Insurance (non-Life)

Property/Casualty Policies

Auto and homeowner policies, unlike life insurance policies, are replaced on a regular basis. One factor at play is that the insurer needs to adjust terms and conditions to reflect competitive and business factors, so he needs to mail replacement policies periodically to all policy holders. New laws are enacted and case law changes, requiring the insurance companies to modify the policy language. Since insurance contracts reflect "local" law, the boilerplate for Massachusetts residents might require updating on a different schedule than a policy sent to Arizona residents. Finally, the policyholders themselves add or delete coverage options, and need appropriate endorsements.

Insurance companies usually mail the letter of explanation, the policy, the endorsements and other supplemental documents (such as the policyholder's application information). Multiple, separate pieces of mail are delivered to the same individual because many of these materials are pre-printed and have to be pulled from one or different warehouses, while others are printed as the need arises. If they are consolidated into a single envelope, the logistics are complex, expensive and error prone.

The ability to print the policy on demand eliminates the biggest source of obsolete inventory. However, printing all of the documents on demand allows the insurance company to customize the content so each customer receives only the policy pages that are relevant to him. Also, it guarantees that the endorsements are complete and match the policyholder's profile because they are printed in-line and mailed together with the policy itself. With a print-on-demand approach, warehouse space is saved, labor is saved, and time is saved.

The Automated Fulfillment Factory is a specific software/hardware solution designed by Xerox and Xerox partners to automate this process of selectively combining static documents with customized or variable-content documents in a single print job. The letter of explanation can use one stock (for example, letterhead) and the policy can use a different stock (for example, 13# bond).

The insurer who already prints on demand can save an enormous amount of postage by using an XSIS printer to produce the policy and endorsements on Lightweight Paper, instead of on 20# or 24# bond. Those insurers who currently print their policies on offset presses using lightweight paper do not have to trade off the efficiencies of printing on demand for lower mailing costs. The lightweight paper documents produced on XSIS adapted printers are comparable in look and feel to traditional offset printed policies, so the company can enjoy all of the benefits of switching to print-on-demand and continue to pay the lowest possible postage on every piece of mail.