Online System Simplifies Agent Licensing

For NAIFA members licensed in several states and buried in piles of paperwork, help has arrived! A new online system was introduced in July that allows agents with active licenses to complete address changes for multiple states electronically using a single form that greatly reduces processing time. Any agent who has moved offices and had to report their new location to various insurance departments, using different manual forms, with inconsistent procedures, will heave a sigh of relief at this easy, time-saving improvement.

The system, called Address Change Request (ACR), is provided by the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), a non-profit affiliate of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). NIPR created the producer database (PDB), which links state insurance departments to a common repository of agent licensing information. The introduction of ACR is the latest innovation from NIPR, which also offers agents a simple system for online non-resident license applications and renewals in many states (and a growing system for online resident licensing), which accelerates the licensing process for agents who prefer serving clients to filling out forms. NAIFA has supported these efforts by sharing an insurance industry seat on the NIPR Board of Directors. NIPR’s licensing initiatives help further NAIFA’s goal of a more efficient, streamlined and uniform producer licensing system for agents nationwide.

At its launch, ACR was ready to handle address changes for agents in 35 different states, but NIPR aims to have all 50 states and D.C. available by the end of the year. And did we mention there’s no extra cost? Use of ACR does not involve a transaction fee, other than the fees already required by some of the states involved. Visit www.nipr.com for instructions and a current list of participating states. Then report your address change quickly and visit some prospects with all your freed-up time!

Back to August 1, 2007, NAIFA Frontline