⚠️ NOTE: Ascend DOES NOT offer financing on Direct Bill policies of any kind.
Financing a Direct Bill policy through Ascend will result in the immediate cancellation of the loan and any funding sent to the carrier by Ascend.
What You'll Learn
The difference between a Direct Bill (DB) policy & an Agency Bill (AB) policy
How to locate what type of policy/quote it is
Why Ascend does not finance Direct Bill policies
What to do if your team financed a Direct Bill policy
Direct Bill vs Agency Bill
Direct bill (DB) policies are billed directly to the insured and the insured must pay the carrier for the coverage directly. Direct bill is also called Insured bill by some carriers.
Agency bill (AB) policies are billed to the Agency on behalf of the insured, and the Agency is responsible for acquiring and issuing funding for the policy to the necessary party (MGA or carrier).
⚠️ NOTE: Ascend DOES NOT offer financing on Direct Bill policies of any kind.
Financing a Direct Bill policy through Ascend will immediately cancel the loan and any funding sent to the carrier by Ascend.
How do I know if a policy/quote is a Direct Bill?
There are a few ways to check for the type of billing a policy is set up on, but ultimately, the carrier providing the coverage will be the source of truth regarding a policy's billing type.
Other places to locate this information:
Invoice docs (from the carrier or MGA): Direct bill policies will often have the invoice addressed and billed to the Insured instead of your Agency. This information can typically be located at the top of the invoice document provided by the MGA or carrier.
Quote docs: There may be a "billing type" or "payment type" listed on the coverage quote document provided by the carrier.
Carrier online portal: A "billing type" or "payment type" may be listed on your Agency's portal for carriers that provide an online platform.
If you are unsure what type of billing a policy or quote is set up on, please contact the carrier to confirm before processing the policy through the Ascend dashboard.
Ascend Does NOT Finance Direct Bill Policies - Why Not?
When an insured enters into a Premium Finance Agreement with Ascend, the insured gives Ascend the legal power over the insured's coverage to request cancellation in the case of non-payment on monthly installments.
This power to request policy cancellation is possible on all agency bill policies because carriers allow a third party (other than the insured) to request cancellation.
However, most carriers do not give a third party the power to request cancellation for direct bill policies. For this reason, Ascend does not have the power to request cancellation, leaving Ascend no options for collateral in any case of non-payment by the insured on their loan balance.
Even if the carrier or MGA accepts payment from Ascend for the policy, Ascend will cancel the policy's loan and request funding back from the carrier.
We Financed a Direct Bill Policy - What do we do?
Please get in touch with the Ascend Support Team to work out the loan details for the direct bill policy. We can be reached at support@useascend.com.
Contact Us
Need more help? Contact us at support@useascend.com for more help.