Oklahoma Insurance Department Success Story
Issue
At statehood, insurance agents desiring to be licensed in the state of Oklahoma submitted a paper application to the Oklahoma Insurance Department and waited to receive their licenses in the mail. At OID, a team of individuals reviewed and processed the applications and mailed the licenses back to each agent. This process took as long as four weeks to complete and often involved time consuming phone calls and mail delays. Additionally, agents had to renew their licenses every other year and the same process ensued. With more than 80,000 resident and non-resident agents in the state, the process was cumbersome and difficult. A century later the process was still the same.
Actions
Commissioner Kim Holland took office in January 2005. An insurance industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Commissioner Holland had intimate familiarity with the licensing process. She directed the leadership team at OID to investigate a more innovative and efficient method for the licensing process. After consulting with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, other state regulators and the insurance community, Oklahoma selected a computer-based licensing system called Sircon for States.
In choosing the new system, OID sought a means to bring agent licensing into the 21st century while saving taxpayer dollars, continuing to offer quality customer service to the insurance industry, operating more efficiently, and reducing the amount of red tape involved in the process by making it easier to obtain and renew an insurance license. Working hand-in-hand with agents and industry associations, OID tailored the system to address the specific needs of Oklahoma agents and adjusters.
Prior to implementation, an extensive education and outreach campaign was launched by OID with our collaborative partners to communicate the changes to the insurance community and to offer training to agents and producers on the new system. OID hosted 36 "train-the-trainer" sessions around the state to introduce the new system to agents. The training included instruction on submitting new resident and non-resident applications and renewals. In addition, a special page was added to the OID website that included instructional videos and materials for download.
Strategy
Throughout the process, OID maintained a clear vision of the objectives desired to accomplish the complex task of converting over to a computer-based system. Among the key strategies defined during the planning stages were:
- Research all existing electronic licensing systems to gather a list of “best practices” throughout the body of insurance regulators.
- Implement a robust, flexible electronic licensing system that would reduce approval times for agents and save taxpayer dollars.
- Utilize time savings to shift employee resources to increase customer service in other areas of OID.
- Significantly reduce the number of work hours required to process licenses.
Results
The Oklahoma Insurance Department's new system opened for public use on April 24, 2007. Almost immediately, OID noticed a significant shift in the appointments and renewal processes from insurance companies and agents. Agents have been pleased with the new system, which enables them to electronically submit license applications and renewals. The Sircon system then validates the application, verifies payment and automatically issues the license. The entire process is complete in a matter of hours, giving agents almost instant access to their licensing status.
Since implementation, 70 percent of new resident license applications are completed electronically and 80 percent of resident renewals are submitted and completed online. The second phase of the system (implemented March 28, 2008) offers the same services to non-resident agents and adjusters. By the end of 2008, every license offered by OID will be available for application and renewal online.
In addition to providing the highest standard of customer service to more than 80,000 resident and non-resident agents, the new system enables OID to save an estimated 9,000 employee work hours each year, which translates to more than $170,000 taxpayer dollars annually. The number of hours saved does not include the many thousands of hours and days of time that individual agents salvage by seeing their wait times reduced from weeks to hours. However, our focus is on the internal employee hours for the purposes of this entry. These important employee resources have been redeployed in other areas of OID, specifically in the area of consumer assistance. Given the initial $130,000 investment in the Sircon system, the annual savings will only increase and multiply over time – truly an exceptional example of good stewardship of taxpayer funds.
In addition to increasing the efficiency of license application and renewal, system improvements have also led to a reduction of calls to our call center. This trend will increase as we continue to squeeze the system for maximum efficiency by adding additional licensing functions.
Ancillary benefits of the Sircon system are numerous and include:
- More detailed information regarding company complaints for OID members assisting consumers
- Tracking company data (in addition to individual agents) including financial data
- Enables tracking of Continuing Education credits by agents and their companies
- Agent Address Changes
- Appointment, Status and other Licensing Inquiries
