Westfield Insurance Simplifies Producer Compliance with Automation

Challenge: The more time an agent spends onboarding, the less time they have to sell

To get agents working as quickly as possible, Westfield would typically set up an agent to sell in multiple states, even if it wasn’t clear the agent planned to operate in each of them. “Back over a year ago, we had been appointing everyone in every one of our operating companies before they ever sold us business,” says Jennifer Garner, Information Technology Manager at Westfield. “There’s a big cost for that.”

Westfield needed a solution that would bring down agent onboarding expenses and eliminate drag in a process that required sending a lot of information from one place to another over several days. They needed the process to be fast and seamless.

Westfield has a reputation for being a technology innovator, adopting a cloud-based core system and using AI tools to grow from $30 million in premium to $950 million. To overhaul their onboarding workflow, Westfield applied a tech-forward approach and partnered with Vertafore.

Solution: Just-in-time appointments scales onboarding

With Sircon for Carriers, Westfield automated appointments and centralized producer compliance across nearly 25,000 agent and agency relations.

The entire process was transformed, from initial vetting to writing a policy. From the moment distribution relationship managers begin interacting with an agency, they collect and validate details for background checks and onboarding. With just-in-time appointments, Sircon checks the agent’s license data and appoints them only when they first write business. The agent never sees a hitch in the process.

It’s one of those wonderful things that happens behind the scenes, and the agents don’t notice it because we let them keep running."

_{Jennifer Garner, Information Technology Manager at Westfield}

Outcomes: Faster producer readiness and long-term savings

Optimized expenses

Westfield created a faster, more scalable process that aligned the spend on appointments to the actual business coming in the door. Sircon also helps Westfield terminate producers from states where they are pre-appointed but never sell policies. Now, Westfield’s appointment costs tie directly back into revenue.

Westfield is realizing real savings in labor, too. Garner says the carrier’s distribution team handed off thousands of transactions each day to automation through Sircon so they can focus on the strategic work that supports agent relationships and business growth.

Foundation for growth

When credentialing and appointments happen in the background, producers can keep their attention on the end-insured, rather than on compliance.

When a producer updates their records, Westfield gets the data immediately, and their systems are updated automatically. Garner says Westfield’s distribution team no longer has to manually interact with state websites to resolve licensing issues. Producers have a better experience with Westfield, which turns into more business.

Looking forward, Westfield is partnering with Vertafore to further refine the onboarding and credentialing process. The relationship is helping Westfield manage producer relationships throughout their lifecycle—from initial onboarding to ongoing updates such as license, name, or location changes—so they never run into a roadblock wherever their career or life takes them.

More confidence for IT

For Garner and Westfield’s IT team, Sircon provides reliable connectivity and reduces the burden of maintaining a high-volume compliance process. 

"We did no customizations, and the system just works,” Garner says. As the carrier continues to grow its tech stack and build AI capabilities, they benefit from a partnership focused on service and workflow enhancements. That reliability gives Westfield confidence that it can grow without also needing to grow their headcount.

Vertafore helped us realize a significant savings that we’ll see year over year until we stop writing business."

See how Sircon for Carriers optimizes operations