Why addresses are critical
According to Fagan, “USPlate Glass is address-centric: our insureds are actual buildings, condos, storefronts, and the like. So unlike a lot of insurers that are taking people's names and information, the address is the most critical data for us. If we don't have the right suite number, the right city, the right address, that could become an issue for us in the insurance we're providing.”
One example he provided was insuring a condominium association for a large development. In this case, the same building may contain shops, common areas, and hotels and condos on different floors – each with their own address. These addresses have tremendous importance in terms of who has coverage and what is covered, and many of the state regulations they must follow require underwriting and claim documents to be physically mailed to the right place.
Fagan underscored that importance of both address precision and accuracy in a customer-facing business like theirs. “Address verification is important to us to best service our insureds, and you have to make sure that you pinpoint down to the most correct address that you're insuring. Particularly when there's a claim, we need to know at what address it occurred, or what piece of glass to replace, or whether that piece of glass was even covered.”
When USPlate transitioned to working with Service Objects’ DOTS Address Validation – US in 2020 from a previous system, capabilities such as SLA-backed perfect match rate, integrated USPS Delivery Point Validation (DPV®), and apartment/suite level address accuracy filled a mission-critical need for them. It is the only address validation API to be CASS™ certified in all 50 states and territories. Fagan noted that, “Having that level of detail and reliability is, in essence, step one to our business. It is the most critical aspect of information that we are obtaining aside from the actual glass pieces that we're insuring.”
The best kind of customer service is the one that is never needed
Many Service Objects customers praise our industry-leading 24/7 technical support. For USPlate, however, having a product that works seamlessly and lets them focus on their business is even more important. “Our Service Objects’ representative has gone above and beyond, and he’s always there when you need him. But your products are functioning so well that we're not needing a lot of interaction. That allows us to go about our business and devote time and resources to other things, and that time value is very important to us. We buy it, it works, and that is something that we value immensely.”
They also value the way that Service Objects focuses on continuous improvement for its products. “I like working with Service Objects as a partner who makes sure that everything is cutting edge and current. What's new? What's the most up to date? What is going on in the industry is represented in the Service Objects services that we're using.”
While USPlate hopes its customers never need to take its actual phone number of 877-SHATTER literally, they take their mission of providing high-quality service to a specialty market very seriously. We are proud to be a key part of supporting their work.