Quarterly Newsletter

A new National Digital Titling Clearinghouse is changing the game for insurers

Title approvals now available in as little as a day

October 19, 2023

Tyler has partnered with Champ Titles to assist the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as they launch a brand new National Digital Titling Clearinghouse. For insurance carriers, it's critical to be able to have a title in their name as quickly as possible in the instance of a total loss or unrecovered theft. Waiting for titles increases costs, extends the time until they can recoup their outlay on a claim via sale of the vehicle, and often creates a poor policyholder experience that could drive an unwanted change to a new provider.

The National Digital Titling Clearinghouse can approve a title application in as little as one day, eliminating insurance carrier vehicle inventory backlog and driving benefits to the bottom line with a 100% digital process where no paper or wet ink signatures are required.

Elizabeth Proudfit, President of the Digital Solutions Division at Tyler Technologies, recently authored an article for several publications, including the National Automobile Dealers Association.

"We're extremely excited about the potential that the new National Digital Titling Clearinghouse has across the automotive industry," Proudfit explains. "For insurance carriers, the benefits are endless from streamlining operations to accelerating revenues. I'm really proud of this partnership with Champ Titles and the West Virginia DMV."

Tamara Dukes, Vice President of Strategy & Growth at Tyler, calls this a total game-changer.

"The upside for insurance carriers is significant," she said. "We're taking a process that used to take up to 60 days and doing it in as little as a day. Insurers' ability to expedite title approvals creates positive ripples throughout their supply chain."

We spoke with Champ Titles CEO Shane Bigelow to learn more about the Clearinghouse and how it benefits insurers.

Q: Why is this groundbreaking?

Shane: We worked with Tyler to build technology that replaced the aging titling and registration systems inside of West Virginia's DMV. It is a soup-to-nuts replacement of what was previously there and now enables insurance carriers, auto dealers, lenders, and fleet managers to submit everything electronically, with no paper processes, and with a very quick turnaround time.

Q: What makes the Clearinghouse national?

Shane: West Virginia wants to be to titling what Delaware is to incorporating a company. Just as many companies elect to incorporate in Delaware despite having no presence there, they do so because it is easier, the legislation allows for it, and the state of Delaware has adjusted their rules and business practices to accommodate out-of-state entities. Similarly, West Virginia passed legislation, adjusted rules, and staffed up their team to allow nonresident businesses to be legally allowed to buy a car from anywhere in the country, retitle it in West Virginia, and do so 100% digitally and in as little as one day. Easier, legal, and built for business success - that is how West Virginia, Champ, and Tyler created the Titling Clearinghouse to be a national solution. Vehicles anywhere in the country can now be retitled in West Virginia to be made ready for sale.

Q: How does the Clearinghouse benefit insurance carriers?

Shane: For insurance carriers, at the end of a vehicle's life, typically in the case of a total loss or theft, there is a need for the insurance carrier to retitle the car into its name from the policyholder's. If the carrier does not do that, they cannot sell the car to recover some of what they have paid out on the claim. Further, vehicles currently sit ~50+ days in salvage yards awaiting title. All the while, they damage the earth. With the Clearinghouse, a green benefit is clear as insurers can recycle a car through the sale process in as little as a day as opposed to ~2 months. Finally, as the process is 100% digital, the carbon footprint of carriers is meaningfully further reduced by avoiding the 2 to 3 mailings that typically occur in the paper-based process with total losses and thefts.

Q: Cybersecurity is always a top priority when launching new technology. What does security look like for the Clearinghouse?

Shane: This digital titling system is built on blockchain and is far more secure than the paper titling process, which is very susceptible to fraud. Digitally, every time there is an interaction on a title, it bounces back to a state system that verifies whether the title is real or not. It is much more reliable than someone just physically looking at a piece of paper and making that assessment on their own. The technology helps abate a material amount of fraud, if not all of it. Given Champ and Tyler's reputation as secure technology leaders that serve the public sector, security is of the utmost importance, which gives policyholders peace of mind. The digital titling process only enhances policyholder privacy and security.

Q: It sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?

Shane: No catch. The Clearinghouse was built with proven technology that has been in place and in use in West Virginia for over a year. It can handle high volumes of traffic and is secure. The system is cloud-based and has backups and redundancies in place to protect the system and its information. Although not all states are equipped to accept digital titles, all 50 states accept paper, and this system is equipped to handle both methods of delivery based on preference. This capability accounts for all contingencies.

Built by West Virginia for the entire country, learn more and get started here: https://dmv.wv.gov/ndtc