Overview
The NYS Workers' Compensation Board requires all insurance carriers to submit Proof of Coverage (POC) electronically. As a result of that mandate the Board has recognized the carriers' need for a tool to access their policy and coverage data so as to address compliance issues for their customers.
This online service, will provide carriers with a view of their policy and coverage data on record at the Board. It is expected this tool will assist carriers in managing both business and jurisdictional issues related to New York filings.
Using this application, carriers can:
- Verify the status at the Board of Proof of Coverage submitted for a Workers' Compensation policy term and the covered employer locations
- Confirm Proof of Coverage filings for Worker's Compensation Policies and employer locations
- Verify the status at the Board of Disability Benefits coverage
- Respond to WCB compliance notices for their clients
- View and print transaction history for electronic POC filings
- Print reports to manage Proof of Coverage and claims issues
How to register
To apply for access, you must be an insurer registered with the New York State Workers' Compensation Board. (If you are a registered Workers' Compensation insurer, you have a "W" code; you have a "B" code if you are a Disability Benefits insurer.) If you are part of a carrier group, you must register for all the carriers in your group that do business with the Board.
If you are a TPA or any other entity reporting for an insurance carrier, before registering for access, you must have the carrier complete a registration naming you as the organization designated to view Proof of Coverage data on its behalf.
To apply via the Board's website for access to the Workers' Compensation Board's Insurance Compliance Inquiry, follow the steps below:
- Read Overview / Features for information about web access to Workers' Compensation Insurance Compliance Inquiry.
- Learn about the Minimum Technical Requirements your computer must meet to access to Workers' Compensation Insurance Compliance Inquiry.
- Designate an administrator in your organization.
- Each organization must designate a member of their organization to be their administrator. Read Insurance Compliance Inquiry Administrator's Responsibilities for more information about the role of the administrator. Please note: The administrator's name is required on the registration.
- Each user within the organization will need their own user ID and password. User ID's must not be shared.
If you have questions regarding completing the registration, you may contact the ITS Enterprise Service Desk. Be sure to indicate to the ITS Enterprise Service Desk that you would like help in applying to access Workers' Compensation Insurance Compliance Inquiry on the web.
If the Board has questions regarding your registration, the person noted as the administrator on the registration will be contacted.
Administrator's Responsibilities
When an organization completes the online registration to access Insurance Compliance Inquiry, the organization needs to appoint an administrator from their own organization. It is recommended that at least two Administrators be registered.
The following list describes the administrator's responsibilities:
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Add, Modify or Remove Users (user ID and password required)
ONLY the administrator can request user IDs and passwords for other employees within their organization. The administrator is also responsible for notifying the Workers' Compensation Board when users should no longer have access to Insurance Compliance Inquiry, for example, when an employee leaves the organization or an existing Administrator leaves the organization. It is recommended that at least two Administrators be registered.
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Assist users
The administrator is responsible for assisting other users in the organization regarding questions about how to use the Insurance Compliance Inquiry application. The administrator is the organization's liaison with the Workers' Compensation Board Help Desk. ALL problems or questions the administrator cannot answer or resolve need to be reported to the Board's Help Desk by the administrator.
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Primary contact with the Workers' Compensation Board
The administrator is the primary contact in the organization with respect to using the Insurance Compliance Inquiry web tool. As information is received from the Board, the administrator has the responsibility of disseminating that information to the appropriate people and registered users within the organization.
The administrator is expected to assist the organizations users with business issues related to using Insurance Compliance Inquiry. An administrator should be familiar with the carriers business needs and processes.
- The administrator for insurance carriers, who have designated another organization access to Insurance Compliance Inquiry on their behalf, is responsible for notifying the Workers' Compensation Board if this designated organization will no longer be using Insurance Compliance Inquiry on their behalf.
- Example: Organization ABC has designated organization XYZ to access to Insurance Compliance Inquiry on their behalf. Organization ABC decides to end this arrangement with organization XYZ. The administrator for organization ABC must notify the Workers' Compensation Board that organization XYZ will no longer be accessing Insurance Compliance Inquiry for organization ABC.
Frequently asked questions
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Where can I find help for Insurance Compliance Inquiry?
Registered users will have access to a Users Guide. This guide will be accessible after logging in to the application.
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Will the Board continue to mail cancellation reports?
No. Carriers will be able to produce a cancellation report for a policy using Insurance Compliance Inquiry.
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How will questions related to the use of the application be answered?
All questions related to Insurance Compliance Inquiry should be referred to your company's registered administrator. The administrator will act as a liaison between the Board and your company.
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Will we be able to view policy and coverage data that has been submitted by either our vendor or by using the Board's web POC application?
Yes. Policy and coverage data for your company or companies that has been successfully processed through our Compliance system will be available. Carriers must register each company they wish to access.
For coverage submitted using the Board's web POC application there is no delay in viewing successfully submitted transactions. The web application now processes POC "real time". You could make a correction using the web and view it using Insurance Compliance Inquiry at relatively the same time.
For coverage submitted using a vendor or direct FTP there may be a delay based on when the Board receives the POC data. Generally, we process all FTP files from vendors within 24 hours. You should be familiar with your company's procedure for submitting POC.
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Are there any special considerations for POC data submitted using a vendor or the Board's web POC application?
There could be. Carriers should be aware of the impact to processing through a vendor and using our web POC application. Submitting changes through the Board's web application will not update changes, endorsements, and amendments etc with your vendor. Many carriers find it useful to make changes using the Board's web application for older policies (not on file with their vendor or not active in their company's system) and using their regular means of submission for current or recent policy terms.
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Will we be able to respond to Board Compliance notices using this application?
Carriers will be able to view policy information successfully submitted to the Board and compare information from compliance notices to a carrier's policy and coverage data. Additionally, carriers will be able to view active non- compliant periods. Detailed information will be available in the Users Guide.
Minimum Technical Requirements
The Workers' Compensation Board recommends using the following browsers for Insurance Compliance Inquiry:
- Internet Explorer version 5 and higher
- Firefox version 1.0 and higher
- Netscape version 7 and higher
Additional notes
- The Workers' Compensation Board's Online Insurance Compliance Inquiry application is accessed through the Internet. For security reasons, it is recommended that you do not access Insurance Compliance Inquiry through public internet access terminals (library, Internet cafe, etc.)
- While we have tested Insurance Compliance Inquiry on a number of browsers, it is not possible to test for every possible configuration of software that may be installed on a user's machine. If you encounter problems, please try closing down your browser, re-booting your machine and trying again.