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ACORD has developed and maintains an Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) standard, the ACORD Automation Level
3 (known as AL3), which focuses on the communication between
property & casualty insurers, their agents and other
trading partners. This standard allows industry partners
to electronically exchange information such as policy/submission,
claims, surety and accounting data. Today, through the use
of the ACORD AL3 Standard, over 80,000 agency-company pairs
are exchanging information.
*Please Note: Only ACORD P&C/Surety
Members who have signed an AL3 Licensing Agreement can
download the AL3 Standard from this website's P&C/Surety
Members Only Area - AL3. To obtain access, please contact
Member Services at memberservices@acord.org or
by phone at +1 845-620-1700 option 2.
About AL3 - Features
The AL3 Standard is a mechanism for exchanging insurance information
between organizations. The standard is primarily focused
on policy and application information; however, its scope
also includes claims, surety and accounting data. The AL3
Standard itself is actually a library of documents, each
known as a "standard". These standards are individually
identified by a three-digit number, such as 920. Some of
these standards are focused on business data and/or processes,
while others account for the technical information needed
to create the AL3 transaction.
Flexibility
One strength of the ACORD AL3 Standard
is that it is designed to be flexible to accommodate
the needs of the insurance industry. This flexibility
allows varying interpretations in the selection of data
elements used, data groups used, and the placement of
some data groups. Most organizations that use the AL3
Standard will create a set of specifications on how their
organization creates or expects to receive the AL3 transaction.
Therefore it is also important that organizations exchange
these specification documents with the partner(s) they
are communicating with.
Hierarchy
The AL3 Standard identifies record layouts to facilitate
the exchange of information. To support this record
layout a hierarchical structure is needed so that organizations
receiving the information can make the appropriate
data relationships.
Data Elements and Data Element
Groups
The AL3 Standard is comprised of data elements or fields
that are grouped together to form data element groups.
These groups are then placed in the appropriate level of
the hierarchy. Some groups are identified to be used at
only one level of the hierarchy, other groups can be used
at any hierarchical level. The group definition that is
found in the standards will identify where the group can
be sent.
Contact
The ACORD AL3 Standards are available
on request to ACORD
P&C/Surety Members. For more information about the
ACORD AL3 Standard, please contact Ed Voyek at evoyek@acord.org.
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