Digital Signatures for Insurance Applications

Insurance companies are moving away from traditional, time-consuming paper processes and searching for new and innovative technologies to improve efficiencies. Digital signatures can significantly benefit insurance companies by eliminating the last paper in the business cycle. The ability to instantly sign and seal documents and transactions electronically results in much shorter process cycle times, accelerated customer service, and drastic cost savings. Digital signatures provide enhanced convenience for both the customer and the agent, while significantly reducing application-processing time. In addition to the above, ARX’s CoSign digital signature solution also ensures data integrity of signed documents and provides non-repudiation of transactions.

Insurance applications that can benefit from digital signatures:

Often, the agent electronically generates the insurance application / policy with the prospective customer at the client's office or home. However, in order to complete the transaction, the customer must sign the agreement, which involves printing the policy.
Therefore, the agent has to return to the office to print and mail the application to the customer for signing. The requirement of a handwritten signature prolongs application-processing time, involves paper handling, and significantly increases costs. CoSign addresses this reality by delivering a simple to use digital signature solution that eliminates the need to print or mail documentation.

With CoSign, both the agent and the customer can instantly sign digitally anywhere anytime. CoSign also enables applications to be completed and approved online, improving customer service options.

Insurance companies receive an inordinate amount of health forms, property documentation, casualty claims and additional paperwork that require processing and archiving. Today, most companies electronically scan each form for internal processing, but continue to archive the paper document. It is estimated that the cost of paper archiving for insurance companies is in millions of dollars per year. The US E-Sign law, which explicitly applies to insurance (complemented by the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) legislation in place in 41 states), the European Digital Signature law (EU Directive for Digital Signatures 1999/93/EC), and other regulations passed worldwide, allow insurance companies to forgo archiving paper records as long as the original documents are electronically signed, ensuring document authenticity.

By digitally signing incoming claims and forms, CoSign ensures that original records are not altered so that insurance companies and agencies can stop paper archiving, drastically reducing both costs and overall processing time.

Often insurance companies are forced to re-scan documents in order to capture a hand-written signature on a document that had already been scanned. CoSign digitally signs any type of document including TIFF images, eliminating the need to rescan thousands of processed forms and documents on an on-going basis.

The CoSign digital signature solution complies and exceeds HIPPA regulations for data authentication and non-repudiation of electronic transactions. HIPAA mandates the confidentiality of paper forms and electronic documents, and strongly recommends digital processes.

The Benefits of CoSign for Insurance Applications

The CoSign digital signature solution enables a simple transition to an end-to-end paperless process that conforms with regulations worldwide. With CoSign, organizations streamline their processes, reduce costs, minimize cycle times, and improve the level of service they can offer to their customers.

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