Applied Rater Software

I think it would be very useful software for users who aren't very proficient with computers so they don't have to constantly replicate the input for quoting clients. However, being highly proficient with computers enables me to quote each carrier individually just about as quickly.

Pros

The quote presentations that Applied lets you create are good visual aids for clients.

Cons

The software functions a bit quirky with many of the carriers, sometimes making you go into the carrier's system to fix the "bug".

Pros

The ease of integration into broker management systems and wide acceptability by insurance companies, especially given most insurance companies will honour quotes completed. Limits duplicate data entry and allows quoting all companies represented at once for easy comparison of coverage and premiums.

Cons

When trying to quote home and auto to show a client true bundle savings, often have to close and reopen quote when sifting through different insurance companies as no company has same bundle discounts. Can add extra time.

Pros

our personal lines department was not able to get very many benefits out of the use of this software

Cons

this software just wasn't very useful to our personal lines department even though they tried it out for several months

Pros

Their customer support was okay. The best thing Applied had going for them is their user group meetings.

Cons

No real update to TAM in the last 5 year. Spend all their money updating EPIC while increasing fees for TAM users. Highest fees in the industry.

When Applied bought Semcat I was worried and my concerns have become true. Since Fall of 2015, the rates is junk. The company keeps claiming a fix is on the way. Over promise, no delivery. Stay far, far, far away. Was a tremendous product, now a headache and useless. Applied just takes my money and provides little return.

Pros

Used to be the best on the market.

Cons

Useless since Windows 10 came out

Advice to Others

Don't buy!

We have been an Applied broker for over 30 years and have used Applied Rater (formerly Compu Quote) since it became available. It is still a valuable tool for our team to use in the quoting process

Pros

it's relatively easy to use and fairly intuitive for new users...

Cons

it needs to have more fail-safes in place for quotes... certain fields that need to be reviewed or alerts to coverages that haven't been reviewed... perhaps turn on/off option for more experienced users but a good tool for those just starting or those who do not use the software as frequently

Advice to Others

I appreciate how quickly the folks at Applied are tweaking the software to deal with changes in the industry (new discounts, new coverages, etc)

Applied Rater is a great program for rating a new client with multiple insurance carriers. You input the client information into the Dashboard and then select your saved companies to quote with. You are then able to save and/or print off quotes with multiple carriers for the client to see which is the best option for them. We used to use SEMCAT and then they were purchased by Applied Systems. The old product was terrific as well. Occasionally we may have a few snags as an insurance company updates their websites or such that just needs to be communicated to the Applied Rater tech department to have them update settings. Overall, it's a great product and saves us a lot of time without having to re-input data separately into each carrier site.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, Applied Rater (formerly SEMCAT) used to be a phenomenal product. However, after updating my system to Windows 10 in June of 2015 to stay compatible with other programs, Applied Rater became barely above useless.
In addition to the "XUL runner not working" issue, the program constantly freezes and has to be force-closed from the task manager. Sites won't open due to compatibility issues, Applied Rater won't remember the needed settings, and one has to default back to Internet Explorer to reset the compatibility settings. Ordering loss reports or credit scores also lock up the program, and occasionally Applied Rater will randomly freeze during the quoting process. When speaking with customer service - if you get a response from your email ticket at all - has been the same for over 10 months now (since July of 2015!!!): "We're working on a fix."
Applied Rater has gone from being the "one program portal" I used for accessing all info on a carriers site to an unreliable, erratic and unsupported nuisance that gets in the way of business.
I used to be a fanatical supporter of SEMCAT and raved about it to others. Not anymore, and it's shameful how far this software fell in less than a few short months.
Any reviews from before July 2015 should be ignored as they are no longer applicable to the current version of this once fine software.

For several months now I have had issues with using Semcat. Once I upgraded my computers - which was due to XP not working with QQ anymore - I have found that Semcat does not work well with Windows 10 and all I keep hearing is how they are working on it. Been hearing the same thing for months. It crashes - says XUL runner not working - I have to switch between 2 computers - XP & Windows 10 - to try to get quotes from companies. Some won't quote with 10 & some won't quote with XP & Semcat has no solution to the problems. Feel like I am paying them each month for getting headaches. This system is slowing me down & I am not happy with the response from Semcat.

Once initial training was completed, it took several weeks/months for me and my staff to fully appreciate the value of SEMCAT. I reached out to one of the reps to ask for additional office training and she was available to do it the very next day. After that training, our use of it and production from it has gone to a new level. I highly recommend it to any agency carrying multiple carriers

Sometimes all the information does not load from SEMCAT to the individual companies.

Our office really loves that Semcat is so easy to use. The new addition of the flood zone is great!

SEMCAT allows me to quote new business more efficiently, provide a comprehensive proposal and close more business! It allows me to track new quotes through the sales pipeline and follow up more effectively on past quotes.

I would highly recommend SEMCAT to any agency who wants to close more prospects and write more business!

We have been using SEMCAT for a little over 6 months now. We have found this product to save our offices a tremendous amount of time when we quote. Since SEMCAT uses the actual rating portals of our partners, we find that our quotes are more accurate. The SEMCAT options allow us to tailor our quotes as we wish to present them and we have multiple ways to present quotes. The service team at SEMCAT are next to none, they are responsive and are always willing to go that extra mile to insure we fully understand our issue and how to resolve it. There are few issues however when one does arise, they are quick to identify the issue and resolve it quickly. The product continues to evolve as well so it does have updates often times the updates are at the request of a user, i.e. evaluate suggestions from the user base and incorporate them into the product. All in all, a great product with a very dedicated staff, we would highly recommend this product and staff to anyone who is looking for a comparative rater.

I love Semcat for rating. It definitly makes things easier for most products. The cons I have are 1)Constantly having issues with rating Safeway and 2) does not provide a way to quote mobile homes, RVs, Motorcycles, and boats into our carriers that provide those products. That would be a great tool if you were able to incorporate that into the rater. There is one more thing, my Semcat crashes...a lot. Maybe becuase I have so many client tabs open with quotes and so many carrier tabs open on the other side for payments and such. I like to use Semcat for everything but don't like when it crashes. I would like to see it handle my "overload" if that is in fact what's causing the crashes. Overall, I like Semcat, it's easy and I think you will work out the tweaks overtime. Always great customer service when I have to call. Thank you for that.

Semcat is a great tool to have in any agency. We are able to generate more quotes in less time allowing us to better serve our customers. We also have an online quoting tool through Semcat that imports our website leads and notifies us when a customer is awaiting a quote. The downside to Semcat that it is missing real-time quoting with most carriers. If this would be available with more carriers...look out.

It's a great system that cuts my quoting time in half. Not sure how I managed before SEMCAT!!

We've been using SEMCAT for a few years now and I find the overall program is an outstanding value for the benefit it provides. The addition of real-time auto enhanced those benefits substantially and now SEMCAT is our only rapid rating system. It makes being an independent agent easier by allowing us to do what we promise more efficiently, which is "do the shopping for the customer"!! Thanks SEMCAT!!

SEMCAT is useful when quoting several markets to give comparison Quotes. Saves time not to have to enter the same basic info and prefills the information and automatically logs into that company's website.
The one problem we have run into is that some of the Homeowner companies will rate using a Frame rate in lieu of Brick Veneer and this has caused an incorrect quote when this information has pre-filled. Other than that I think it is a great quoting tool that most would find helpful and efficient.

Overall, I think our agency is extremely pleased with the SEMCAT product. I utilize it on a daily basis for a variety of features: quoting, accessing company sites, keeping track of client info on a short-term basis, until I am ready to enter them into our system.

Occasionally it gets a glitch here and there, but for the most part, it is an extremely useful and user-friendly product! I personally love it!