer updated with the daily mail and transactions faster than you ever thought possible.
After you have entered all of your documents, be sure to print a list of the items entered for today. All documents along with this list are placed in a file folder marked with today's date. The list of entries becomes an index of items in the folder.
The question often arises, "What if I need a complete file to go to the Department of Insurance or court?". A complete transaction history may be printed for any customer. This history is used to pull the needed documents and quickly build a paper file for those rare occasions when one is needed. An insurance agency actually has very few original documents. The originals are sent to the company. Copies are kept in the agency. The company sends the originals of its paperwork to the insured and the agency gets the copies. Seldom, if ever, is the agent called upon to produce original documents.
To implement transactional filing, pick a starting date. When the date
arrives, all documents are T-filed. When an inquiry occurs regarding a file or document, check the paper files if it was before the start date, the computer file if it was after your start date. If in doubt, check the computer first. The farther you get past your start date, the less you'll refer to the paper files.
No more pulling files. No more re-filing files. No more daily filing chores. No more
misplaced files. Your computer becomes the tool it is supposed to be. Labor costs are reduced and profits increase. Pick a date and get started. But remember, transactional filing all hinges on your computer system.
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