Reinforcing an earlier message about the need for teamwork and digitization as COVID-19 disrupts the F&I industry, Portfolio recently announced the launch of a new website for GAP and ancillary claims.

Portfolio said its new site features a fully redesigned interface intended to offer easy navigation and a better overall user experience.

Executives said users can quickly download forms and procedures, check the status of a claim, verify coverage and access contract claims manuals — all without printing a page or picking up the phone.

“Claims are a big part of Portfolio’s business, and we want every part of that process to be fast and friendly,” Portfolio chief operating officer Lori Hallissey said in a news release. “We would put our people and practices up against any other provider’s, and that’s the standard we applied to our new website.”

Hallissey said Portfolio’s new GAP and ancillary claims website is live now and accessible to all users, new and returning.

The site can be accessed at claims.portfolioco.com.

The site launch came after Portfolio executives announced a series of steps the F&I products and reinsurance provider has taken to minimize disruptions while its workforce and many of its agents, dealers and consumers adjust to government orders intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“Our priorities are, in this order, the health and safety of our employees and partners, the wellbeing of our customers and the success of our company,” Portfolio president and chief executive officer Brent Griggs said. “We feel fortunate to work in an industry that plays a critical role in helping to keep Americans performing essential services on the road. We will continue to do that work in full compliance with all orders intended to bring this crisis to an end.”

Griggs said that out of concern for the welfare and success of Portfolio’s agents and dealers, the company distributed a summary of the benefits and requirements of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Coronavirus Emergency Loans Small Business Guide and Checklist.”

Nearly all of the work performed at Portfolio’s Lake Forest, Calif., and Dallas offices is being done by employees from their homes in an effort to reduce the risk of spreading the virus and in compliance with stay-at-home orders issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and by Dallas County officials two days later.

As a result, Griggs reported that key business processes such as claims and reinsurance company administration have continued without interruption. The company is also accelerating three key initiatives undertaken with the help of its agents and dealers:

• Submit all signups and requests for rate cards and other sales tools electronically.

• Submit net remitting claims and cancellations through Portfolio’s online dealer portal.

• Initiate e-contracting and ACH payment processing at dealerships that have yet to adopt the technology.

“Without digitization, none of these things would be possible,” Griggs said. “Electronic contracting and rating, requests, remittances and payments are efficient and accurate. We need to work together, as an industry, to get everyone up to speed and prevail in challenging times.”