Underwriting Guideline Change: Eligibility changes, authority changes and more

To our Valued Broker Partners:

We have made the following UW Guideline changes:

• Binding Authority
  Increased from $100,000 to $150,000. For make/model/year combinations given in the Sales Portal’s vehicle pick list only those that exceed the authority are automatically referred to Underwriting.
• Sound equipment
  Increased permanently attached sound equipment base coverage limit to $5,000.
• Fleet eligibility
  Extended fleet eligibility to include business use, corporate ownership and no requirement for principal operators. In addition, clarified the profitability eligibility criteria to include ICBC’s fleet discount.
• Partial Coverage
  Changed stance on partial coverage; Stratford no longer accepts applications that decline Collision, or Comprehensive or Excess Liability Insurance.
• Billing Procedure
  Substantially restructured ‘Underwriting Procedural Requirements’ and ‘Billing Details’ sections to provide more facts and transparency on Stratford process and in particular, monthly payment plan and cheque processing. Tabulated much of the content to remove duplication and enhance ease of lookup and reference.

Cheque processing
When a cheque has been collected, notify Stratford within 5 days of effective date that the cheque is forthcoming so that Stratford knows to hold the policy active and to not initiate cancellation procedures.Notify Stratford by email to broker@stratfordunderwriting.ca:

• • Subject line: <Policy Number> Payment cheque in mail
  • Body of email: State when the cheque was mailed. Note any specific or unusual circumstance with it. Indicate that customer wants a payment receipt (and no indication required if customer does not). When cheque is received, clears and payment receipt is indicated, Stratford will reply to email with payment receipt.
• Accident Forgiveness
  Aligned Accident Forgiveness Protection language with how the system operates in applying and removing accident forgiveness; “Occasional operators with a minimum of 5 years accident free (at-fault)” is an eligibility criterion.
• GVW
  Increased the GVW to 5500 in the vehicle definition to more closely align with the heaviest vehicles available in the Sales Portal’s vehicle pick list.
• Enhanced Care
  Various narrative additions and edits to the Coverage Details section to cater to Enhanced Care changes, in particular, the reduced exposure to third party liability, and the inclusion of Hit & Run and Excess Basic Vehicle Damage Coverage within Collision coverage.

You can find the latest UW Guidelines on the Landing Page in the Sales Portal when you log in.