Introduction To InsCipher APIs

Before you get started

The following instructions are applicable to current customers of InsCipher with an active account. If you are interested in becoming a customer, you can speak with one of our sales representatives and/or receive a free demo here.

1. Reach out to your assigned InsCipher implementation lead to inquire about an API key, or request one here. A member of the InsCipher team will contact you shortly thereafter with next steps.
2. Meanwhile, please become familiar with the API guides and schemas specific to the integration workflow that you are interested in and feel free to reach out with any technical questions to InsCipher support here.
3. Once you have obtained an API key for testing purposes, please store your key in a safe and accessible place.

API Overview by client type

There are two primary sets of clients within InsCipher - Connect and Filing Services clients. You can be neither if utilizing other standalone services such as the Tax Calculator or Diligent Forms API's. However, most clients fall into one of the previous two buckets. As such, you should utilize specific guides and schemas that differ for Connect and Filing Services clients specifically in order to avoid errors. If you have any questions or need assistance in this setup, contacting the support team is always the best route to take for a quick and helpful response.

Connect clients

Connect® is an enterprise-level task management and automation software tailored specifically to manage the surplus lines tax filing process. This product has several APIs to streamline data syncing. Click on the link below to learn more:

API solutions for Connect® Users

Filing Services clients

Filing Services® is a fully outsourced, award-winning service that files surplus lines reports and pays the taxes on your behalf. Our filing team is 100% U.S.-based. This product has several APIs to streamline data syncing. Click on the link below to learn more:

API solutions for Filing Services® Users

Understanding InsCipher-specific terminology

Throughout our documentation, you may come across a few of the following terms. It is helpful to understand the meaning behind them and to use this guide as a reference in case of questions.

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Common Terms

• Transaction - Here, we're referring to the policy data, policy invoice details, or individual policy filing.
• Filing - We sometimes use this term interchangeably with transaction or policy transaction
• Surplus Lines - Defined as the non-admitted policies that are written on the Excess and Surplus Lines market.
• Documents - Policy documents that are necessary to accompany transactions or that are necessary to be kept on hand but separate the policy document. An example of these are declination pages, full policy docs, state diligent effort forms, etc.
• Line of Business - We use this interchangeably with coverage code, class of business, etc.
• Other Terms - All specific field names are defined on each of the API guides.

Please field name definitions carefully to ensure that you are mapping fields accurately and completely.

Authentication

Once you've obtained your API key, you will utilize it in the header of your request per the specific API schema. We do not recommend appending the key to the URL for security reasons. Keys can be reset by InsCipher support - or by users who have been designated as Filing Agency Admins.

Errors

InsCipher utilizes conventional HTTP response codes to indicate success or failure of an API request. Generally, 2xx codes indicate success, 4xx codes indicate a failure due to invalid information, and 5xx codes indicate server errors.