Add a Group Customer

A company or organization can be established in OIPA as a Group Customer. The Group Customer is the company or organization that purchases insurance to cover their group of employees and their dependents. In OIPA you create a new Group Customer and enter the Group Customer Detail information and all the applicable Preferences. Once an entity such as a company is entered into OIPA as a Group Customer, that Group Customer can establish agreements, classes and class groups, plans, and products in the system.

Examples of a Group Customer include:

  • Employers : the company the coverage is associated with, such as Oracle.
  • Trade Association: members of a specific industry.
  • Professional Association: members with similar occupations such as doctors, attorneys, or engineers.
  • Debtor-Creditor Group: members who borrowed from a lending institution.
  • Common Interest Associations: retired persons, college alumni association.

How it Works

A company or organization contacts a carrier who is licensed to sell group insurance. Based on the company or organization's needs, a group insurance product is selected from the carrier for benefits. The terms and rates of the group product are negotiated by the company/organization and the two parties enter into an Agreement. The Group Customer offers benefit plans to their eligible employees/members. The benefit plan insures the group of employees under a single contract, a master group policy contract. The company or organization is now a policy owner for the group insurance and called the Group Customer in OIPA.

Steps to Create a New Group Customer

  1. From the Central Add drop down, select Customer. The Group Customer screen will appear with Customer detail fields and History tab.

  2. Enter the applicable Customer Detail in the appropriate fields. If required information is left blank, then an error message will appear.

  3. Click Save from the bottom of the screen when finished.

Create a New Group Customer from an Existing Customer

  1. From the Central Add drop down, select Customer -New from existing. A screen will appear to allow an existing customer to be searched for.

  2. Enter the search criteria to choose the Customer details to copy and Click Search. The search results appear with a list of matching customers.

  3. On selecting a customer, a pop up will be displayed which will allow to select what components of the customer that should be copied. Also As-Of date and effective date can be entered. The As-Of date is used to copy the components that are effective at that date.

  4. Click OK. The Group Customer screen will appear with the copied details.
  5. Modify the required information.

  6. Click Save from the bottom of the screen when finished.

Copy Group Customer Plan Effective Date Warning: A warning will be given if a copied Group Customer’s Plan is entered with an effective date earlier than the original Group Customer’s effective date. This allows the user to decide either to proceed or re-enter the plan effective date.