Alabama Appointment Renewal for 2015

Key Information:

Alabama will process most of their appointment renewals electronically through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). 

Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large Appointment Renewals: 

• Electronic processing through NIPR is mandatory and continuation invoices cannot be paid directly to the Department of Insurance.
• Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large appointments will be available for renewal beginning January 7, 2015.
• All Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large appointments not terminated on PDB as of December 31, 2014 will be considered continued effective January 1, 2015 and will be reflected on invoices created.
• Appointment continuation fees will be due for every insurance producer, business entity producer, service representative, and title insurance agent listed on the invoice.  Companies will not be allowed to terminate any appointments on the list, once the invoice and list has been generated and made available.
• All appointment terminations for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large must be processed electronically through NIPR.  It is highly recommended insurers do so prior to November 15, 2014, to ensure all termination requests are processed and posted on PDB before the renewal invoices are created.
• Appointment and Terminations submitted after 5 PM CST on December 31, 2014 will be held in the Gateway AV status until January 7, 2015.  Any appointment or termination transaction submitted during this time, will not be reflected on the 2015 invoices for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large.
• When processing of appointment and terminations resumes on January 8, 2015, the effective date will be the date the transaction was received by NIPR.
• The NIPR website will have the renewal invoice and a list of appointments due for renewal for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large appointments available on January 7, 2015.
• Payment of the invoice for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large appointments is due on or before February 15, 2015, in the amount indicated on the Invoice.  Failure to remit payment by the due date may result in administrative action by the department against the insurer.
• Invoices for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large will reflect all appointment renewals due as of January 1, 2015.
• Electronic payment options chosen through NIPR will immediately reflect the invoices as paid and NIPR will forward payment and renewal transactions to Alabama within 24 hours of that payment.
• Invoice payments for Producer, Business Entity Producer, Service Representative, Title Insurance Agent, Portable Electronics Insurance Small and Portable Electronics Insurance Large appointment are due by February 15, 2015.

To view the Current appointment lists on ALDOI website:

ALDOI website:  Click on “Company Search” under the Company section.  Enter your company name or NAIC Number and click the submit button.  Find your company in the list and click “Appointments” to obtain a list of active appointments.   Appointments cannot be terminated from ALDOI’s or SBS’s website.

IMPORTANT RECONCILIATION INFORMATION

Insurance carriers with an NAIC CoCode wishing to reconcile company appointments with the state insurance department may obtain a list of appointments via the Company Appointment Report (CAR) prior to appointment renewal invoices being created.  Terminations can be made through the Interactive Appointment and Termination Application. Both of these applications are available to NIPR Subscribers. If you are not a subscriber or need to verify that you are subscribed to these products, please contact NIPR at 816-783-8467 or marketing@nipr.com for subscription information. You may also utilize the services of an NIPR Authorized Business Partner http://www.nipr.com/general/business-partners.htm.

IMPORTANT PAYMENT INFORMATION

Payments for Alabama Appointment Renewals MUST be received by NIPR through the Electronic Options made available.

• If you are paying by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express) the process will be entirely electronic.  An appropriate receipt will be displayed for you to print for your records. 
• If you are paying by Electronic Check (Paper check payments will not be accepted) some banks or companies may require a pre-authorization to use the electronic check service.  If you need to set up this service with your financial institution, this NIPR ACH-ID will be required:  ACH-ID - 9431763793.

NOTE:  NO PAPER CHECKS:

• Companies that submit a payment to NIPR via paper check will not have their renewal invoice processed and will have the payment returned to them
• Since receipt of a paper check is through a lock box account, NIPR may take several days to post the paper check and issue a return check to your company. 
• NIPR is not responsible if late fees or non-renewal terminations are incurred during this period

NIPR Transaction Fees

NIPR Renewal processing fee will equal 1% of the total state fee charged with a minimum of $5.00 and maximum of $1000.00.

Example:

NIPR Transaction fee would be 1% of the State Appointment Renewal Fee of $1000.00 = $10.00

NIPR processing fees are not refundable

The process after January 7, 2015 when the electronic invoices are on the website is: 

• On the Internet, go to www.nipr.com 
• Follow the links to company appointment renewals and sign-in using your company identifiers: company Cocode, FEIN, and/or company name 
• After entering the necessary identifying information, you can:
• Print/Pay the Invoice
• View the detail report of appointment renewals
• Print the Report
• Download the Report as text (delimited)
• Download the Report as XML. 
• Help screens and NIPR Customer Support are available to guide you through the process.

If you have any questions regarding this new appointment renewal process, contact: 

• Contact NIPR at abpdirect@nipr.com with any questions or for additional information.

• Alabama Agent Licensing at 334-241-4126 (or 334-240-4420 for pre-need appointments) or producerlicensing@insurance.alabama.gov