News

This week's tip introduces important new functionality in SERFF to better pinpoint why previously approved Compact filings are associated with a new filing. Part 1 of this series focused on which filing associations to include - those with a direct relationship to the filing being submitted. This week we provide instruction on adding form associations, which streamlines the entry of information and avoids narratively detailing the form associations in the Filing Description. The Compact Team loves form associations and highly recommends using them! 

You can find the form associations functionality by selecting any associated filing in the Associated Filings view, then clicking Manage Filing Associations on the far right. From there, choose which form(s) within an associated filing have a direct relationship to the filing being submitted. 

Form associations can be provided at any time regardless of the SERFF status of the filing and allow the filer to 1) specifically link a form in an associated filing to the new filing submission and 2) state the reason for the association. 

A brief statement in the Reason field provides context around why a form/filing is associated and saves reviewer time researching in associated filings. While not required, a brief statement of the reason for the form association has high value to the reviewer to understand the relationships in the associated filings, so including a meaningful reason will eliminate the need for follow-up.  An example of a meaningful Reason entry is “Rider form ICC24-56E493A18 will be used with contract ICC18-3256B85F." Please do not populate the Reason field with N/A or similar fillers. 

All filers should make use of the new form associations functionality to inform the reviewer of the precise links between Compact flings when building products. Next week's tip will provide step-by-step instructions for completing form associations. Contact serffmodernizationquestions@naic.org with any questions about using this functionality. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Compact Office via comments@insurancecompact.org.