Verifying a driver's auto insurance has traditionally been a slow, manual process. It involves requesting paper documents, making long phone calls (15-45 mins on average and where you have to have the insured on the line as well), and manually entering data, all of which create delays and open the door for errors or fraud. Dealerships and rental car companies that handle auto sales or manage service loaners or rental cars are put in a tough situation - They can either spend 45 minutes on the phone with the insurance company and disrupt the customer experience, or they risk leaving their fleet unprotected and losing up to $80,000 a year for a 100 car fleet. . Fortunately, a new generation of technologies provides a direct solution.
Key Takeaways
- Insurance Verification APIs, like Axle, are tools that allow businesses to instantly and automatically retrieve a driver's insurance information directly from the carrier.
- These APIs can confirm crucial data points including the policy status, detailed coverage information (Including liability coverages and comprehensive/collision coverages), the names of the insureds, the lienholder on the policy and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This is all available through Axle's Universal Insurance API spec.
- Using an API eliminates manual data entry, reduces the risk of fraud, and automates highly manual processes
Understanding APIs
Before we go further, let's quickly define what an API is. An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules that allows different software applications to talk to each other. For a more technical overview, you can review our documentation.
Think of an API like a waiter in a restaurant. You (an application) don't go directly into the kitchen (another application's database) to get your food. Instead, you give your order to the waiter (the API). The waiter takes your request to the kitchen, gets the food, and brings it back to you. In the same way, an insurance verification API takes your request for information to a carrier's system and brings back the data you need, all without you having to build a direct connection yourself.
How to Get Instant Insurance Data
So, what APIs exist to get this information? The answer lies with a specialized category of providers that offer consumer-permissioned insurance verification APIs. These platforms, including solutions like Axle, act as a secure bridge between major insurance carriers and your business.
The process is simple: a consumer gives consent through a seamless flow like Ignition and securely logs into their insurance provider. The API then retrieves the necessary data, which can be viewed via API in your system of record (e.g., DMS, LMS, etc.), as a Policy Report or a via a centralized Dashboard, that delivers structured data in Axle’s universal spec for insurance. This allows you to confirm that a policy is active, meets your coverage requirements, and is tied to the correct vehicle, all in a matter of seconds.
Key Data Points You Can Access
When you use a universal insurance API like Axle, you get direct access to the source of truth. Here are the critical data fields these APIs can retrieve:
- Policy Status: Instantly confirm if a policy is active, canceled, or expired. This is the most fundamental step in risk mitigation, and can be automated with continuous Policy Monitoring for ongoing insurance tracking if you want continued access to a policy
- Coverage Details: Go beyond a simple "yes" or "no". APIs pull specific coverage types (like comprehensive and collision and liability coverages like property damage), along with their limits and deductibles, to ensure a policy meets your requirements.
- Insureds: Receive both primary and secondary insureds through Axle’s universal insurance spec to make sure that the person listed on the policy is the same as the person that is in your rental/loaner agreement.
- Leinholder: for auto sales and auto lending use cases, confirm that the lien holder listed on the policy matches Your lien holder requirements so you are protected in the event of a loss and receive policy notifications and updates.
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): An API can retrieve the VIN directly from the policy. This allows you to perform insurance verification against the correct vehicle, preventing fraud and ensuring the asset is properly covered.
Axle's validation engine is a leading example of this technology. Our API connects to major insurance carriers across the country, allowing you to instantly verify all of these data points, streamline your workflow, and protect your business from risk. Additionally, it allows you to ensure that policies meet your requirements by validating against custom rules and leveraging AI-driven policy insights.
Conclusion
Manual insurance verification is no longer a viable option. The risks of fraud, combined with operational delays, make it a significant liability. Second, not verifying insurance is no longer an option. The cost of not verifying is steadily increasing as insurance costs and the price of vehicles continue to rise. The losses for dealerships or rental car companies who don't do so are proving insurmountable.
Insurance verification APIs from specialized providers are the secure, instant, and reliable solution to retrieve policy status, coverage details, and VINs directly from the source. By integrating this technology, you can make faster, safer decisions that improve your bottom line and customer experience.
Ready to eliminate manual processes and accelerate your operations? Chat with our specialists to learn how Axle's insurance verification can lower your risk and speed up your business.
