Overcoming Complexity Through Seamless Integration

The Opportunity

Founded in 1946, UFG Insurance offers insurance solutions for businesses and has grown to include more than 1,000 independent property and casualty insurance agents across the country. Its expansive growth and diverse customer base has helped UFG earn the title Super Regional Property/Casualty Insurer™ by Insurance Journal every year since 2007.

But like many organizations experiencing growth, UFG faced the challenge of increasing payment volumes overwhelming its legacy system. In 2013, UFG made the decision to deploy the Paymentus billing and payment solution to meet rising payment volumes and give business policyholders best-in-class experiences.

The Solution

UFG selected Paymentus over other leading billing and payment solution providers they were considering for several reasons. First, Paymentus provided the insurer with a billing and payment solution that could accommodate rising transaction volumes. This was complemented by the solution’s ability to expand to meet UFG’s future growth goals and innovation needs.

One such innovation surrounded UFG’s plans to move to Guidewire InsuranceSuite for policy and information management. Paymentus’ ability to integrate with Guidewire was crucial and allowed UFG to more seamlessly transition. The teams worked in collaboration to establish and implement new account numbers for customers that were necessary on the back end, and do so without requiring customers to take action. This helped avoid customer confusion, calls and a potential drop in customer satisfaction.

The conversion from old account numbers had the potential to impact many elements of the policyholder experience, most notably around recurring, automated payments (AutoPay). Thanks to the tight integration between the teams, the transition to new account numbers was seamless for UFG customers. AutoPay users were able to stay on schedule without having to re-enroll.

The Results

Owing to state-by-state insurance regulation complexities, UFG strategically implemented Guidewire in specific regions as part of a phased modernization approach. During this time, Paymentus continued to provide an uninterrupted, best-in-class bill payment experience for customers and staff. With each roll out, Paymentus project managers assisted and increasingly eliminated manual data migration efforts required by the UFG team.

One key metric showcasing the power of the Paymentus relationship has been UFG’s ability to increase its AutoPay adoption. Since 2016, UFG has experienced continuous AutoPay growth, with AutoPay usage now reaching 44% of all policyholders, surpassing the 2023 mark of 41%.

UFG’s continued success has opened the door for further expansion including the ability to manage multiple policies under a single account and provide billing managers with real-time reports and new self-service capabilities.