Renew policies when they expire to allow a smooth transition for the policyholder.
Policy renewals allow you to bill a customer for another term of cover with low friction. If you have opted for automatic renewals then the process will be kicked off automatically as the current policies reach the end of their term, with a pending invoice created in the system and a reminder email sent to the customer informing them about the upcoming renewal.
How the policyholder is currently paying for their policies will determine how seamless the renewal experience will be for them; if they are paying with instalments then Simfuni will continue billing the customer with using their current payment method at their chosen frequency (e.g. fortnightly), and the reminder email will simply be for their reference.
If the customer paid their invoice in full, they will be sent an email with a new payment link. They can use this payment link to pay for their cover using any of the payment methods you accept.
If you have opted for manual renewals, when you create a renewal all the details from the current policies are copied and presented to you for editing, review, and confirmation. Once you have confirmed the renewal, a pending invoice will be created in the system and a scheduled email set up to inform the policyholder of their upcoming renewal.
Alternatives
Policy renewals make it easy for you, but you can also create a new invoice. You might want to do this if the cover includes new policies, or some of the policies have changed provider. A renewal is designed for minimal changes to policies, not large cover changes like a new provider.
Renew Policies Manually
To renew policies manually, login to the Partner Portal and navigate to any invoice that has been paid in full or using instalments.
On the top right, click on the actions drop down and select Renew.
Add policy renewal details
You can change the invoice number, and the policy number, start date, end date, and premium value for each policy. You can also remove policies if a customer no longer requires that cover. You cannot change the provider or classcode. Policy renewals do not support new providers or classcodes as that would be a cover change rather than a renewal.
Tip: It can be useful to record the policy reference from an external policy management system in the policy number field and/or invoice number field. This makes it easier to search for the invoice later.
If you need to change providers or classcodes, or add a new policy, you can always create a new invoice rather than creating a renewal.
You can view the total increase or decrease in premiums as you change the policies.
Renewal timeline
When you click 'Next' you will see a renewal timeline:
New invoice created
The new renewal invoice will be created straight away with all the details you have supplied. Don't worry, you can edit these values later.
Before policy start date
Sometime before the policy start date an email will be sent the policyholder letting them know about the renewal. The exact date will depend on your partner account configuration and is configurable to a number of days before the renewal anniversary.
The email sent to the policyholder has different content depending on how the original invoice was paid:
| In full payment |
Email contains all of the policy and renewal information and a payment link. Customers can use the payment link to pay their new invoice with any of the payment methods you accept. |
| Instalments |
Email contains just the policy and renewal information. The customer does not need to set up a payment method again, as payments will continue using their existing payment method. |
Policy start date
The new invoice is due. This means different things depending on how the original invoice was paid:
| In full payment |
The new invoice is due. The customer received a payment link before the policy start date which provided instructions for making payment. |
|
Instalments |
Billing will commence automatically on the policyholders next normal instalment date e.g. if they normally make payments fortnightly on Thursdays, they will continue to be billed at this cadence. |
It is possible that all of renewal timeline dates will be on the same day if you renew your policies after the new policy dates have already passed.
You may also see approval rule results on this screen. You can read more about these in our Approval Rules article.
Confirm policy renewal
Clicking next will confirm the policy renewal.
After closing the renewal window you will see your original invoice has information about the policy renewal. From here you can find the renewal invoice with the configured policy information.
You can only have one active renewal for a policy list at a time. If you want to create a new renewal, you will need to void the original renewal first.
Edit policy renewal
Navigate to the renewal invoice by clicking on "view new invoice", or by finding the renewal in your invoice list. Click on the "actions" menu and select "edit":
This will open up a renewal window similar to the first renewal window used to generate the renewal.
Make any changes you need, and then review and confirm the changes to save them.
If a renewal email was already sent to the customer then a new email will be sent informing the customer of the changes.
Void a renewal
You can only cancel or void a renewal before the renewal invoice has been paid. Once a renewal is voided, you can create a new renewal from the original invoice.
Navigate to the renewal policy by clicking on 'view new invoice', or by finding the renewal in your invoice list. Click on the 'actions' menu and select 'void':
This will open a dialog which requires a void reason: 
Once you have entered a void reason and clicked 'Void', the renewal will be voided. A renewal email will not send to the customer and the renewal invoice will never be paid. Additionally, the policyholder will not be able to complete payment using the previously sent payment link.
You can now create a new renewal invoice from the original invoice if you wish.