Do you date stamp your incoming paper mail?

[Alice Mooney]

I may have found some inconsistencies and want to throw some questions out to the world of workflow writers and followers.

When you receive paper mail from companies that do not download, do you date stamp the documents that will be scanned so everyone knows the day it walked in the door?

I say yes, and here's why:
In hand I have a Renewal Dec effective 5/7/12 that does not indicate if it's a renewal offer or a paid renewal dec. This has no date stamp showing the day the agency received it.
Also in hand I have a Cancellation for Non-Pay Notice that indicates if payment is not received by 5/7/12, the policy will cancel. The date stamp is 4/23/12.
I see two possibilities:
1 - the renewal dec was a quote and the policy is cancelled for non-pay
2 - the insured paid and this was the renewal dec and the policy is active

Am I missing any scenarios or reasons everything that walks in the door needs to be date stamped?
Or is date stamping outdated and not needed?

[Lance Bateman]

First, most documents from the carriers should have a date produced showing - may be coded, but can be determined (some use Julian date).

If the scanning is solidly done the day received, you could do without stamping.  Most programs capture the date scanned as a property.

If scanning not always done the day received, stamp it.

[Alice Mooney]

Thanks Lance. Here's more info addressing your points:
1 - I looked very hard and long at these docs and asked two others to look and there is absolutely no indication of any "produced" date anywhere (one guy even used magnifying glass to see if small scribble marks really were something important)
2 - date stamp on cancellation is 4/23. Date attached is 5/2.  nuff said? 
3 - agreed

[DebAmstutz]

Our front-end scanning is done the day the mail is received, so nothing going to the CSRs is date-stamped.  All of the items that come to me ARE date-stamped because the only scanned items are agency-bill statements.  I get the paper for all the vendor stuff and direct bill, and it gets scanned when I have completed the reconciliation of statements and the payments of bills.

[Jim Jensen]

Our front-end scanning is done the day the mail is received, so nothing going to the CSRs is date-stamped.  All of the items that come to me ARE date-stamped because the only scanned items are agency-bill statements.  I get the paper for all the vendor stuff and direct bill, and it gets scanned when I have completed the reconciliation of statements and the payments of bills.

We still date-stamp, but we don't front-end scan. To Lance's point about the "produced" or "printed" date - we often receive policy documents more than 10 days after "produced". I certainly want a date stamp on those to show it wasn't sitting around here for 8 days before anything happened with it.

[Charlie Charbonneau]

Yes be sure to factor in the good 'ole U.S.P.S. They aren't exactly as speedy as they used to be.  We constantly deal with lost/delayed/late mail.  We've actually gotten charred mail back from a truck fire incident.  Return address was intact so they sent it back to us.

As to your question we do a hybrid front end scan.  Mail is processed, date stamped and given out to the csr's.  They process and print barcodes and return to the receptionist for bulk scanning.  Not my preferred method, but it works for all involved.  So we definitely stamp everything that comes in physically. 

The other reason that we stamp is because if you front end scan to the image inbox, the date tracking is there while the item moves around the inbox, but is lost once you attach it to the client.  You get a nifty date trail when you reassign it to a csr/producer as long as it stays in the image inbox.  Once you attach to a client it gets the current date as the attach date.  IF it's floated around in the inbox for a few days before being attached, you have a faulty date.  I asked Applied about it at one point, but I haven't seen a change.  Would be nice to have that fixed. 

[Jan Regnier]

We do the same as Jim.  We date stamp paper documents received - same reasons.  We will get mail sometimes that will be a week beyond the mailed-to-us date - so that coupled with the date the document was produced the stamped date can be several weeks beyond the produced date.  Also sometimes paperwork sent back by insureds may be a little long in the tooth - so date stamping is used when received.

We only do back end scanning.

[Andrew Carrick]

Same here (if it helps).

[Alice Mooney]

Thanks everyone! Agree with all.
They don't front end scan here and I was told they date stamp everything. BUT I found out these decs come with a cover letter. The cover letter has the date stamp but gets removed and thrown away then scan the dec...with no date stamp. So mystery solved.
I've informed those who need to know, so out of my hands now.

[Jan Regnier]

Yes, the decs do have at least one sometimes 2 sheets attached before the actual dec pages show up.  I stamp the first page of the agent dec. Some carriers send both the agent and the insured copy - so need to be sure only the agent copy is stamped.

[Charlie Charbonneau]

Well yes if cover is datestamped then cover needs to be attached as well!   We only an insured copy is received we date stamp a sticky note, scan and then remove the sticky for delivery so that insured doesn't receive datestamp.

[Alice Mooney]

since anyone can read these posts, I'll not comment on anyones level of intelligence observation skills  common sense 

[Jeff Zylstra]

since anyone can read these posts, I'll not comment on anyones level of intelligence 

You just did! 

[Alice Mooney]

okay...fixed it...better maybe? 

[Jim Jensen]

Thanks everyone! Agree with all.
They don't front end scan here and I was told they date stamp everything. BUT I found out these decs come with a cover letter. The cover letter has the date stamp but gets removed and thrown away then scan the dec...with no date stamp. So mystery solved.
I've informed those who need to know, so out of my hands now.

This is why we stamp each page, not just the first one.