“Price and ease of use were the core reasons to choose PDFelement, and it has the features we need. Our daily essentials are convert, edit, merge, and page management—very quick to learn.”
Nova's core team
Nova is one of the leading insurance brokerage and consulting firms in Latin America, with a particularly strong footprint in Ecuador. The company provides comprehensive coverage solutions for individuals and businesses, spanning auto, health, life, property, corporate risk, and specialty lines.
Nova is widely recognized as a market leader in Ecuador's brokerage sector. According to an independent industry report, Nova ranked as the top insurance broker in Ecuador by commission share as of December 2023, holding nearly 10% of the national market. Alongside other top players, Nova contributes to almost one-third of the country's brokered insurance premiums, and has been one of the fastest-growing firms in recent years. This leadership underscores Nova's trusted role in guiding clients through policy selection, risk management, and claims handling.
Challenges
Previously used tools presented a high learning curve and were not user-friendly, hindering the team’s efficiency and cross-department collaboration. Frontline departments—particularly Sales and Collections—frequently handled fragmented, high-frequency PDF tasks, including converting, merging, editing, organizing, and removing pages. These activities were scattered across different tools and processes, resulting in significant inefficiencies. Moreover, ensuring consistent standards, streamlined workflows, and version traceability across Sales, Collections, and Customer Service became increasingly critical as all heavily rely on PDF files.
Solutions
1) Intake & packaging of underwriting materials
- Pain point: Customer files arrive from multiple channels and formats and must be standardized quickly for submission and archiving.
- Approach (PDFelement): Batch convert Word/images to PDF, use merge and page management to create a single, structured package; apply redaction/permissions for sensitive data when needed.
- Outcome: Faster front-office intake and consistent, compliant submissions with reduced risk.
2) Day-to-day editing for quotes & clause comparisons
- Pain point: Sales teams routinely compare carrier options and clause versions and need rapid editing and markups.
- Approach (PDFelement): Text editing, annotations, highlights, and sticky notes, combined with page numbering/management for version traceability; export a “differences” PDF when needed for internal/external review.
- Outcome: Fewer back-and-forth cycles, stronger version alignment, and smoother approvals.
3) Standardized claim and assessment submissions
- Pain point: Claims require invoices, test results, prescriptions, medical records—many sources with varying formats—and must be submitted on time to carrier standards.
- Approach (PDFelement): Convert and merge multi-source materials into a single PDF package, standardize file naming, order, and table of contents; selective redaction for medical privacy; export by carrier template.
- Outcome: Fewer rejections/redo requests, higher first-pass approval rates, and shorter payout cycles.
4) Compliance & audit trail
- Pain point: Cross-department collaboration (Sales/Collections/Service) requires uniform records and standard documents.
- Approach (PDFelement): Standardize templates and export rules, use timestamps/annotation history to create a traceable trail; distribute read-only versions externally when appropriate.
- Outcome: Clearer evidence for compliance communications and lower audit costs.
Results
- Efficiency ↑: Straightens the fragmented chain of “collect → convert → merge → edit → archive/submit” into a standard process; low learning curve—usable from day one.
- Cost ↓: With all core PDF functions covered, tool and training costs are more controllable. Interviewees noted efficiency gains directly convert into cost savings.
- Consistency & Compliance ↑: Uniform external deliverables, with traceable versions; less rework across teams.
- Scalable: Practices in Sales/Collections transfer well to other sensitive-data workflows (insurance/assessment/medical, etc.).
Conclusion
1) Collect materials → 2) Convert to PDF → 3) Merge/organize/declutter pages → 4) Edit & annotate (comparison/review) → 5) Export a standardized package (internal approval/external submission/archiving).
