Each policy in Simfuni has a regular payment schedule, but it's also possible to add additional, unscheduled transactions outside of this. There are two ways to add additional payments to a policy:
- Charge client’s payment method: when the policy has an outstanding or overdue balance
- Add a transaction: to log a payment that was processed outside the Simfuni platform.
Account prerequisites:
- User permissions: Create payment on existing policy and/or Create external payment record on existing policy
Charge Client's Payment Method
When a policy has an overdue or outstanding balance, the functionality to take an immediate payment from a client by charging their existing payment method is enabled.
You can charge a payment for either:
- The total outstanding policy balance
- If the premium is paid annually
- If today's date is between the next scheduled billing date and the due date
- Part of the overdue amount (if the policy is in arrears).
- The total overdue amount (if the policy is in arrears).
To take a payment against the client's payment method:
- In the relevant policy, click on the Actions menu and select "Add payment".
- Select "Charge client's payment method".
- The option to charge the outstanding balance will appear if the policy is paid annually, or if the scheduled billing date differs from the due date, and you are currently sitting between those two dates.
For overdue policies, select the overdue option and then fill in the amount the the payment should be -- this can be any amount up to the full overdue balance.
Here you can also add a note to the payment - this will not be visible to the client but it will display in the Payment variations section of the Partner Portal. - Next, review the details of the payment to be charged. Check everything is correct, and confirm that the client has agreed for this payment to be made against their payment method. Click confirm to schedule the payment.
If the client's payment method is a credit card then the payment will be processed straight away. If the payment method is direct debit then the payment will be processed within 24 hours. You cannot charge a client's payment method if they pay via internet banking.
After you have created the payment, you can view the details in the Variations section of the policy Payments tab.
There are a few cases where the option to charge a payment against the client's payment method is disabled:
- The policy is not either in arrears or paid annually.
- The first payment hasn't been made yet, or there's no existing payment method to charge against.
- The policy has been cancelled.
- The policy is already fully paid for its current term.
Add a Transaction
When a policy payment has been made or received outside of the Simfuni platform, this can be manually added to the policy payment history, logged as an 'external transaction'. This is a useful way to make sure the policy ledger stays correct - accurately logging transactions against each policy ensures the integrity of reconciliation and reporting, and becomes especially important if the policy is reinstated in the future.
There are two types of transactions that can be added to a policy - either a payment received externally from the client or a refund made to the client externally.
Note that there is a separate option within the 'Add payment' menu called 'Refund'. This is for refunds that are processed within the Simfuni system. For more info see Refunds and Commissions payouts.
External transactions can be added to both active and cancelled policies. See this article for more information on adding external transactions to cancelled policies to zero the closing balance.
Please note: adding an external transaction to an active policy will affect upcoming payments. This is to ensure the account stays balanced and the customer isn't over- or under- charged.
If 'payment' is selected as the external transaction type then the next scheduled payment will be lowered by the same amount, to account for the external payment the client has already made.
If 'refund' is selected as the external transaction type then the next scheduled payment will be increased by the same amount, to balance out the external refund already given to the client.
To Add a Transaction:
- To add a transaction, click on the policy Actions menu and select "Add payment".
- Select "Add a transaction".
- Choose the appropriate transaction type, the date the transaction occurred, the amount of the transaction, and add a note. This note will not be visible to the client, but it will display in the Payment variations section of the Partner Portal.
- Review the details of the transaction and click Confirm. The external payment will display in the Past or Upcoming Payments tab, depending on the recorded date of the transaction, as well as in the Variations section.
- In the Upcoming Payments section the next scheduled payment will be either increased (if it was a refund) or lowered (if it was a payment), to reflect the amount that was processed externally. This total payment amount will include transaction fees if applicable.