Overview
The UDS A Record includes details about the policy, coverage, claim, and the person making the claim. It acts as a foundational record that other types of records (F/G/I/M) depend on.
A Records focus on individual claimants and their information. However, the way claims systems process UDS files can vary, often grouping A Records for the same claim together when importing the data. As a result, it is common to repeat certain information, such as the insured person’s name, the claimant’s name, and addresses in each A Record to ensure they are grouped correctly in the claim system of the receiving Guaranty Fund.
Quick Tips
- Transaction Code for an A Record is always 100. The other time we care about Transaction Code is the G Record which focuses on Loss or Expense payments. Those transaction codes are unrelated to the “100” that the A Record always uses.
- There are two contact detail sections in an A Record – the Insured and Claimant sections. These sometimes share duplicate information if there is only one claimant or if there are multiple coverages. It IS required to fill in both sections even if they share identical information. It is also common to have the Insured be the first claimant.
- The WCIO Workers Compensation fields are not required if the claim does not relate to Worker’s Compensation. The UDS Data Mapper will default these fields behind the scenes when generating UDS if they are not provided and the Guaranty Funds will naturally ignore these fields unless the coverage code is for Worker’s Compensation.
- The Coverage Code is the primary way to describe the type of claim. The first three digits reference the TYPE, and the last three digits reference the DETAIL like ‘635035’. When the DETAIL is missing in the source data and you have no way to provide more detail than just TYPE, it is common to default the coverage to the 005 variant of whatever coverage category you are in.
- The primary keys the UDS Data Mapper uses to determine claim uniqueness is [NAIC Number, Insolvent Company Claim Number, Coverage Code, and Claimant Number]. When you use the Long Claim Number field, it is not included in any checks for duplication, but is passed to the UDS file when actually sending to the Guaranty Funds.
- The UDS standard requires the yyyyMMdd date format. Although the UDS Data Mapper supports extra formats, including this date format into any automation of source file normalization is encouraged to ensure a smooth pipeline experience.
- The Claim, Coverage Code and Claimant are the primary links from different record types back to the A Record. From a UDS Data Mapper perspective, F and I Records don’t care about coverage and really only link back to Claim Number and Claimant. G Records DO care about all three keys when applying payments to each unique bucket, and occasionally payments need to be placed in a bucket that doesn’t exist yet as an A Record. This sometimes occurs when the source data for generating A Records is too high level and you only discover the detail when looking at the payment records. Simply generate extra A Record rows by duplicating an existing A Record for the same claim/claimant with the newly discovered coverage information. You are essentially making A Records based off a G Record just so the buckets exist when the Guaranty Funds import them into their claims system.
- Guaranty Funds are willing to accept supplementary NON-UDS data in the form of Excel files. Sometimes information is available in reports that is important to distribute to the Guaranty Funds, for which there is no mechanism provided within UDS structures. Offer that information to the Guaranty Funds anyway in the form of an Excel file. Most commonly this is used for email addresses, multiple known addresses, mortgagee information, extra phone numbers, etc. Reaching out to policyholders is a critical step for Guaranty Funds and is sometimes negatively impacted by bad or missing source information. Sharing all available contact information, through UDS and otherwise, improves the chances of a positive outcome for the policyholder.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much data do I send to the Guaranty Funds? How much data do I retrieve from the insolvent company?
It depends on the purpose and scope of the insolvency, but there are some guidelines. Guaranty Funds normally only want claims data if there is a possibility of getting a call from a policyholder or claimant – or if a claim needs handling as open from the original source system. This narrows the scope to sending them JUST open claims in the beginning, and then managing a reopens process ongoing when the Fund receives a call. This undefined possibility of receiving a call about a claim means you should extract as much data from the insolvent company as possible in preparation for that claim request from the Guaranty Fund. Sometimes the scope of extraction is more clear where Funds may request a whole time range at their discretion to reduce the delay in submitting/receiving individual claim requests.
Note: It is important to understand that Claim Status in the original system is irrelevant if there is a specific claim request from the Guaranty Fund. To their eyes the claim is open or reopened, so you must fulfill a claim request by giving them ALL of the information related to open/closed features of a claim including its policy information like Dec Pages. Ultimately the Guaranty Fund will be managing the claim from now on; a complete history will be helpful.
How many fields are necessary to make a valid A Record?
From a data perspective this is a hard question. “As much as you can fill out” is an easy response, but I understand it can be unclear what will be satisfactory to a Guaranty Fund if the source information is incomplete. Here is a high level organization of important fields:
Required – Insolvent Company NAIC Number, File Location State, File Location Code, Coverage Code, Policy Number, Insolvent Company Claim Number, Insured Name, Insured Address, Claimant Name, Claimant Address, Date of Loss, Policy Effective / Expiration, Claimant Number, Transaction Amount, Claim Report Date
Optional – Claimant ID Indicator/Number, Catastrophic Loss Code, Recovery Code Indicator, Suit Indicator, Claimant Birth Date, Aggregate Policy Indicator, Deductible Policy Indicator, Repetitive Payment Indicator
Conditional – WCIO Codes, Description of Injury, TPA Claim Number, Long Claim Number
Rare – Issuing Company Code, Servicing Office Code, Employer Work Phone Number
Each section adds more metadata to the required claim information and increases the efficiency of the Guaranty Fund when filled out more completely. Often once the claim data has been imported successfully into the Guaranty Fund’s system and is being actively handled, there is no ability to revert that data and accept updates. This is why it is important to normalize/improve data quality BEFORE sending instead of following an iterative approach over time. NEW data such as new notes or payments can be provided, but a change to data already imported into a Guaranty Fund’s system is difficult to fix at scale.
What does File Location State / File Location Code mean?
File Location State / Code are used together to describe the direction of UDS data. The UDS Data Mapper uses these fields internally to determine the destination Guaranty Fund folder within the SUDS environment for UDS files. When using the UDS Data Mapper to send data, Destination need only be considered since the “source” will be assigned automatically by the system. In most cases these fields should be identical to the Insured’s State or Property Address (most commonly “10” for the Property Guaranty Fund). An example full code might look like this: TX10. A UDS file name has TWO instances of these fields, one for source and one for destination, and looks like this:
{NAIC}{RecordType}{FromLocation}{ToLocation}{BatchNumber}{DateSent}.txt
In the example 55555AIN01TX1099920240215.txt, the Indiana Receiver is sending A Records to the TX P&C Fund.
UDS Schema
UDS Manual Snippet: A Record.pdf
WCIO Codes (Latest): Injury Codes.pdf, (Legacy): Injury Codes Legacy.pdf
Coverage Codes: Coverage Codes.pdf
File Location State: State Codes.pdf, File Location Codes: Location Codes.pdf
Cancellation Codes: Cancellation Codes.pdf
Recovery Codes: Recovery Codes.pdf
Indicator Codes: Indicator Codes.pdf
Record Fields
| No | Field Name | Description | Default To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RECORD TYPE | The value of this field must be “A” | “A” |
| 2 | INSOLVENT COMPANY NAIC NUMBER | The unique number assigned by the NAIC to the insolvent company for data tracking purposes. For self-insured entities this number could also be the Self-Insured Fund Code. Shorter values are right justified and padded with zeroes | No default allowed |
| 3 | FILE LOCATION STATE | State to which the physical file/electronic record is being sent | No default allowed |
| 4 | FILE LOCATION CODE | Location code of the entity to which the physical file/electronic record is being sent | No default allowed |
| 5 | COVERAGE CODE | This code defines the category of coverage that provided protection for the loss | No default allowed |
| 6 | POLICY NUMBER | The unique number that the carrier assigned to the specific policy of insurance prior to insolvency | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 7 | INSOLVENT COMPANY CLAIM NUMBER | The unique number that the insolvent company assigned to each claim | No default allowed. Must be unique. |
| 8 | RECEIVER CLAIM NUMBER | The unique number that Receivers assign to identify a specific claim against an insolvent company | Blank |
| 9 | INSURED NAME #1 | Named Insured’s last name or business name | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 10 | INSURED NAME #2 | Named Insured’s first name | Blank |
| 11 | INSURED ADDRESS #1 | Address of the Named Insured | Blank |
| 12 | INSURED ADDRESS #2 | Continuation of address of the Named Insured if needed | Blank |
| 13 | INSURED CITY | City of Named Insured | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 14 | INSURED STATE | The two-digit code used by the U.S. Post Office to identify each state | No default if U.S. domestic address. FC if foreign country |
| 15 | INSURED ZIP CODE | Named Insured’s zip code | No default if U.S. domestic address. Blank if foreign country |
| 16 | DATE OF LOSS | The date the loss occurred. (Accident Date) The format is YYYYMMDD | 19010101 |
| 17 | POLICY EFFECTIVE DATE | The effective date of the policy covering the referenced claim | 19010101 |
| 18 | POLICY EXPIRATION DATE | The expiration date of the policy covering the referenced claim. The format is YYYYMMDD | 19010101 |
| 19 | CLAIMANT NUMBER | Number assigned by Receiver to this claimant | No default allowed |
| 20 | CLAIMANT NAME #1 | Claimant’s last name or business name | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 21 | CLAIMANT NAME #2 | Claimant’s first name | Blank |
| 22 | CLAIMANT ADDRESS #1 | Claimant’s address | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 23 | CLAIMANT ADDRESS #2 | Continuation of claimant’s address if needed | Blank |
| 24 | CLAIMANT CITY | City of claimant’s address | UDSUNKNOWN |
| 25 | CLAIMANT STATE | State code of claimant’s address | No default allowed |
| 26 | CLAIMANT ZIP CODE | The standard zip code used by the U.S. Post Office | Blank |
| 27 | CLAIMANT ID INDICATOR | F - Federal ID number. S - Social Security Number | Blank |
| 28 | CLAIMANT ID NUMBER | Claimant’s Federal ID number or Social Security Number | Blank |
| 29 | TRANSACTION CODE | A three-digit code that identifies the type of transaction for this record | 100 |
| 30 | TRANSACTION AMOUNT | Outstanding reserve for this coverage for this claimant | No default allowed |
| 31 | CATASTROPHIC LOSS CODE | The code assigned for major catastrophic events | Blank |
| 32 | RECOVERY INDICATOR CODE | Potential Recovery Type Indicator | Zero |
| 33 | SUIT INDICATOR | Is claim in litigation? | U |
| 34 | 2ND INJURY FUND INDICATOR | Potential 2nd Injury Fund involvement | U |
| 35 | TPA CLAIM NUMBER | Unique Number assigned by the insolvent company’s TPA to this claim | Blank |
| 36 | LONG CLAIM NUMBER | Insolvent Company Claim Number | Blank |
| 37 | ISSUING COMPANY CODE | NAIC Number of the insolvent company that issued the policy | Blank |
| 38 | SERVICING OFFICE CODE | Code for TPA/branch office from table supplied by Receiver | Blank |
| 39 | CLAIM REPORT DATE | Date that the claim was reported to the company. YYYYMMDD date format | Blank |
| 40 | CLAIMANT BIRTH DATE | Claimant’s birth date. YYYYMMDD date format | Blank |
| 41 | REPETITIVE PAYMENT INDICATOR | Repetitive payment indicator | N |
| 42 | WCIO INJURY CODE | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 43 | WCIO PART OF BODY | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 44 | WCIO NATURE OF INJURY | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 45 | WCIO CAUSE | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 46 | WCIO ACT | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claimse | Blank |
| 47 | WCIO TYPE OF LOSS | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 48 | WCIO TYPE OF RECOVERY | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 49 | WCIO TYPE OF COVERAGE | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 50 | WCIO TYPE OF SETTLEMENT | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 51 | WCIO VOCATIONAL REHAB INDICATOR | WCIO Coding for Workers’ Comp Claims | Blank |
| 52 | DESCRIPTION OF INJURY | Short description of accident/incident | Blank |
| 53 | WCAB NUMBER | Number assigned by the Workers' Compensation Board | Blank |
| 54 | EMPLOYER WORK PHONE NUMBER | Employer telephone number | Blank |
| 55 | AGGREGATE POLICY INDICATOR | This policy has a maximum amount that can be paid per policy period no matter how many separate accidents might occur | U |
| 56 | DEDUCTIBLE POLICY INDICATOR | This policy has a deductible that is some amount of a covered loss that must be paid out of pocket by the insured | U |