Uploading documents to start a submission

Answers: What can I upload? How many files? What if documents conflict? How does upload become a pre-filled application? Do scans work?

What you can upload

You can upload anything you have on the risk. There's no fixed list — if it holds useful information, send it. Common examples include applications (carrier forms, ACORD forms, your agency's own forms), financial statements, loss runs, renewal documents, and existing or historical policies. You can upload several files at once and extraction reads across all of them — three applications for the same risk merge into one pre-filled question set.

Loss runs fill the claims questions. When the insured has prior claims, include loss runs — or anything else describing those claims — and extraction fills the claims-history questions from them, the same way it fills revenue or employee counts. Carriers need that detail to build a quote, so it's worth gathering before you start.

Typed documents extract best, but handwritten and scanned documents work surprisingly well too — not quite as reliably as typed, but well enough that it's worth sending anything you have.

Where to add files

The first screen of New Submission (the one that asks for the submission name) has three tabs — Risk Information, Quotes, and Policies — and each one does something different:

• Risk Information — when you upload documents here, the platform extracts their data into the application pre-fill; attach everything you want read into the risk details.

• Quotes — when you upload a quote here, the platform extracts its data and stores it as a quote, ready to be compared against other quotes later in the flow.

• Policies — when you upload a policy here, the platform extracts its data and stores it as a policy, ready to be compared against quotes later in the flow.

Quotes and policies can also be added later in the flow with the same result, so they aren't time-sensitive.

Risk information is the exception: only files added under Risk Information on this first screen fill in risk details on the application. You can add an application later, but it won't be used to fill risk details — so attach every document you want extracted into the application here, before you continue.

What happens after upload

After you pick the coverage line, effective date, and limit, the platform analyzes the documents — this takes a couple of minutes — and pre-fills the application with any risk details it can find that carriers may ask about, from insured details to revenue and employee counts. Unanswered required questions are highlighted in red. Each field also carries a "Relevant for N markets" pill, so you can see per-carrier readiness — you may be ready for three of five markets while two still need answers.

You then review and complete the application as usual — extraction gets you most of the way, and you should always give the pre-fill a review before submitting.

If the remaining gaps need the client's input, Download Application exports a pre-filled, agency-branded application showing exactly what's missing, so you can send it to the insured. Save and Exit parks the submission so you can resume from your submissions list later.

When documents disagree

If two uploaded documents contain different values for the same field — say, prior-year financials and much larger year-to-date figures — the platform analyzes the context surrounding each document to determine which value is most likely accurate. It's one more reason to always give the pre-fill a review.

If something goes wrong

• A file type isn't accepted. A few formats — archives like .zip, for example — are rejected for security and processing reasons. The upload stops with an error telling you which file to remove; your other files are retained, so you don't have to re-attach everything.

• Extraction fails. Your uploaded files are kept — you'll see an error prompting you to try again, without re-uploading. If it fails repeatedly, contact support@heraldapi.com.

Tips for better extraction

• Upload the most recent documents you have.

• Prefer original PDFs over scans of printouts.

• Include a document that states revenue and employee count explicitly — these drive pricing and are the most common gaps.

• Include loss runs when the insured has prior claims — they fill the claims-history questions carriers rate on.

• Don't upload near-duplicate versions of the same form; pick the current one.

Supported file types

Uploads accept a broad range of formats:

• PDFs — .pdf

• Documents — Word (.doc, .docx), Apple Pages (.pages), OpenDocument (.odt), plain text (.txt), e-books (.epub), and web pages (.html, .htm)

• Spreadsheets — Excel (.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb), Apple Numbers (.numbers), OpenDocument (.ods), and comma/tab-separated data (.csv, .tsv)

• Presentations — PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), Apple Keynote (.key), and OpenDocument (.odp)

• Images and scans — .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tiff, .tif, .gif, .bmp, .webp

• Emails — .msg

Each file can be up to 20 MB. There's no set limit on how many files you can add to a submission.