Insurance submission intake: classify, split and check every broker submission

Insurance submission intake is the work between a broker's email and an underwriter's first look. Intake software classifies each attachment, splits mixed PDFs and reads the fields. Then it checks the documents against each other and sends people only the exceptions. Docsumo, our product, does this job and sends the checked data to the system you already run.

Vendor details below come from each vendor's own website and documentation, checked between September 29 and October 7, 2026. Links are in the sources at the end.

How submission intake works#

Intake runs in four steps, and software can do each of them. The team's job shifts from typing data to resolving the exceptions.

Classify and split. Insurance document classification labels each attachment by type, such as ACORD 125, loss run or statement of values (SOV). Docsumo sorts files into the document types you name, with no training set. Its AI Split takes a plain-English definition of each type and splits a combined PDF into its documents. Classification and splitting are on the Business plan. Documents it can't classify wait as Unclassified for a person to assign, and a reviewer can move any document to another type.

Extract. Each document type has its own fields. An ACORD 125 holds the applicant's details, and a loss run holds each claim's date of loss and the amounts paid and reserved. An SOV lists each building on its own row, and Docsumo extracts SOV spreadsheets too.

Check across documents. On the Enterprise plan, cross-document validation checks the documents against each other. For example, it checks the loss runs against the losses on the ACORD 125. It also checks them against your guideline for the policy years covered and the valuation date. When a loss run year is missing, Docsumo can email the broker to ask for it. A failed check goes to a person, with its reason. Everything that passes goes on to the underwriter.

What a broker submission contains#

A commercial submission usually arrives as one broker email with several attachments. The ACORD 125 comes first. It names the applicant, its locations and the lines it wants quoted. Each line then has its own section. The ACORD 126 covers general liability, the 127 business auto, the 131 umbrella and excess, and the 140 property. Workers' comp has its own application, the ACORD 130.

The loss runs come next. Each prior carrier issues one, listing the claims on its policies. Property submissions add the SOV, a spreadsheet with each building's address, values and construction. Some lines also need the carrier's own supplemental questions or the applicant's financial statements.

The applications in the figure come from one applicant, Keystone HVAC LLC. Its ACORD 125 passes three checks. Every section it ticks is attached, the applicant, FEIN and term match on every section, and the NAICS code is one the carrier covers. The ACORD 126 has one "yes" answer with no explanation. The ACORD 140 lists a building from 1968 but gives no roof year. The carrier's rule asks for a roof year on any building from before 1980. Neither failed check is a reason to decline. Each one is a question for the broker.

The last two forms in the figure, the ACORD 28 and 27, are evidence of insurance that lenders receive. They aren't part of a submission. For the fields on each application form, see our guides to the ACORD 125, 126, 127, 131 and 140.

An intake checklist for ACORD forms, loss runs and SOVs#

Run these checks on every submission before it reaches an underwriter. Each check either passes or becomes a question for the broker. Loss runs need the most care, so they have a guide of their own.

• Every document is thereFor every line of business ticked on the ACORD 125, its section is attached. So are the loss runs and the SOV your guidelines ask for. Ask the broker for anything missing on the first day.
• It isn't already in your systemThe named insured and FEIN don't match an account that another broker sent. If they do, your clearance rules decide which broker you quote with.
• It fits your appetiteThe applicant's NAICS code, operations and requested lines are ones you cover. If not, decline early or refer the submission.
• The forms agreeThe applicant, FEIN and proposed term are the same on the 125 and on each line section. Every premises on the 140 is a location on the 125.
• The loss runs match the applicationThe losses reported on the ACORD 125 appear on the loss runs. The runs cover the years your guideline asks for, and the valuation date is recent.
• The SOV matches the property sectionEach building on the SOV is a location on the application, and its values agree with the ACORD 140.
• Every "yes" has an explanationQuestions answered "yes" on the 125 and the line sections carry the broker's explanation.
• The dates workThe proposed effective date leaves enough time to quote.

Our take. Intake should be predictable. Every check on this list runs on every submission, and people see only the checks that failed. For example, a loss run year is missing, or a building value on the ACORD 140 doesn't match the SOV. Whoever handles that check should see it with its reason and the source line beside it. Nobody should have to open the PDF to find out why.

9 submission intake and classification tools#

Docsumo is our product, so we've put it first and said plainly what it doesn't do. The others are grouped by what they're built for. For a wider list of classifiers, see our comparison of document classification software.

Insurance intake platforms

• 99%99%field-level accuracy across 250+ document types
• 95%+95%+of documents processed straight through, without manual review
• 99%99%accuracy on insurance compliance documents at Arbor
• 3,000+3,000+hours saved a month at Arbor

Document AI platforms

Cloud classifiers

Cloud classifiers are building blocks. Your engineers train or describe the document types, then build the review screens, checks and routing around them. AWS's Textract offers classification only for mortgage packages, in its Analyze Lending API. For other files, AWS's Bedrock Data Automation splits a combined PDF and matches each document to the closest blueprint, a document type you define.

Submission intake tools compared#

Facts as published on each vendor's site and documentation. None of the insurance intake platforms shows a price.

Where insurance underwriting software fits after intake#

Intake hands its checked data to the software underwriters work in. Search results for insurance underwriting software mostly show that software, and it comes in two kinds.

Workbenches and AI assistants help underwriters triage and decide. Sixfold scores risk and summarizes each submission, with every fact cited to its source. Send, which Duck Creek bought in July 2026, runs triage and the underwriting workflow for commercial and specialty insurers. Intellect AI pairs its Xponent workbench with Magic Submission, its own intake product. For life and annuity insurers, Sapiens UnderwritingPro handles underwriting and new business cases, and Advent bought Sapiens in December 2025.

Core policy systems hold the policy record. They rate the risk, produce the quote and issue the policy. Guidewire PolicyCenter, Duck Creek Policy and Federato are examples. Federato calls itself an AI-native core, meaning a core system built around AI from the start. Guidewire's UnderwritingCenter is in an early access program, and Duck Creek plans general release of its Agentic Underwriting Workbench in 2027.

Two other results show up when you search for insurance underwriting software, but they cover different work. Cotality's UnderwritingCenter manages home inspections for property carriers. G2's underwriting and rating category is written for insurance agencies. Its top listings are comparative raters, such as Vertafore's PL Rating.

How to test intake software on your own submissions#

A demo on the vendor's sample files proves little. Use your own submissions and follow these steps.

1. Collect last month's submissionsUse real broker emails. Keep the scanned ACORD forms, the long loss runs and the messy SOV spreadsheets in the set.
2. Name the job you're buying forChoose intake, triage or the core system. A demo of risk scoring won't show whether loss runs are read correctly.
3. Count what a person had to fixFor each submission, note every document filed under the wrong type, every field someone corrected and every document someone had to find.
4. Look at what reaches the underwriterA failed check should arrive with its reason and the page it came from, not as a full set of fields to read again.
5. Trace the hand-offAsk how data reaches your workbench or policy system, whether through an API and webhooks, a named connector or a file. Ask who keeps the field mapping up to date.

If your quotes wait on intake, not on underwriters#

Pick software by the job that slows your quotes. If the core system is the problem, look at Guidewire, Duck Creek or Federato. If underwriters need help deciding, Sixfold and Send work alongside them. If submissions wait to be sorted, read and checked before anyone can decide, that's the job Docsumo does. It sends the checked data to the system you already run.

Book a demo with a few of last month's broker submissions, or start a free trial.

Frequently asked questions#