ADJUSTER ONLINE UPDATING INSTRUCTIONS

Transcription

1 ADJUSTER ONLINE UPDATING INSTRUCTIONS LOGGING IN How do I log in to my account? Go to enter your ID and Password in the login fields. Click on Edit Profile Data to enter the account. You can find your ID and password on the cover letter included in your renewal package or contact the Claims Resource group at claimsresource@ambest.com to have your login information sent to you. Or call us at ext For more information about logging into your account, click here. GENERAL COMPANY INFORMATION Can I save changes without submitting them? Yes, you can save your changes at any time and come back later to continue updating. Saved changes will not be published online or in print. You must remember to SUBMIT your changes when you have finished updating. See Saving and Submitting your Changes. How do I Change my company address? Update your COMPANY ADDRESS INFORMATION under the Company Tab. Change/add a phone number or address? PHONE, and WEB INFORMATION are also found under the Company Tab. To add a new number or link, select the type of contact information you are adding from the drop-down menu, then click the Add button. Enter the appropriate number or link. For more information, click here. Add a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter link to my profile? Add your company FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN or TWITTER link under contact information on the Company Tab. Add Software Platforms & Technology Used? Software Platforms & Technology Used is a new field available to adjusters. It can be found under the Company Tab. Information entered in this field will appear in web profiles only. Add/change my Firm Description? The company profile can be found on the Company Tab. Information entered under the FIRM DESCRIPTION field will appear in print and online. You can have a longer online profile by entering information under the WEB-ONLY COMPANY PROFILE. For more information, click here. Add my company logo? Company logos can be added at the bottom of the Company Tab. Click on Select to launch a file selection box. Logos can be in GIF, JPG or BMP format and should not exceed 220 x 00 pixels. See Loading Logos and PDF Files. Add High Profile Cases, Articles, Press Releases or Links to my profile? HIGH PROFILE CASES, ARTICLES, PRESS RELEASES and LINKS can be loaded in the same manner as company logos under the Company Tab and are FREE value adds. See Adding Articles and Loading PDF Files for more information. Copyright 207 A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. A.M. Best Worldwide Headquarters, Ambest Road, Oldwick, New Jersey, 08858, U.S.A.

2 SERVICES, MEMBERSHIPS & SERVICE AREAS How do I Update my list of Services? Go to the Profiles Tab, click on Edit to the left of your first home office profile. From there, you may click on Add Service Types to select from our standard list or enter your own services in the (Non-Standard) field. Click here for more information. Update my list of Memberships? Go to the Profiles Tab, click on Edit to the left of your first home office profile. From there, you may click on Add Adjuster Memberships to select from our standard list or enter your own professional memberships in the (Non-Standard) field. Click here for more information. Update my License Information or Add a Service Area Description? License and Service Area information are also located under the Profiles Tab. The Service Area field is a text field wherein you may describe the general area that your company provides services. Under the Profiles Tab, click on Edit to the left of your first home office profile. Scroll down the screen to find the License and Service Area fields. Click here for complete instructions. Change the location of my profile? Profile location determines the city under which your profile falls in the print publication and which city your profile is found when doing online searches. If your address has changed, make sure you update your location under the Profiles Tab. Click on Edit to the left of the profile that needs to be changed and select a new publication location. See the Profiles Tab. Add a Service Area Profile? A Service Area profile can be added under any city where you provide services but do not have a regular office. To add a service area profile, go to the Profiles Tab, click on [Add New Profile], select Service Area Profile as the profile type then choose a profile location. Click here for complete details. BRANCH INFORMATION How do I Update my Branch information? Go to the Branches Tab to access your branch information. Click on Edit next to the branch you wish to update. Once you have opened the branch record, all updating procedures will be the same as updating a home office. You may add personnel and service area profiles for each branch office. Add a new Branch? Under the Branches Tab, click on [Add a New Branch], complete the address and contact information, copy any other company detail from the home office that you want to include, then proceed to the other branch tabs to add a separate branch profile or personnel. See Editing or Creating Branch Profiles. Update the personnel under each branch? Go to the Branches Tab of your main profile. Click on Edit next to the branch record you wish to update, then go to the Personnel Tab for that branch. Page 2

3 PERSONNEL How do I Add/Update Personnel? Go to the Personnel Tab and click on Edit next to the person you want to update or click on [Add New Personnel]. Add full biographical information to my web profile? Adjusters may have extended web profiles with full biographical information at no additional cost (not available in print). To add biographical information, go to the Personnel Tab, click on Edit next to each person s name and complete the desired biographical fields under each tab. Then you must add a Custom Web Profile or contact us for assistance. Add individual contact information and Years of Experience for personnel? Under the Main Details Tab for each person, you may enter or update name, title or contact information. You may also enter Years of Experience. Contact information may include Telephone, Fax, , LinkedIn or Twitter links. Select a contact type from the drop-down list then click Add. Enter the appropriate number, address or link. Contact information will appear in custom web profiles only. Years of Experience may also be entered under the Main Details Tab. Click here for more information. Add or change education information? Click on Edit next to the person you need to update, go to the Education Tab for that person. You can either edit existing information or add new education information. Education information will appear in custom web profiles only. For complete details, click here. Add a photo? Individual personnel photos can be added to any person that has a full bio. Go to the person s Bio Details Tab, scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and click on Add Photo. Photos can be in GIF, JPG or BMP format and should not exceed 85 x 200 pixels. Click here for more information. What else can I include in my bios? Under the Bio Details Tab, you may include: BIO DESCRIPTION, LANGUAGES, RESIDENT OFFICE INFORMATION & AUTHORSHIPS MILITARY INFORMATION, HONORS, NOTES, CERTIFICATIONS, PHOTOS Page

4 SUBMITTING CHANGES How do I submit my changes after I've saved them? It is very important to remember to submit your changes when you are finished. Saving only prevents you from losing your changes. It is not the same as submitting your changes for publication. To submit your changes, you must click on finished with home to access your profiles home page, or log back into your account if you ve already saved changes. Click on Data Submission. If you have any comments or questions for A.M. Best you may enter them in the comments field. Provide your name and address. Review the submission disclaimer and click the Agree button. You will receive an when your submitted changes have been accepted by A.M. Best. We ask that you refrain from making additional changes for one business day after your changes have been accepted. Click here for additional information. HAVE QUESTIONS? There are several ways you can contact us: Send an to claimsresource@ambest.com Call or the Editorial Assistant responsible for your state. See Contact Us at the end of this document. Chat live with us by clicking on the BestLine logo at the top screen. Page

5 GETTING STARTED Thank you for using A.M. Best s online updating tool. This system is provided for the convenience of our qualified members who prefer to make their own profile updates online. With this tool, you can make changes whenever you want, as often as you want. Changes made online will be reflected in your web profile within 2 hours of acceptance by A.M. Best. Note: It is NOT a requirement that you use this online option to update your profiles. We are more than happy to make changes for you. Qualified Members are always welcome to mail, fax or their changes to us. Please see our contact information at the end of this document for direct contacts for your profile. LOGGING IN From our home page at go to Customer updates and click the updating page link. Enter your Firm ID & Password. You can find this information on the cover letter included in your renewal package or contact the Claims Resource group at claimsresource@ambest.com to have your login information sent to you. Or call us at ext Once you have logged in, you will be given a reminder to submit your changes when you are finished. After clicking Okay, you will be taken to your profiles home page. Page 5

6 PROFILES HOME PAGE 2 Preview your profiles before you begin. Adjuster Home and Branch Office profiles reflect what will appear in print. 2 Review the locations of your Service Area profiles. Web profiles reflect how your profiles will appear online. Click on Edit Profile Data to begin the updating process. Important Note: You may save your changes at any time during the update process. However, saving changes does not mean they will be published. If you only Save your changes, they remain suspended as a pending status. You must Submit your data to A.M. Best when you are ready to have your changes published. (See Data Submission). You also do not have to finish all your changes in one session. At any point you may click on [Back to Home Office] in the upper right hand corner to return to the above Home Page and preview your changes or get an estimate. Simply click on Edit Profile Data again to return to your changes. Page 6

7 THE COMPANY TAB 2 Under the COMPANY TAB, you may: Update your Company Name. Update your Main Address (physical address). We must have a physical address for our records. If 2 you do not wish your physical address to be published, let us know and we can disable the main address so that it will not appear in print or online. Update your Mailing Address. If you have moved to a different city, make sure you update your location under the Profiles Tab as well. See also Changing your Profile City Update your Contact Information. To enter additional contact information, select a contact type from the drop-down menu, click Add, then enter your information. 5 To remove address or contact information from this page, just swipe the data and hit delete. Page 7

8 ADDING FIRM DESCRIPTIONS, SOFTWARE PLATFORMS & TECHNOLOGY USED, YEAR ESTABLISHED, HIGH PROFILE CASES & LOGO Enter a Firm Description. The first 500 characters are included in your base cost. Include a Web-Only Firm Description. Available with a regular company description, a web-only 2 firm profile gives you the opportunity to describe your company's practice in greater detail at no additional cost. Enter your Software Platforms & Technology Used in the upper text box. Then click the Add Software button. What you typed will appear in the box below. To change the sort order of these items click on the word or phrase in the lower box and use the up/down buttons to move the line. Enter the Year Established for your company. (Numeric characters only) List your High Profile Cases at no additional cost. High profile case will only appear in your web 5 profile. Add your company Logo. Logos should be in jpeg, gif or bmp formats and should not exceed x 00 pixels. There is no additional charge to add a logo. Logos will only appear in your web profile. See LOADING FIRM LOGOS AND PDF FILES for specific details. Page 8

9 ADDING ARTICLES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRESS RELEASES & LINKS The related links field may be used for any type of link to your company's site - blogs, newsletters, other publications, etc. - especially if you would like to included additional descriptive text with the link. HTML coding is required in this field which A.M. Best will add after your changes have been submitted. Related links will appear in web profiles only. Feature your adjuster s Articles. Articles should be in PDF format. There is no additional charge to add an article. Articles will only appear in your web profile and may be featured in A.M. Best's quarterly e-newsletter BestConnect! Include special company Announcements. Announcements should be in PDF format. There is no additional charge. Announcements will only appear in your web profile and may be featured in A.M. Best's quarterly e-newsletter BestConnect! If you have a special Press Release you would like to feature in your profile, you may add it at no additional charge. Press releases are web-only, should be in PDF format and may be featured in A.M. Best's quarterly e-newsletter BestConnect! Additional Links is a more user-friendly link field. Enter the name of the link in the caption field and enter the web address in the URL field. If this is a link to a specific article, you may also include an author and publisher. Additional links will appear in web profiles only. Please do not add or edit anything in the Anniversary BestMark, Insurance Law Podcast or Video Profile fields. These are for A.M. Best Use only. Page 9

10 LOADING FIRM LOGOS AND PDF FILES When adding a logo or a pdf file for the first time, click the Select button to bring up the multimedia selection box. Click Add again. When adding a pdf file, be certain to include a title and an author (if applicable). Select PDF file as your type. Select Browse and locate your pdf file. If you are adding a logo, the file should be no larger than 220 x 00 pixels. It is not necessary to complete any other information on this screen. Once you have loaded your image or pdf file, click Save. Page 0

11 A small version of your logo will now appear at the bottom of the company screen. Save your changes. If you already have articles, Announcements or Press Releases loaded into your profile, and would like to add additional ones, click the Add button and follow the preceding procedure. Page

12 THE PROFILES TAB 2 Go to the Profiles Tab if you want to: Edit your company's list of Services, Memberships, License Information or profile locations. Add or remove Service Area profiles. To delete an existing Service Area profile, click on 2 [remove] - its status will change to deleted. If you change your mind, you can always [restore] the Service Area profile. Create and edit a Custom Web Profile. This is a special option for Adjuster that allows you to include complete biographical information for your personnel along with photos. Adjusters may also include full branch address information in each profile. See Creating Custom Web Profiles for complete details. Page 2

13 UPDATE YOUR COMPANY S SERVICES & MEMBERSHIPS Click on Edit for your Home office profile. 2 Click on Add Service Types to select from our standardized list. Use the Service Types (Non-Standard) area if you want to add services that are not available on 2 our pick list. Please separate all services with a semi-colon ( ; ) or pipe ( ). Click on Add Adjuster Memberships to select from our standardized list of Adjuster organizations. Use the Memberships in Associations (Non-Standard) area if you want to add organizations that are not available on our pick list. Please separate all organization names with a semi-colon. Page

14 ADDING SERVICES Click on Add Service Types. To make multiple selections, hold the control key while you click on the Adjuster Specialty Types you wish to add. Click on OK. To change the order of your practice areas, click on one of the items in your list and hit the up or down button until the practice area is where you want it. To remove services, click on the service type you want to delete then click the Remove button. Page

15 ADD LICENSE INFORMATION & SERVICE AREA DESCRIPTION 2 5 License Information. Use this field to include all license information. 2 Service Areas. Use this field to briefly describe your geographic territory. End of Profile Reference Notes should only be used for brief explanatory notes about the profile - ex. See also ; All Adjusters are members of ; etc. If you are physically located in a city that is different from the one under which you choose to list, the mileage between your physical location and your profile city must be shown. A.M. Best uses Internet mileage services to calculate mileage. Do not use the Company Name Override fields. They are for other Insurance Professionals and 5 Claims Resource publications. Page 5

16 CHANGING YOUR PROFILE CITY Publication Location (also referred to as Profile City) impacts how your profile is sorted in the printed publication as well as how you are found online when users search by city. If your company has moved it is important to update your publication location as well as your address. Under the Profiles tab, click on Edit next to the profile that needs to be changed. Select a new Publication Location. Page 6

17 ADDING SERVICE AREA PROFILES You can add Service Area profiles in additional towns and cities where your firm provides service. All Service Area profiles include your firm name, basic phone/fax information and list of services, and appear in both the print and online versions. See fee schedule for pricing information. To create a new Service Area profile,click on [Add New Profile]. Select Adjuster Service Area Profile as your profile type. Choose your publication section. (Adjusters). Select the location for your Service Area profile. You may enter mileage, but A.M. Best reserves the right to revise this based on standard on-line mileage services. Save your changes. Page 7

18 CREATING CUSTOM WEB PROFILES A Custom Web profile is a FREE online enhancement for our Client Recommended Adjusters. It allows adjusters to include full biographical information for personnel including photos as well as complete branch address information. First, remove your existing web profile by clicking on [Remove]. Then click on [Add New Profile]. Select Adjuster Custom ambest.com Web Profile as your profile type. Choose your publication section. (Adjusters). Select the location for your web profile. This location must match the home office profile location! If your Publication Location is different than your office's physical address, Mileage to Location should be entered. However, A.M. Best reserves the right to revise this based on standard on-line mileage services. Next, select your Profile Format Options. Page 8

19 PROFILE FORMAT OPTIONS 2 You may choose to include personnel with full biographical detail. (This option is not available for your print home/branch office profiles). 2 You may choose to include your company profile in profile or turn it off without actually deleting it. You may choose to reference your other branch locations by city and state only or with full address information. (The full address option is not available for your print home/branch office profiles). If you are updating a branch location, you have the option of referencing the home location or not. Custom Clients and Custom Personnel do not apply to the Adjuster publication. Do not make changes to these areas. You will also need to submit biographical information for your personnel. See The Personnel Tab. Page 9

20 THE BRANCHES TAB 2 To change the order in which your branches are listed, change the Sort number. 2 To make changes to an existing branch office, click on Edit. To remove a branch office, check Remove. To Add A New Branch Office click on [Add New Branch] and complete the appropriate address information and contact fields. If you want a separate profile for your new branch offices, see Editing or Creating Branch Profiles. Page 20

21 EDITING OR CREATING BRANCH PROFILES Branches may have full profiles, and unique personnel. The procedures for editing branches are the same as home offices. Access each tab under the branch office accordingly to make updates to this branch information. COPYING COMPANY DETAIL FROM THE HOME OFFICE To make the updating process easier, we have added a copy feature to the Branches Tab. If you have created a new branch, you will be prompted to first save the new record. You will then need to click Edit to get back into the record. If your new or existing branches are to include the same company detail information (Company Profile, High Profile Cases, Links, Articles, Logos, etc.) as the home office, click the [Copy Fields from Home Office]. A selection box will open. All fields are automatically checked. Uncheck the fields you do not want to copy from the home. Click the Select button. You may make changes to the branch profile details after copying from the home. Page 2

22 CREATING A SEPARATE BRANCH PROFILE Branches can appear as additional office locations under your primary profile or they can also have their own profile. To create a separate profile for your branch, click on the Profiles Tab for the branch. Click on [Add New Profile]. Set the Publication Section (Adjusters) and select a location. Select or enter your Service Types and Adjuster Memberships for this branch OR save the new profile and then Copy Fields from the Home Office. Page 22

23 Include Service Area Description, License Information or End of Profile Notes for this branch. Make your profile option selections. 2 Or you may choose to include personnel with or without full biographical information. 2 You may choose to include your firm description in this new profile. You may choose to reference your other branch locations with full addresses or by city and state only. The auto reference applies only to branch profiles. You may choose to omit the automatically generated reference: See profile under for additional information. If you choose to include personnel information for this branch, remember to access the Personnel Tab for the branch to add or copy the specific personnel information. Save your changes and click on Finished with Branch to return to your home office. Page 2

24 THE CLIENTS TAB The Clients Tab is not used for the adjuster publication. Do not enter any information under this tab. THE PERSONNEL TAB To add new personnel, click on [Add New Personnel], or you can copy personnel from another office. 2 To change the order of your personnel, adjust their sort numbers. To edit existing personnel, click on Edit next to the appropriate name, then make changes to the various personnel tabs described below. To remove personnel, click on the Remove box next to the person s name. 5 The Bio box must be check if you are profile full biographical information in your web profile. 6 Make sure to Save your changes! Page 2

25 PERSONNEL - MAIN DETAILS Only the Name, Suffix and Title Fields will appear in print. All other information will appear in your web profile only. The Suffix field is often used for degrees, certifications, or other abbreviated designations. Information entered in this field should be preceded by a comma. Use the Title field for unique titles that apply only to individual personnel. Timeline fields are intended for other publications. Adjusters should not use these fields. Enter the person's Years of Experience. Numeric characters only. Do not complete address information for individual personnel. This information is not published. Only provide unique phone and information if you want it to appear in the individual s bio. LinkedIn and Twitter links will appear in web profiles only. To add new contact information, select a contact type, then click the add button to create a new field. Page 25

26 PERSONNEL - EDUCATION Note: Adjusters do not have to enter information under the Education Tab. If you prefer, you may describe your educational background in your own words using the miscellaneous text field found under Bio Details Tab. To add education information, click on [Add Education]. Select an education type - Undergraduate or Graduate. Click on Select College to search for a college name. Just enter part of the name when searching for a college. For example, if you want to find The University of North Carolina, just type North Carolina and our system will give you a list of every college that has North Carolina in the name. If you type too much of the name, and it doesn t match our data, you will not get any results. If you cannot find the college you are looking for, contact the Claims Resource group and we will add the college name to our database. Page 26

27 DEGREE, YEAR OF GRADUATION, HONORS, REMOVING A COLLEGE 2 It is only necessary to enter the year of graduation. Only use the beginning year if the college experience was for a limited time period - such as a year abroad. 2 To remove a college, check the Remove box and save your change. Select honors and the degree from our drop down list. Please note that the honors list shown here is for typical scholastic honors such as high honors, cum laude. There is another area for honors such as awards under the Bio Details Tab. You must Save your changes after every college that is added. PERSONNEL - ADMITTANCE INFORMATION Unless you are an attorney, and wish to include admittance information in your bio, Adjusters should not enter anything under this tab. Page 27

28 PERSONNEL - BIO DETAILS There are many fields under the Bio Details Tab. Many are geared toward attorneys. Adjusters should only use the following fields under Bio Details: BIO DESCRIPTION, LANGUAGES, RESIDENT OFFICE INFORMATION & AUTHORSHIPS 2 Biography Description -Use this field to enter descriptive biographical information. Languages - Use this pick list to select languages spoken. If you cannot find the language you 2 need - contact the Claims Resource Group. Resident Office Information - Use only if this adjuster is located in an office other than the one being updated. Authorship List - Enter the name of the publication, then click the Add button to add it to the list. Page 28

29 MILITARY INFORMATION, HONORS, NOTES, CERTIFICATIONS, PHOTOS 2 5 Military Information - Include rank and years of military service. 2 Honors - Use this space to list any scholastic or career honors. Miscellaneous Notes - Use this area to list any other significant biographical information. 5 Certification List - Enter certification information, then click the Add button to add it to the list. Please refrain from using the Certification Information text field above. Personnel Pictures - Add a picture to biographical profiles. Pictures will appear in web profiles only. There is no additional charge to add personnel pictures. See LOADING A PROFILE PICTURE. When you have finished adding or updating your biographical information, click on Finished with Person at the top of the screen and you will be taken back to your list of personnel. Page 29

30 LOADING A PROFILE PICTURE Loading a picture is just like loading a logo. Pictures should be in jpeg, gif or bmp formats and should not exceed 85 x 200 pixels. Click the Add button. On the next screen, select Add again. Click on Browse. Locate and Open the picture you want. Click Save. There is no need to complete any other information on this screen. A small version of the picture will appear on the Bio Details Screen. Make sure you save your changes. Page 0

31 SAVING AND SUBMITTING YOUR CHANGES Throughout the updating process, we encourage you to save your changes often. HOWEVER, saving changes DOES NOT mean they are being submitted to A.M. Best and will be published. Saving only ensures that your changes will still be there if you quit the editing process before submitting them. You must officially SUBMIT your changes to A.M. Best if you want your updates published. When you are finished updating your Company, Profiles, Branches, and Personnel - Click on Finished with Home Office. You will be returned to your home page. Page

32 REVIEW YOUR PROFILE, GET A COST ESTIMATE 2 5 From here you can preview your profiles with all of your changes incorporated by clicking on one of the Preview options. Or click on one of the Changes options to see a version of your profile with additions and deletions marked up. 2 Review your added or removed Service Area profiles. You can also get a cost estimate. Click on Data Submission to complete the update process! 5 Page 2

33 COMPLETING THE SUBMISSION FORM 2 5 Enter any notes, instructions or questions that you have for A.M. Best. 2 Enter the name of the person who is responsible for updating and submitting profile changes. Enter the submitter s address and phone number here. This information will be kept confidiential. Read the agreement. Click on Agree to submit your changes. If you select Disagree, your changes will remain in a pending state and will not be published until you resubmit and click on Agree. 5 Once you have made your submission, you will not be able to make additional edits until A.M. Best has accepted your changes. You should receive an indicating that A.M. Best has received your changes. All changes are subject to A.M. Best Review. Please wait one business day before making additional updates to your profile. Page

34 CONTACT US A.M. BEST COMPANY Ambest Road Oldwick, NJ Fax: For questions regarding your profile, please contact the editorial assistant responsible for your state. Call Editorial Assistants Mary Lutz Ext. 575 Jackie Fucili Ext Alabama Kentucky Nebraska Alaska Louisiana Nevada Arizona Maine New Hampshire Arkansas Maryland New Jersey Hawaii Massachusetts New Mexico Idaho Michigan New York Illinois Minnesota North Carolina Indiana Mississippi North Dakota Iowa Missouri Ohio Kansas Montana California Pennsylvania Virginia Colorado Rhode Island Washington Connecticut South Carolina West Virginia Delaware South Dakota Wisconsin District of Columbia Tennessee Wyoming Florida Texas U.S. Possessions Georgia Utah Canada Oklahoma Vermont International Oregon Digital Media Specialists - Sales Contacts Heather Prasch Ext. 568 heather.prasch@ambest.com Lori Sadukas Ext lori.sadukas@ambest.com Rich Petri National Account Representative Ext. 52 rich.petri@ambestl.com Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Hawaii Kansas Kentucky New Hampshire New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wisconsin Wyoming Colorado Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey North Carolina Pennsylvania South Carolina West Virginia Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Canada International Accounts Doug Doremus National Sales Manager Ext. 570 doug.doremus@ambest.com John Czuba Managing Editor Ext. 567 john.czuba@ambest.com For questions concerning billing, contact our Accounting department at ext Page