Guidewire

Address Validation and Geocode adds value to insurance software

The Challenge

According to Mike Wanzong, Engagement Director, Guidewire (formerly ISCS) develops software for insurance companies who rely on accurate addresses for correspondence as well as for verifying that the policy is covering the correct property.

Earlier editions of Guidewire software included home-grown validation, or did not include any form of address validation.

"We had a big hole there that we needed to fill," he said. In addition, some Guidewire partner interfaces require address data broken into components such as street number, direction, name, etc. "We had attempted to extract that address information on our own but were only about 90 percent successful because of all the unusual requirements and address components. Sometimes you simply can't figure it out."

Service Objects does a good job of extracting an address's individual components which allowed us to fill both holes in our software.

Mike Wanzong

Engagement Director, Guidewire

The Solution

Guidewire knew that it needed to fill these holes in its software and eventually discovered Service Objects' address verification web services. After testing two APIs, Guidewire knew that DOTS Address Validation US and DOTS Address Geocode US would solve their problems.

DOTS Address Validation is an address verification API that automatically verifies, standardizes and corrects address data as needed based on USPS® certified data.

"We integrated address validation into our software suite," Wanzong explained. "Our users now just push a button and immediately get a valid address. In addition, Service Objects does a good job of extracting an address's individual components which allowed us to fill both holes in our software."

Guidewire also uses DOTS Geocode US which outputs an address's latitude, longitude, full ZIP code, tract code and block code. This allows for exact pinpointing of property location for further address accuracy for policies.

The Result

Wanzong explained that Guidewire's insurance customers appreciate and expect the added value that address validation brings. Having the most accurate and up-to-date address data for mailing insurance documents, cancellation notices, non-renewal notices, claims acknowledgements, and other correspondence is essential to ensuring that all papers arrive in a timely manner and experience no delays. SurePower Innovation software also uses address validation to verify risk.

"We use latitude longitude geocoding to plot risk property addresses on Google Maps. With another mouse-click, insurance administrators can see the risk property directly in Google Street View to verify that the risk property address is correct as well as see what it actually looks like. Our customers love that!"

Guidewire/ISCS has been using Service Objects' DOTS Address Validation and Geocode US since 2008. In total, they have validated more than 23 million addresses through the integrated APIs.

Client Feedback

"In insurance, things like cancellation notices and non-renewal notices have to be sent out in a timely manner. Having a clean address properly formatted for the US Post Office is extremely important."

"Over the course of our relationship with Service Objects, we’ve come close to reaching our transaction limit on several occasions. Service Objects Customer Care team has always been very proactive about letting us know when we're approaching our limits, and I really appreciate that extra level of customer service."

About Guidewire

In 2016, Guidewire purchased ISCS, the developer of the SurePower Innovation® Policy Administration Suite, a modern enterprise suite for property and casualty insurance organizations writing personal, commercial and specialty lines. SurePower Innovation Policy Administration Suite leverages the latest technologies, including address validation APIs, to automate policy, billing, claims, underwriting, insurance accounting, document management, address verification, risk property addresses, consumer portals, and more.

Guidewire’s SurePower Innovation modules can be implemented independently or as a suite, and can be delivered as a complete managed SaaS solution via Guidewire’s SurePackage deployment option. Guidewire currently operates a local data center along with four co-locations in Las Vegas, Santa Clara, Toronto, and Vancouver. It also uses Amazon Web Services for a portion of its cloud-services operations. For more insight, visit www.guidewire.com