Adding an Underwriter Partner

Contents

Overview

The underwriter drives rates used; endorsements and fees for endorsements; remittance rates; available commitments, policy types, and policy documents, and default settlement ledgers for the file.

Version History

Functionality available prior to v8.26. Information gathered and screenshots created in v9.7.

Create an Underwriter Partner

Admin/Partners

Click New.
Enter a Company Name.
Enter the partner’s information and set the Partner Type to Underwriter.
Click Save.
Highlight the underwriter partner created above and click Edit.
Click Underwriter in the Partner-Type Specific Data section.

Adding State-Based Information

Admin/Underwriter/State

Select a State from the dropdown options.
Enter the Maximum Consideration Amount if the underwriter has a limit on the amount of insurance for which a policy can be issued.
1. When a file is created, if the sales price or loan amount exceeds this amount, this underwriter will not be considered when automatically assigning an underwriter, nor will it be provided as an option if the user manually adds an underwriter.
2. If the sales price or loan amount is changed to something that exceeds this amount after the file is created, a trigger will be fired. This trigger can be associated with an action, which will make a user aware that an over-the-limit approval may be necessary or the underwriter may need to be changed.
Enter the Parent Agent #, if applicable.
1. This is assigned by an underwriter when there is a parent company of several other companies.
2. This is optional and can be displayed on the remittance report.
Enter the Agent #.
1. This is the agent number with the underwriter.
2. This is optional and can be displayed on the remittance report.

Associating Commitments Templates

This is the template that will be created when (Re) Generate Commitment on the Search Data panel is used.

Select a State.
Select the Type as Commitments from the dropdown options in the Templates area.
Select the appropriate product(s) from the Templates: Trans/Product list.

NOTE: If the commitment template is the same for multiple transactions/product combinations, multi-select by using the Ctrl key and selecting the desired transactions/products.

Click Add in the Templates section.

Select the Category that contains the commitment templates.
- In the Templates section, check the Select box to select the desired commitment template.
- Click Add Selected.
Repeat for each transactions/product and state combination that would need a commitment generated.

Associating Policy Forms

Select a State.
Select the Type as Lender’s Policies from the Templates: Type dropdown options.
Select the appropriate product(s) from the Templates: Trans/Product list.

NOTE: If the policy template is the same for multiple transactions/product combinations, multi-select by using the Ctrl key and highlighting the various transactions/products.

Click Add in the Policy Forms section, select the appropriate forms(s), and click Add.

For each policy form listed, there is a Default, Default 1, Default 2, Default 3, and Default 4. If checked, this policy form will be the default policy form for the selected criteria. The number after the Default… will correspond to the loan number (e.g. Default 2 would be the default policy for loan 2.)

If a policy form should be the default form for the selected trans/product combination, check the appropriate Default box for the form.
- If Default is selected, all loans (1 – 4) that don’t have a loan-specific default set (Default 1 – Default 4), will use the Default policy form. In addition, all loans greater than 4 will always use the Default policy form, if one is set.

Associating Policy Templates

An underwriter can have one or more templates associated with each Trans/Product/Policy form combination. These templates are used to automatically generate the policy when the Generate button on the Policy panel is used.

Select a State.
Select Lender’s Policies from the Templates: Type dropdown.
Select the appropriate product(s) from the Templates: Trans/Product list.
- NOTE: If the policy template is the same for multiple transactions/products, multi-select by using the Ctrl key and highlighting the various transactions/products.
Select a Policy Form and click Add in the Templates section.
Select the Category that contains the policy documents.
In the Templates section, check the Select box for the desired policy template.
Click Add Selected.
Repeat for each policy form, trans/product and state combination that would need a lender’s policy generated.

Repeat for each policy form, trans/product and state combination that would need an owner’s policy generated.

Adding Remittances

Enter remittances according to the contract for the underwriter and state that’s being edited. Multiple remittances can be added to cover the various remittance scenarios (e.g. policies, CPLs, etc…)

Select a State.
Click Add in the Remittances area.
Select and enable options as needed:
- Remittance Calculation
  - Default: This covers every remittable item not otherwise defined.
  - Coverage: This allows for different types of coverages to have different remittances (e.g. an owner’s remit can be different than simultaneous lender’s remit).
  - Endorsements: This is the remittance calculation for endorsements. If it’s set to Default, it will cover all endorsements.
  - Other: This allows for different remittance calculations for remittable settlement statement lines, such as CPLs and policy fee.
- Consideration
  - From: The lowest insurance amount to which this remittance calculation applies. If this amount is left blank, the assumption is 1.
  - To: The highest insurance amount to which this remittance calculation applies. If this amount is left blank, the assumption is infinity.
  - Of: This allows for specifying whether the consideration is set to default, on the lender’s consideration, or the owner’s consideration.
- Calculation
  - Flat Fee: Select if the remittance is a flat amount.
  - Per Thousand: Select if the remittance is calculated at a set dollar per $1,000 worth of insurance (e.g. $.20/1,000).
  - Percentage: Select if the remittance is a percentage of another dollar amount.
  - Rate Table: Select if the remittance should be calculated based on a rate table. If this option is used, enter a Percentage. Resware will calculate the remittance at a percentage of the rate calculated by the rate table.
  - Discount Rate Table: If the rate table option is used and remittances are subject to discounts, select this option to calculate the discount. Enter a Percentage of the discount calculated by the rate table.
    - If the criteria for a discount are met, Resware will deduct the amount calculated by the Discount Rate Table from the amount calculated by the Rate Table and display the results as the remittance amount.
- Based On
  - Premium: Select this if the remittance calculation is based on the total amount collected as premium for insurance.
  - Basic Rate: Select this if the remittance calculation is based on the basic rate, regardless of what was collected as premium for insurance.
  - Consideration: Select this if the remittance calculation is based on the insurance amount.
    - If Default is selected, the calculation will look at owner’s or lender’s whichever is being calculated.
    - If Owner’s or Lender’s is selected, the calculation will only look at that consideration amount.
Repeat the above steps for the different remittance scenarios as needed.

For further information on remittance fee groups, splits, and remittance ledgers, see the Remittance article.

Adding Endorsements

Select a State.
Click Add in the Endorsements area.
Enter a Name for the endorsement.
- The Name will be displayed on the settlement statement line as the description when the endorsement is added.
- Select from the Applies to Policy dropdown options the policy the endorsement can be used.
If the endorsement will have line items that can be deleted, select the proper Special Endorsement.
Enter the Stat Code, if applicable.
- This is only used if the state code that appears on the endorsement is different than the remittance code that appears on the policy.
- The stat code can be pulled onto documents using the merge field PolicyEndorsementStatCode.
Enter a Remittance Code.
- If entered, the code identifies each endorsement and will be displayed on the remittance report.
Enter a Merge Field Abbreviation, to be used with the PolicyEndorsment merge fields on documents.
- This is used to show if this endorsement is in use on a file. Underscores are not permitted in merge field abbreviations.

Select a Property Type from the dropdown options as needed.

Check Do Not Generate on the Short Form Policy if a document for the endorsement should not be generated when the associated policy form is designated as a short form policy.
Check the Endorsement Added Trigger option to fire an action trigger whenever this endorsement is added.
Check Allow Multiple if multiples of this endorsement can be allowed on a file.
Select the Allow website user to enter custom fields option if web user have access to the Policy page on the website and should be able to edit custom fields on selected policy endorsements.
Select Require all custom fields on website will require website users that have access to the website policy page to fill in all custom fields before issuing a policy. This will add a required * to Edit Custom Fields.

Associating Endorsement to Policy Form(s)

Select the policy forms that allow this endorsement to be issued.

Choose All if the endorsement should be available for all Policy Forms.

Choose Selected when the endorsement should only be available on certain Policy Forms.
- Click Add in the Policy Forms area.
- Select the appropriate Form(s), and click Add.

Associating Endorsement Templates

Select the document template that will be used when the endorsement is generated.

Click Add in the Templates area.
Select the Category that contains the endorsement templates.
In the Templates area, check the Select box for the desired endorsement template.
Click Add Selected.

Auto-Adding Endorsements

Enable this if the endorsement should be automatically added at file creation with this underwriter. This can be further specified by transaction and product type and partner type. Initially, when a transaction/product is selected, it’s set to be auto-added for all partners on the file.

Click Add in the Auto-Add to Trans/Product area.
Select the appropriate Trans/Products, and click Add.

The auto-add to Trans/Product can be further defined by partner. This is useful for lenders who always require specific endorsements for certain products.

Select a Trans/Product, and click Edit.
- Choose All, Except if the endorsement will be auto-added when the underwriter or product changes and none of the partners in the except list are on the file.

Choose Selected if the endorsement will only be auto-added when a partner and specified partner type in the selected list is added to the file.
- Click Add.
- Select the appropriate partner(s), and click Select.
  - Click Close.

Adding Endorsement Fee(s)

Select a rounding option in the Round Fee dropdown if the endorsement fee calculation should be rounded.
- None: The amount will not be rounded.
- Nearest Dollar: The amount will be rounded up or down, whichever is closer.
- Nearest Dollar: Round to Even: Round to the amount to the nearest dollar, i.e. round to even/banker’s rounding.
- Nearest Penny: Round to the amount to the nearest penny.
- Nearest Penny, Round to Even: Round the amount to the nearest penny, i.e. round to even banker’s rounding.
- Next Dollar: The amount will always be rounded up to the next dollar.
- Next Penny: The amount will always be rounded up to the next penny.
Enter a Flat Fee if the endorsement fee is a flat dollar amount.
Select Per Thousand of Consideration Amount if the endorsement calculation is a set dollar amount per thousand dollars of the consideration amount (e.g. $020/1,000).
Rate of Consideration Amount allows for calculating the amount against a title premium rate table. The percentage field to the right allows a percentage of the rate table amount to be used for the calculation.
Select Percentage of “Applies To” Premium if the endorsement calculation is a percentage of the premium set in the Applies to Policy dropdown. Enter the percentage in the Percentage of “Applies to” Premium field.
Percentage of Both Premiums is used when the endorsement calculation is a percentage of the total of the owner’s and lender’s premiums collected on the file.
Base on Basic Premium is used when the endorsement should be calculated on the basic premium before discounts.
Minimum and Maximum sets a range between which the endorsement calculation(s) apply.
If the Must Charge Fee option is selected, the endorsement will be charged regardless of whether or not the Don’t Charge for Endorsements option is set on the client.
When Do Not Remit is selected, a remittance amount for the endorsement will not be calculated. The endorsement will still be included on the remittance report.

NOTE: These calculations are additive. If multiple calculation types are selected, each calculation will be made and the total of all the calculations will be displayed on the file.

Charge on Rates

This specifies the rates on which a fee for this endorsement should be charged. If a rate is being used that isn’t specified for the endorsement, no fee will be charged regardless of whether or not Must Charge Fee is checked.

Choose All, Except when the endorsement should be charged on all rates or on most rates. Optionally, click Add.
Select those rates which this endorsement shouldn’t be charged, and click Add.

Choose Selected if the endorsement should only have a charged on some rates.

Click Add.
Select the rates which the endorsement should be charged, and click Add.

Underwriting Endorsement Mapping

If an underwriter service is configured, an additional dropdown may appear to select an underwriter endorsement from a list to map to the endorsement currently selected in the endorsements grid.

If Show all Endorsements is selected, all endorsement mapping options for a particular service will be displayed, including deprecated endorsements. When unselected, endorsement mappings are filtered so that only the most recent version of each mapping is displayed.

Associating Title Premium Rates

Admin/Underwriter/Title Premium Rates

NOTE: Rates will need to be set in Admin/Title Premiums/Rate Types and Admin/Title Premiums/Discount Rate Types before they can be linked to an underwriter.

For further information on rates, see the Rates job aid available on the user group website.

When assigning rates to a file, it is possible that there will be overlap and a file may qualify to use multiple rates. In these cases, the most specific rate available will be assigned to the file and used to calculate the premium. The rates will be assigned in the following order:

Client, Client’s Client, Product, Policy Form
Client, Client’s Client, Product
Client, Product, Policy Form
Client and Product
Client
Product and Policy Form
Product
Default (no selection)

Rates can be set as the default rate for any one of the levels above. Additional rates can be made available for users to select on files. If a specific rate type isn’t set on the level used on the file, the rate will not be available for a user to select as an option to calculate the premium. For example, if Rate A is set on the product level and not on the policy level and the file is using the rates on the policy level, Rate A will not be a rate option for users to choose.

The level that the file uses may also change, depending on what changes on the file. For example, if there is a rate assigned on the product level and the policy form level, but the policy form isn’t on the file when the file is created, the file will use the product level rate. However, when a policy form gets assigned to the file, the rate will be updated to use the policy form rate, if the corresponding premium line isn’t locked.

It’s recommended that rates are set on the most global level. For example, if every file for a certain product should have the same rates set as the default and available, regardless of the policy form, client, and client’s client, set the rate at the product level. If every file for a specific client should use the same rate settings, set those rates on the client level.

Setting Default Rates on the Transaction Type

Select the Loan # from the dropdown options to set the loan(s) to which the configured rates apply. If rates are defined for the Default loan number, but not the specific loan number, the Default setting will be used.
Select a Transaction Type from the dropdown options.
Click Edit Available Rates.

Setting Rates on the Product Types

Select the Loan # from the dropdown options to set the loan(s) to which the configured rates apply. If rates are defined for the Default loan number, but not the specific loan number, the Default setting will be used.
Select a Transaction Type from the dropdown menu.
Select Product Types. Multiple product types may be selected at the same time if the use the same rate tables,
Click Edit Available Rates.

Setting Rates on the Product Type and Client

Select the Loan # from the dropdown options to set the loan(s) to which the configured rates apply. If rates are defined for the Default loan number, but not the specific loan number, the Default setting will be used.
Select a Transaction Type from the dropdown options.
Select Product Types. Multiple product types may be selected at the same time if they use the same rate tables.
Select a Client from the dropdown options and click Edit Available Rates.

Setting Rates on the Product and Policy Form

Select the Loan # from the dropdown options to set the loan(s) to which the configured rates apply. If rates are defined for the Default loan number, but not the specific loan number, the Default setting will be used.
Select a Transaction Type from the dropdown options.
Select Product Types. Multiple product types may be selected at the same time if they use the same rate tables.
Click Add in the Policy Forms area.

NOTE: The contents of this grid are not dependent on any other fields (e.g. product type, transaction type, etc…). When different product or transaction types or loan #’s are selected, the policy forms that display are not affected (unlike the relationship between transaction and product types). However, in order to select a policy form with which to associate rates with, at least one product type must be selected (otherwise the Policy Form grid will be disabled).

Select the Policy Form(s) that should have rates assigned.
Click Add.

Select a policy form and click Edit Available Rates.

Setting Rates on the Product, Policy Form, and Client

Select the Loan # from the dropdown to set the loan(s) to which the configured rates apply. If rates are defined for the ‘Default‘ loan number, but not the specific loan number, the ‘Default‘ setting will be used.
Select a Transaction Type from the dropdown menu.
Select a Product Type.
Select a Client from the dropdown menu.
Click Add in the Policy Forms area.
Select the Policy Form(s) that should have rates assigned.
Click Add.

Select a policy form and click Edit Available Rates.

Edit Available Rates

This panel allows adding/removing/configuring rates that are made available for selection on the Settlement/Title Charges/Title Premium Rates option.

The combination being edited is displayed at the top. The lender’s premium rates settings for that combination are in the column on the left and the owners’ premium rates settings are in the column on the right. The available rate types that can be assigned are in the middle.

Rate types are defined as follows:
- Basic: This rate will be used if no other rates are defined as it is required to be set if a simultaneous, base, or a discount rate is set.
- Simultaneous: Use this rate to calculate a different rate than the basic rate and to have it appear as the total. This can be used to calculate a simultaneous issue rate and to balance the premiums. When balancing, the lender’s basic rate is used.
- Base: This rate will be used as a base for the discount rate instead of the basic rate, if it’s set. At least one base rate must be enabled to utilize the choose lowest available rate functionality.
- Discount Rates: This rate is used to calculate the rate when a prior policy is provided.

To select a rate type to which rates should be added, click in the corresponding box in the Apply To…area for rate type being modified. If a rate should be added to all rate types, select Apply to All.
The rate type will turn red to indicate that any selected rates will be added to it.
To add a rate to the rate type, find it in the Premium Rates grid and either double-click on it or highlight it and click Add.

If multiple rates are added to the rate type, select one as the default rate that will be used for estimates and at file creation by double-clicking on it.
Deselect the rate type by clicking on the name of the rate type, above the grid, or by unchecking the box in the Apply To…area.
Click Save.

The default rates that are assigned to the combination will be displayed in the Available Rates area.
Click Save.
Repeat the above steps until all the rates are added to their corresponding types for the combination listed.

Example on a File

Settlement/Title Charges

The lender’s and owner’s premium rates on the file will be based on the most specific setting on the underwriter, as explained above. Only the rates that are selected for each rate type are available under the Title Premium Rates button on the Settlement/Title Charges panel.

If the policy form is used to determine the premium rates, changing the form on the New Loans tab will cause the rate to change.

Select an option in the Lender’s Policy or the Owner’s Policy dropdown options.
- This will determine the premium rate to be used.

NOTE: The user changing the form will be notified that changing the form could affect the title premiums.

Enter Miscellaneous Details

Admin/Underwriter/ Miscellaneous

Select a Remittance Export Type.
- This defines how the remittance report should be generated. It defaults to Generic which will export the data is displayed in the Preview grid to an Excel file. Custom export reports can be programmed if needed.
Check Remittance: Use Wire if the remittance payments should be made by wire instead of by check.
Enter an Underwriter Prefix, if applicable.
- This will be prepended to batch numbers when remittance reports are created.
Select the TitleHound Underwriter, if applicable.
- This is only visible if the Settlement: Use Title Hound office option is turned on. This dropdown maps a TitleHound underwriter to the selected Resware underwriter. This list can be refreshed by right-clicking on the down arrow and selecting the Refresh option.

Underwriter Service

If an underwriter integration for CPLs and/or policy jackets is in use, the following fields need to be completed.

Select the appropriate Underwriter Service from the dropdown options to enable the CPL and/or eJacket integration.
Select the CPL Document Type from the dropdown options which will be used when the PDF is returned from the underwriter service and attached to the file.
Select the Lender Jacket Document Type from the dropdown options which will be used when the PDF is returned from the underwriter service and attached to the file.
Select the Owner Jacket Document Type from the dropdown options which will be used when the PDF is returned from the underwriter service and attached to the file.

Depending on the Underwriter Service selected, service credentials may be required on this panel. If the following fields appear, credentials are required for this underwriter.

The Service Username and Service Password fields may appear without the Credentials State field. If these appear alone, the state is not required.

If the Credentials State field appears, these credentials will be for CPLs requested for that state only and each state requires its own credentials.

If the Agent Number grid appears, the underwriter selected in the Underwriter Service dropdown requires Agent Number options.

Click Add to enter an Agent Number.
Enter the Agent Number supplied by the underwriter.
Enter a Display Name, if desired.
- The display name is displayed to the user on the agent number dropdown when requesting a CPL.
Save.

Settlement Ledger Default Assignment

Admin/Accounting/Ledgers

When a file is created, the system determines the settlement ledger to use based on the file’s property’s county. The default ledger assignment can be further limited based on the file’s underwriter. The settlement ledger default assignment will be used to set the ledger when an underwriter is added or changed on a file.

Select the appropriate settlement ledger from the grid.
Click Edit.
Navigate to the Underwriter section of the edit Ledger panel.

Choose All when the ledger should be set as the default for all underwriters.

Choose Selected if the ledger should only be used when specific underwriters are on the file.
- Click Add.
- Select the underwriter(s) for which the ledger should be defaulted, and click Add.
- Save the Edit Underwriter panel.

These defaults will be used to set the ledger when an underwriter is added or changed on a file.

For further information on ledgers, see the ledgers article.

Updated on March 11, 2022