OUM’s Premium Financing and Payment Processing Company: Imperial PFS (IPFS)

Imperial PFS (IPFS) is the industry leader in commercial premium financing. They provide short-term loans for businesses and individuals to obtain property and casualty insurance coverage, thus freeing up capital and allowing them to obtain appropriate insurance coverage.

By working with IPFS, policyholders like you can have financing options available in minutes with no financial information required. Premium financing allows you to build your business’s budget with more freedom and breathe a little easier by paying necessary insurance premiums with a proven strategic financial option. Once a Premium Finance Agreement (PFA) is signed, which can be done electronically depending on your state, installment payments can be paid by mail, phone, fax, pre-authorized account debit, the IPFS website, or the IPFS Connect® mobile app.

Premium financing provides:

• Preservation of capital: Experience amortization of payments over the term of the loan and retain more working capital to invest in your other business opportunities.
• Availability of credit: Keep credit lines open for other business purposes.
• Higher returns: Earn more on the retained capital than you would by prepaying for insurance premiums.
• Fixed rate: Take comfort in knowing the principal rate and payments will not increase over the term of the loan.

IPFS offers a better and easier payment processing experience for our policyholders. In addition, they offer premium financing options that can assist our policyholders by giving them flexible repayment options that fit their individual situation.

Text message notifications are helpful reminders right to your phone so you never miss a payment. To set up text alerts, you will need to:

1. Log in to your IPFS account on the IPFS website.
2. Click on the Settings drop-down menu and select Scheduled Web Alerts.
3. Select any of the boxes in the Alerts section that you want to receive text message notifications for.
4. Select the Text Message Notification box in the Notification Methods section and add your mobile phone number.

Payment plan options with IPFS include:

• 1-Time Payment: Pay balance in full (by ACH or credit card)
• 2 Payments: 50% down payment due immediately and remaining balance due in 90 days
• 4 Payments (quarterly): 25% down payment due immediately and 3 remaining payments due 90 days apart
• 6 Payments: 16.66% down payment due immediately and 5 remaining payments due 60 days apart
• 12 Payments (monthly): 8.5% down payment due immediately and 11 remaining payments due 30 days apart

Yes, if selecting to pay your annual premium in installments, payment can be made by calling IPFS at 877-218-3123. To pay the down payment by phone, go to the OUM website first to get to the IPFS Payment tiles, then click the "Invoice Me Now" option, and then call IPFS to make the payment.

PLEASE NOTE: By choosing to pay the down payment by phone, you will be required to speak with an IPFS customer service representative and there will be a significant delay in processing, as well as an additional cost of $15.

Any payments or payment plans can be paid on the IPFS website or through OUM's Quick Pay page.

For credit card payments, there is a processing fee of $5 or 2.99% of the installment amount (whichever is greater).

For down payments made by phone, there is a fee of $15.

Late fees vary by state, but typically the late fee is 5% of the installment amount.

For a majority of cancellations, IPFS will send refunds back to the policyholder. If a policyholder selected the pay in full option (rather than financing), the return payment will be sent by OUM.

Policyholders will need to make payments directly through IPFS. If an agent is completing payment on behalf of a policyholder, they will also need to make payments directly through IPFS.

Making payments to IPFS can be done by going directly to the IPFS website, going to the OUM Quick Pay page, or logging into the OUM portal.

NOTES:

• Even if a policyholder chooses to pay by going through the OUM Quick Pay page or the OUM portal, the policyholder will be taken to the IPFS website to complete their payment.
• If a policyholder is paying in full by check, send the check to OUM at P.O. Box 2261, Memphis, TN 38101 and include the policy number on the check. If a policyholder is paying with a check for down pay or installments, send the check to the address listed on the IPFS invoice.

Autopay is the best way to pay so you never miss a payment. You can set up autopay using either ACH or credit card. To sign up for Autopay, you will need to:

1. Log in to your IPFS account on the IPFS website.
2. Go to your Account Status page.
3. Select Set Up under the column titled AutoPay Method. You will be guided through the process from there.

If you signed up for email notifications, but you are not receiving emails from IPFS (including invoices) please check your spam folder. You can also whitelist the IPFS domain so that emails from IPFS do not get stuck in your spam folder and instead go straight to your inbox. To ensure delivery of IPFS email notifications, please review the suggestions below:

• If your company has an email administrator, have them 1) whitelist the IPFS email domain (@ipfs.com) from spam checks. Or, 2) whitelist specific IPFS top senders. In either scenario, ensure that they still perform the attachment/threat scanning.
• If you do not have a company email administrator, review your email client to see what options are available for creating approved senders so items are not delivered to your spam folder from those sources – ask your support team for assistance.

IPFS accepts various forms of payment; however, the most ideal is online payment via ACH or credit card because this payment type is the fastest and most secure.

Payment types accepted:

• Online (ACH or credit card)
• Phone*
• Check**

*By choosing to pay the down payment by phone, you will be required to speak with an IPFS customer service representative and there will be a significant delay in processing, as well as an additional cost of $15.

**If a policyholder is paying in full by check, send the check to OUM at P.O. Box 2261, Memphis, TN 38101 and include the policy number on the check. If a policyholder is paying with a check for down pay or installments, send the check to the address listed on the IPFS invoice.

If there are multiple doctors in a practice, there may be different renewal effective dates. OUM policyholders are transitioning to IPFS based on their individual renewal date. Going to the OUM Quick Pay page or logging into the OUM portal will direct you to the correct payment company.

You may need to pay with two different payment processing companies until this transition is complete. Each policy will transition at the time of the renewal, so it’s possible that the doctors at your office will renew at different times throughout the year.

• If you’re completing a payment for a doctor who still has remaining payments on their current policy: you will pay through DocuPhase Payment Solutions (previously Clearwater Payments).
• If you’re completing a payment for a doctor who is renewing: you will pay through Imperial PFS (IPFS).

NOTE: When you go to the OUM Quick Pay page or log in to the OUM portal to make a payment, you will automatically be directed to the correct payment processing company based on the policy number you enter.

No, an agent can sign on behalf of a policyholder.

When a policyholder makes their initial down payment, they are auto-enrolled to receive future notices and invoices via email. The down payment invoice will not be mailed. During the e-sign process, the policyholder can deselect a box asking if they would like e-forms, which means they will receive statements by mail.

Policyholders need to make a down payment and sign another finance agreement each year. IPFS finance agreements are short-term loans and a new account number will be generated each year.

If you signed a PFA with IPFS, you will receive invoices either by mail or by email - depending on the option you selected during the PFA process.

If you're receiving invoices by email, they will come from the IPFS email address, "donotreply@ipfs.com". Look for the subject line "Imperial PFS forms/letters for [YOUR NAME] - notice of payment due".

PLEASE NOTE: if you are supposed to receive invoices by email, but you don't see them in your inbox, check your spam folder!