OFAC Screening in Quoting and Policy

Objective

The OFAC Screening feature ensures your organization remains compliant with federal regulations by checking all contacts against the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions lists. This automated control helps underwriting teams identify individuals or entities that may pose compliance risks and prevents issuing quotes or policies to prohibited parties.

Note: The existing manual OFAC screening within policy processing remains fully available. This enhancement simply expands the available options. The manual process continues to pull directly from the U.S. government source and performs more basic (non–OFAC API–based) comparisons, whereas the new option introduces additional automation.

How OFAC Screening Works

Automatic Screening During Quote or Policy Submission

• When a user creates or updates a contact, or submits a quote or policy, the system automatically checks the contact’s name and related details against OFAC lists.
• If the system detects a possible match, it will:
  • Flag the contact for review.
  • Prompt the user to correct the information, review the contact, or escalate the case for compliance review based on the level of risk identified.
  • Block high-risk matches from quote or policy submission until the issue is resolved.

Note: This is only available within the quote wizard. If a contact’s information has changed or a previous result has expired, the system ensures that agents' submissions are evaluated with a new pull, and when underwriters approve an underwriting review, the contacts must have a valid result.

Screening Results Review

• All OFAC screening results display in the policy underwriting review tab:
  • Screening status (pass, possible match, high-risk match)
  • Validity period (default or overridden)
  • Expiration status
  • Date last screened
• When results expire, the system notifies the user to perform a new screening to ensure continued compliance.
• When an underwriter approves a revision, all review-required checks must be reviewed first.
• Screening validation is enforced before the system allows any UW_REVIEW_APPROVED transition.
• Notes are updated throughout the screening process including overriding approval via the user. 

What to Expect During Submission

• Pass: The screening is clear with no concerns. Submission proceeds.
• High-Risk Match: The submission is blocked. The underwriter must escalate to compliance per internal procedures.

How Screening Updates Appear in Underwriting Review (Admin View)

Whenever a screening is run, the results are immediately reflected in the Underwriting Review tab:

• Current screening status (valid, expired, flagged)
• Validity period in effect (default or overridden)
• Date of last screening
• Prompts for manual actions when validity has lapsed or a match is detected

This visibility allows underwriting staff to evaluate contacts quickly, identify compliance issues, and take proper action.

OFAC Screening Configuration

Advanced Settings: Contact Screening Validity

These configuration options determine how long screening results remain valid and how exceptions are handled.

contact-screening-validity-period-days

• Purpose: Defines how many days a screening result remains valid before re-screening is required.
• How It Works: When a contact is screened, the result is marked valid for the duration defined here. Once the period expires, any submission or underwriting review may require a new screening.
• Admin Impact (Underwriting Review Page):
  • Active results within the defined period show as valid.
  • Results older than the validity period display a warning and may require immediate re-screening.

contact-screening-override-validity-period-days

• Purpose: Allows admins to override the default validity period for special cases.
• How It Works: Admins may apply a custom validity period when a contact requires non-standard handling (e.g., regulatory exceptions, edge cases).
• Admin Impact (Underwriting Review Page):
  • Overrides always take precedence over the default rule.
  • The overridden period is clearly shown so reviewers understand the exception.
  • Validity status is calculated using the override until it expires.

How to Configure OFAC Screening

1. Enabled the OFAC integration 

1. Sign up for a contract at https://www.ofac-api.com/account/sign-up.

2. Access the Advanced Settings

1. Navigate to Admin Settings.
2. Locate the advanced settings related to OFAC screening:
   1. contact-screening-validity-period-days
   2. contact-screening-override-validity-period-days

3. Ensure Automated Screening is Enabled

Automated screening should be active for all new or updated contacts and during all quote or policy submissions. 

Enable the following advanced settings: 

• Contact-screening-enable-for-new-business
• Contact-screening-enable-for-endorsement
• Contact-screening-enable-for-renewal

Tips & Best Practices

• Review screening results regularly. Expired or outdated results should be re-screened promptly.
• Re-screen after major contact changes. Name corrections, address updates, or entity changes should always trigger re-screening.
• Use overrides sparingly. They should apply only to legitimate exceptions, and documentation should be maintained.
• Stay current with regulatory expectations. OFAC lists are updated regularly; ensure your system receives updates automatically.
• Never bypass a high-risk match. These blocks exist to protect the organization legally and operationally.