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SERVICE DESCRIPTION:
Unearned Factors Service - API Reference Guide
[ Model Version 1.0
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Overview:
This model service description works
on (2) business levels; abstract and concrete. Abstractly, it’s a model description
of an XML Web service or application programming interface (API), which is a 21st
century way of providing industry infrastructure services. Concretely, this service
description is an API itself as it provides everything insurance industry web developers
need to implement software that works with the Unearned Factors Service, a classic
insurance industry calculation.
As a modern, abstract service description, this model supports global insurance
industry enterprise service-oriented architecture (SOA) endeavors. SOA is a business-driven
IT architectural approach that supports agile business innovation and optimization.
SOA enables people to integrate business as linked, repeatable business tasks, or
services.
As a concrete service, this model is an application programming interface (API)
for the Unearned Factors Service. It's simply another way to access the customary
insurance industry calculation for determining return premium on cancelled policies
- one way that makes it easy for third-party and custom tools to programmatically
access and interact with the service. By the way, the world's first insurance
industry XML Web Service was this same Unearned Factors Service. The service, as
part of the new model service description, has been updated to the latest communication
standards and IT/business architectural styles using the latest tools. The
earliest
version of the service was posted in 2001.
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Resources
and URI's:
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Authentication and Encryption:
This version of the service uses HTTP (unencrypted).
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Representation Formats:
All XML documents sent to and returned from the service should be XML
1.0, encoded as UTF-8, and include the XML namespace http://www.vinsurance.com/services.
Within the XML, booleans are represented by the strings true and false and the return
XML is a decimal type. Dates and times, in this version, are represented in US date
format, e.g. 01-01-2008.
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Clients:
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Industry History:
Brief
history of the
unearned factors. The evolution of the use of unearned factors in the
insurance industry.
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Development Notes:
This version of the service is currently
using the OLD Short Rate method. Current ISO rules call for the short rate being
90% of pro-rata. However, many companies are still using the old short rate tables.
So, this version simply uses the old tables. The service assumes a one (1) year
policy. Future versions of the Unearned Factors Service will endeavor to include
both short rate methods and shorter and longer term policy calculations.
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Questions?
If you find a problem with the API, please give us a chance to correct it. If you
have any questions or issues, feel free to contact
info@vinsurance.com
. And let us know how you’re using it—we’d like to hear about it.
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Terms of Service:
Your use of the Unearned Factors Service ("Service"), including any content,
information or functionality contained within it, is provided "as is"
and "as available" with no representations or warranties of any kind,
either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, fitness for a particular
purpose, your ability to use the Service, your satisfaction with the Service, that
the Service will be available at all times, uninterrupted, and error-free and the
accuracy of mathematical calculations performed by the Service. You assume total
responsibility and risk for your use of this Service.
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Document History:
2008-02-06: Version 1.0
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