Interface365 for Insurance
A setup guide for independent insurance agencies — covering commercial brokerages (mid-market commercial lines), personal lines (auto, home, umbrella), and employee benefits (group health, dental, vision, 401(k) advisory). Renewal-driven sales, market submissions, and commission tracking.
See the live walkthrough Watch a $246K mid-market commercial renewal flow end-to-end through Interface365 — peer referral, BOR signing, 5-carrier market submission, a renewal squeeze that negotiated $46K out of Hartford's +28% opener, policy bound, mid-term endorsement for a new facility. Brokerage commission $27K booked. 15 steps →1. Component utility matrix
Decide fast: do you need everything Interface365 ships with for your kind of agency? The honest breakdown — what's critical, what's nice-to-have, and what you can safely skip.
| Component | Useful? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pipelines (renewal + service) | ✓ Critical | Renewal pipeline + active-book service cycle are different motions. Two pipelines, both essential. See walkthrough · Step 7 + Step 13. |
| Custom fields | ✓ Critical | X-date, NAICS, lines of coverage, premium baseline, AMS account ID, loss-history flags — non-negotiable insurance data. |
| Activity types | ✓ Critical | BOR signing, exposure meeting, carrier submission, endorsement request, stewardship review — distinct events with distinct templates. |
| Tasks | ✓ Critical | Loss-run chasing, market follow-ups, COI requests, x-date countdowns, pre-renewal kickoffs. The small stuff that drives retention. |
| Quotes / line items | ✓ Critical | Renewal proposals + side-by-side carrier comparisons are line-by-line + by-carrier. Native quotes save hours per proposal + create E&O-clean shareable PDFs. See walkthrough · Step 9. |
| Saved views | ✓ Critical | "X-date watch", "Renewal at risk (no quote)", "Endorsements this month", "Claims open" — operational essentials. X-date watch alone prevents lapsed policies. See walkthrough · Step 10. |
| Tags | ✓ Important | Multi-line, peer referral, ITAR-flagged, high-premium, loss-flagged — drive different communication motions and cross-sell triggers. |
| Forecasting | ✓ Important | Commission revenue planning by month, retention rate forecasts, x-date pipeline by quarter — producer + finance both work from the same forecast. |
| Webhooks / API | ✓ Important | Outbound webhooks pair Interface365 events (deal.won, endorsement.bound) with Applied EPIC, AMS360, Salesforce-FSC, accounting (QuickBooks). |
| Multi-currency | ✗ Skip | Domestic-only agencies. International brokers (London market, surplus lines) may enable for E&S placements. |
| Teams & permissions | ✓ Important | Producers see their book, AMs see their service queue, principals see all — visibility tiers matter for commission attribution + house accounts. |
Sections 2–7 below explain commercial brokerage configuration. Section 8 covers personal-lines + benefits variants. Section 9 covers producer compensation. Section 10 explains how Interface365 fits alongside your AMS, accounting, and carrier portals.
2. Overview
Insurance has three structural realities other industries don't:
- The product is the policy. Each deal is tied to a specific policy with its own term, premium, and renewal date — fields no generic CRM models cleanly.
- Renewals are the business. 70–90% of revenue is recurring. Your "pipeline" includes upcoming renewals, not just new business.
- Commission tracking matters. Carriers pay differently. New business commissions differ from renewal. Tracking who-earned-what is non-negotiable for multi-agent agencies.
3. Recommended pipeline (commercial brokerage — renewal)
For auto, home, business owners policy, and similar P&C products with quote → bind cycles:
| Stage | Probability | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | 5% | Inquiry received via web, referral, or call. |
| Quote Requested | 15% | Information gathered, quotes being sourced from carriers. |
| Quote Sent | 35% | Proposal delivered to prospect with carrier options. |
| Application Submitted | 60% | Prospect committed to a carrier, application filed. |
| Underwriting | 75% | Carrier reviewing — common stall point. |
| Policy Bound | 90% | Underwriting approved, awaiting first premium. |
| Active Policy (Won) | 100% | First premium paid, policy active. Renewal tracking begins. |
| Did Not Bind (Lost) | 0% | Lost — capture reason (price, declined, went elsewhere). |
4. Recommended pipeline (personal lines + benefits)
Life insurance has longer cycles due to medical underwriting:
| Stage | Probability | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | 5% | Initial inquiry. |
| Discovery Call | 15% | Needs assessment complete. |
| Needs Analysis Sent | 30% | Coverage recommendation delivered. |
| Application Submitted | 50% | Application + initial paperwork in. |
| Medical Exam | 65% | Paramed exam scheduled or complete. |
| Underwriting | 75% | Carrier review — typically 4–8 weeks. |
| Policy Issued | 90% | Approved at offered rate, awaiting client acceptance. |
| Policy Active (Won) | 100% | Client accepted offer, first premium paid. |
| Declined / Postponed (Lost) | 0% | Carrier declined or client withdrew. |
5. Custom fields cheatsheet
On the deal record
| Field name | Type | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
policy_type | Dropdown (Auto, Home, BOP, Umbrella, Term Life, Whole Life, Disability, etc.) | Drives carrier selection, commission rate, and templates. |
line_of_business | Dropdown (P&C — Personal, P&C — Commercial, Life, Health) | For book-of-business reporting. |
carrier | Dropdown | Which insurer underwrites the policy. |
premium_annual | Currency | Annual premium amount. |
commission_rate_pct | Number | Your commission percentage on this policy. |
commission_amount | Currency | Calculated agent commission (year 1). |
policy_number | Text | Carrier-issued policy number once bound. |
effective_date | Date | When coverage begins. |
renewal_date | Date | Critical — drives the renewal pipeline 60 days before. |
coverage_amount | Currency | Face amount / coverage limit. |
writing_agent | User reference | Internal agent owning the policy. |
On the contact record
| Field name | Type | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
date_of_birth | Date | Required for rating most policies. |
occupation | Text | Underwriting input + cross-sell signal. |
household_size | Number | Drives multi-policy bundle conversations. |
existing_policies_with_us | Multi-select | Tracks cross-sell opportunities at-a-glance. |
referral_source | Dropdown | Channel performance — usually referrals dominate. |
6. Activity types
Insurance-specific activity types:
- Quote call — initial fact-find
- Quote review — walkthrough of carrier options with prospect
- Application meeting — formal application completion
- Underwriting follow-up — internal status check with carrier
- Policy delivery — handover of bound policy
- Renewal review — annual policy review (60 days before renewal)
- Cross-sell call — bundling outreach
- Claim follow-up — after a claim is filed
7. Lead statuses + tags
Lead statuses for early-funnel:
- New — fresh inquiry
- Contacted — initial reach-out done
- Quoting — actively gathering quotes
- Cold — no engagement in 30+ days
- Disqualified — uninsurable, out of state, etc.
- Cross-sell — already a client, expanding lines
Recommended tags:
- Multi-policy household (gold) — has 2+ policies
- High value (purple) — $5K+ annual premium
- Referrer (green) — sends new business regularly
- Renewal at risk (red) — past claim, rate increase, or shop signal
- Commercial (blue) — business policies
- Senior client (gray) — needs phone-first communication
8. End-to-end workflow + variants
A Tuesday at a 4-agent independent insurance agency.
8:00am — Renewal radar
Principal opens the saved view: renewal_date in next 60 days, line_of_business = P&C. 47 policies up for renewal. Total premium at risk: $186K. Top 5 high-value renewals get assigned for personal outreach today.
9:30am — New auto quote
Inbound web lead for auto insurance. Agent gathers info, sets policy_type = Auto, premium_annual = $1,800 (estimated). Logs Quote call activity. Pulls quotes from 3 carriers. Moves deal to Quote Requested.
11:00am — Quote review meeting
Agent presents 3 carrier options to existing client. Client picks Carrier B at $1,650/yr. Agent moves deal from Quote Sent to Application Submitted, sets carrier = Carrier B, premium_annual = $1,650. Files application electronically.
1:30pm — Cross-sell opportunity
Saved view: clients with auto only, no home policy, household_size > 2. 23 candidates. Agent sends personalized email noting they could save 15% bundling — three respond by end of day. New leads created with tag Cross-sell.
3:00pm — Underwriting check-in
Filter: deals in Underwriting stage, aged 14+ days. 8 stuck. Agent reviews each, contacts carrier reps for status. Two come back with conditional approval requiring additional inspection. Updates deal notes, sends prospects the inspection scheduling info.
4:30pm — Policy bound 🎉
Carrier confirms binding on a $4,200/yr commercial GL policy. Agent moves deal from Underwriting to Policy Bound, sets policy_number, effective_date. Webhook fires — accounting gets notified for commission tracking. Policy delivery task auto-created for next week.
5:30pm — Renewal report
Principal reviews this month's renewal performance. 112 of 124 policies renewed (90% retention). Six lost to competitor on price. Six in active discussion. Forecasts next 90 days of renewal income for cashflow planning.
9. Producer + AM compensation
Commission is the revenue of an insurance brokerage — every other line on the P&L exists to support producing it. Producers typically split commission with the brokerage 50/50 on new business and 60/40 (in the producer's favour) on renewals after year 2 or 3. Account managers are usually salaried with a flat per-policy bonus + an annual book-of-business retention bonus. Overrides flow to managing partners on house accounts.
The four-field setup on Deal
Add these custom fields under Settings → Custom Fields → Deal:
| Field | Type | Use |
|---|---|---|
producer_assigned | User reference | Whose deal it is. Drives commission attribution. |
commission_rate | Number (percent) | Weighted-average rate across the lines on the deal — typically 8–15% depending on line of coverage. |
producer_split | Number (percent) | Producer's % of brokerage commission — typically 50% new, 60% renewal Yr 2+, varies by firm policy. |
am_assigned | User reference | Account manager. Drives flat per-policy service fee (e.g. $300) + annual retention bonus. |
Worked example — Tessera renewal from the walkthrough
- Annual premium bound = $246,000
- Hartford initial renewal = $292,000 (+28%) — negotiated down
- Negotiation savings = $46,000 vs walk-away
- producer_assigned = Megan Walsh
- commission_rate (weighted, sum of per-line) = ~10.7%
- producer_split = 50% (new account at Northridge)
- Brokerage commission (gross) = sum of per-line commissions = $26,230
- Producer split @ 50% = $26,230 × 50% = $13,115 (paid May 15, with 1st Hartford installment)
- Brokerage retained @ 50% = $13,115
- am_assigned = Jordan Khalil → $300 service fee
- Mid-term endorsement (Jul) = +$1,840 commission · +$920 producer split
- 3-yr expected LTV (commission) = ~$79K (assumes ~$246K renewal premium each year × ~10.7% weighted × 3)
Three saved views every brokerage needs
- "My commission run-rate this quarter" — saved view filtered to
producer_assigned = me, status = bound, bind_date >= quarter_start. Each producer gets their own. - "Commission unbooked (bound but no carrier installment yet)" — owner-level saved view filtered to
status = bound AND first_installment_paid IS NULL. Reconciled monthly with carrier statements; flags any carrier slow on first installment. - "Retention rate by producer (12-mo trailing)" — pivots renewals-bound vs renewals-lost per producer over trailing 12 months. Surfaces who's running a sticky book vs who's losing accounts to competitors. Critical for renewal-bonus tier qualification.
For brokerages with profit-sharing on profitable books (carriers pay agencies a year-end bonus on books with low loss-ratio), add a profit_share_eligible custom field on the account, track loss_ratio annually from carrier reports, and reconcile in January when carrier profit-share statements land. This isn't a per-deal bonus — it's a book-level annual reward.
10. Where Interface365 fits — alongside, not against, your insurance stack
Insurance agencies run a stack: AMS for policy admin + claims + accounting, comparative rater for personal-lines quoting, carrier portals for submission, e-signature for binders + apps, dialer for outbound prospecting, CRM for the funnel + relationship + renewal pipeline. The real question isn't "Interface365 OR Applied EPIC?" — those tools don't compete; they own different layers. The right question is: "where does Interface365 sit in my stack?"
Interface365 is positioned as the sales + relationship + renewal-pipeline layer — prospecting, BOR + exposure meetings, market submission, renewal proposals, x-date alerts, stewardship reviews, retention tracking. It is NOT an Agency Management System. Policies, claims, certificates, accounting all live in your AMS and are referenced by account_id only.
The "alongside" pattern (most independent commercial brokerages)
| Layer | Tool | What it owns |
|---|---|---|
| Sales + CRM + renewal pipeline | Interface365 | Inquiry → BOR → exposure → submission → proposal → bound → endorsements → renewal. Source of truth for the funnel + the client relationship. |
| AMS — policy admin | Applied EPIC / Vertafore AMS360 / HawkSoft / NowCerts | Active policies, dec pages, claims, COIs, certificates, agency-bill accounting, carrier downloads. Linked to Interface365 by account_id only — never by claims data. |
| Comparative rater (personal lines) | EZLynx / TurboRater / PL Rating | Multi-carrier real-time auto/home rate quotes. Output dropped into Interface365 deal as proposal attachment. |
| Commercial submission portal | Carrier portals + Indication / IVANS Markets | Direct carrier submissions, indication requests, broker-of-record letters. Webhook submission.complete → Interface365 stage advance. |
| E-signature | DocuSign / Adobe Sign / dotloop | BOR letters, applications, binders, endorsement signatures. Webhook envelope.signed → Interface365 deal status. |
| Producer dialer | Five9 / Aircall / RingCentral | Outbound prospecting, click-to-call from Interface365 contact records, call recording. CTI integration via webhook or API. |
| Marketing automation | Mailchimp / HubSpot / Constant Contact | Renewal reminders, cross-sell drip, alumni-account re-engagement. Webhook deal.bound → enrollment in welcome sequence. |
This is exactly what walkthrough Step 12 demonstrates — bind fires webhooks to Slack + AMS + COI workflow + accounting. The tools don't fight; they each do what they're best at.
When Interface365 alone is enough
- Solo / 2-5 producer commercial brokerages — Interface365 + a basic AMS (NowCerts, HawkSoft small-tier) + DocuSign is the entire prospect-to-bound stack. Marketing automation can wait until you scale past 100 active accounts.
- Specialty / niche brokerages (cyber, D&O, marine, surplus lines) — Interface365's renewal-pipeline + market-submission tracking is purpose-built for the long, relationship-driven specialty cycle. AMS for these specialty firms tends to be lighter (since fewer policies + higher-touch management).
- Employee-benefits firms (under 80 employer groups) — Interface365 + a benefits-admin platform (Employee Navigator, Ease) covers the full stack. Group-policy renewals run on the same renewal-pipeline pattern as commercial.
When to pick something else outright
- High-volume personal-lines agencies (1,000+ households) — EZLynx CRM (bundled with their rater), or HawkSoft/Applied agency CRM, are designed for the per-household density of personal lines. Interface365 is sized for commercial + benefits + boutique-personal, not 5,000-household captive operations.
- Captive agencies (State Farm / Allstate / Farmers / etc.) — captive agents typically use the carrier's proprietary tooling (which bundles CRM + comparative rater + AMS). Interface365 doesn't compete with carrier-proprietary captive systems.
- Large super-regional brokerages (USI / HUB / NFP-owned) — typically standardised on Salesforce-FSC or AppGain. Interface365 is sized for $1M–$25M commission revenue independents, not $100M+ super-regionals.
- Reinsurance / wholesale brokerages — Sapiens or AdvantageGo dominate the reinsurance space; Interface365 doesn't have the treaty-tracking or premium-allocation features needed for that workflow.
Bottom line: think of Interface365 as the sales + relationship + renewal-pipeline layer, sitting cleanly above your AMS and below your prospecting + e-signature tools. The boundary is "anything client-facing or pipeline-related" lives here; "anything policy-administration or claims" stays in the AMS.
11. Next steps
Ready to set this up? Start your free trial. Most independent agencies have all three pipelines (new P&C, new Life, renewals) configured within a single day.
Specialty line not covered above (cyber, marine, aviation, surety bonds)? Email hello@interface365.ai — we'll send a custom configuration plan.