NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
Nebraska Insurance Reporting Guide
This guidance document is advisory in nature but is binding on an agency until
amended by such agency. A guidance document does not include internal procedural
documents affecting only the internal operations of the agency and does not impose
additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties or include confidential
information or rules and regulations
made in accordance with the Administrative
Procedure Act. If you believe this guidance document imposes additional requirements
or penalties on regulated parties, you may request a review of the document.
Driver and Vehicle Records Division
April 18, 2024
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Introduction to the Nebraska Insurance Database System ...........................1
II. Program Goal ...............................................................................................1
III. How it Works ................................................................................................1
Required/Optional Reporting
I. Basic Requirements .....................................................................................2
II. Reporting Periods and Deadlines .................................................................2
III. Exclusions ....................................................................................................2
IV. Optional Reporting ........................................................................................3
V. Special Instructions ......................................................................................3
Data Processing/Files Generated
I. Data Processing ...........................................................................................4
II. Files Generated for Return to Reporting Company ......................................4
III. Data Corrections ...........................................................................................5
IV. Insurance Company Reporting Procedures ..................................................5
V. Testing Procedures ......................................................................................5
Contact Information
I. Department of Motor Vehicles Business Contact .........................................6
II. Department of Motor Vehicles Software Administrator .................................6
III. Nebraska.gov FTP Coordinator ....................................................................6
Nebraska Proprietary Record Layout ..................................................................7
Nebraska Proprietary Header Record Layout .....................................................7
Return File Record Layout
I. Incorrect Data Format ...................................................................................8
II. VIN Record Not found on VTR Database .....................................................8
III. Invalid VIN’s Submitted ................................................................................8
IV. Invalid Expiration Date ..................................................................................8
Insurance Company Profile ..................................................................................9
FTP Information
I. FTP Instructions ...........................................................................................10
II. Standards and Conventions .........................................................................10
III. Transferring a PGP-Encrypted File ...............................................................11
IV. Transferring a File Via SSL Using WS_FTP Pro 8.03 ..................................12
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Introduction
I. Introduction to the Nebraska Insurance Database System
The purpose of this guide is to provide insurance companies with the necessary
information to comply with Nebraska’s Insurance Database Program.
This user guide is a mix of business and technical topics. The state’s portal
manager, Nebraska.gov will manage the data transmission and FTP (File Transfer
Protocol) location.
II. Program Goal
The goal of the Nebraska Insurance Database Program is to allow the electronic
verification of insurance at the time of renewal of vehicle registrations. The
electronic verification will be a benefit to those customers who choose to renew in-
person or through the mail and fail to provide their certificate of insurance card. It
will also benefit those customers who choose to renew their vehicle registration
on-line.
This program is the responsibility of the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV).
III. How it Works
The system mandates all required and optional insurance companies (see
Required/Optional Reporting on page 2) to provide liability insurance policy data
to Nebraska.gov. This data will then be forwarded to the DMV for processing.
Once the data is processed and accepted by the DMV, the liability insurance policy
data will be matched to the corresponding vehicle using the Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN) and forwarded to the appropriate county vehicle database.
When the customer contacts their County Treasurer for renewal of their vehicle
registration, the system will allow processing without further verification of
insurance or will return the message “Information Unavailable, Review of
Insurance Card Required”.
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Required/Optional Reporting
I. Basic Requirements
Each insurance company doing business in Nebraska shall provide data as set
forth in the Nebraska Proprietary Record Layout on each primary automobile
liability insurance policy issued in Nebraska insuring vehicles registered in
Nebraska for inclusion in the motor vehicle insurance database.
II. Reporting Periods and Deadlines
The required insurance data shall be reported twice monthly between the first (1st)
and third (3rd) working days and between the eleventh (11th) and thirteenth (13th)
working days.
All files must be submitted prior to 9:00 PM Central time to be included in the days’
processing batch. The final submissions for the first reporting period must have
completed transmission no later than 9:00 PM Central on the third working day of
the month, and by 9:00 PM Central on the thirteenth working day of the month for
the second reporting period. Files failing validation checks, are incorrectly dated,
or have not completed transfer by the cutoff time will not be processed.
III. Exclusions
The following shall be excluded from reporting to the insurance data base system:
Any common, contract or private carrier of property by motor vehicles in
interstate commerce registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles,
Division of Motor Carrier Services.
Any person who qualifies as a self-insurer.
Trailers (including cabin trailers, mobile homes, etc.).
Vehicles not required to be registered (i.e., cranes, tractors, golf carts,
ATV’s, etc.).
Snowmobiles.
Motorboats.
Excess liability policies.
Physical damage only policies.
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IV. Optional Reporting
The following may be voluntarily reported:
Policies written as commercial lines [which is insurance coverage for
businesses, institutions, organizations, associations, and professionals as
reported to the Department of Insurance on the Combined Annual
Statement Nebraska State Business Page as Other Commercial Auto
Liability (line 19.4)].
An insurance company or group of insurance companies under the same
ownership with Private Passenger Auto Liability (line 19.2) Direct Premiums
written of less than $100,000 as reported on the Combined Annual
Statement Nebraska State Business Page to the Department of Insurance
for the prior calendar year.
V. Special Instructions
Motorcycle and recreational vehicle liability policies and those liability policies
which include SR-22 filings (high risk insurance) shall be included in the data
reported to the insurance database.
The data shall include all insurance records in force at the end of the prior
processing period.
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Data Processing/Files Generated
I. Data Processing
The method for submission of data shall be through FTP to a Secure File
Transfer Protocol (SFTP) location maintained by Nebraska.gov.
A separate file for each NAIC number shall be sent.
A file naming convention will be used to denote the sender, see FTP
Information for specific instructions.
For security, all data will be encrypted using PGP or SSL encryption
technology.
The format for data transmission will be in the proprietary format defined on
page 6.
Each file shall contain a fixed field length header record with the following
information:
o NAIC Number, Company Number, Transmission Date, Number of
Records. The format is defined on page 6.
• The Policy Transaction Code field will be used when returning
data to the insurance company. This field will contain one of the
following reasons:
- IDF = Incorrect Data Format
- VNF = VIN Record Not Found
- IVN = Invalid VIN
- IED = Invalid Expiration Date Format
Nebraska.gov will verify the data is received in the correct data format. Those
files not passing this test will be returned electronically to the reporting
insurance company.
Nebraska.gov will compile a list of all reporting companies to submit to the
Department of Insurance.
Those files received in the correct data format will be forwarded to the DMV
and loaded into the database.
All insurance records (insured vehicles) will be matched with those vehicles
contained in the DMV Vehicle Title and Registration (VTR) System by Vehicle
Identification Number (VIN).
Those records without a match in the VTR System will then be processed
through the VIN verification package utilized by the DMV to determine if the
VIN submitted is a valid VIN.
II. Files Generated for Return to Reporting Company
The following files will be generated and returned to the reporting company
electronically:
Incorrect Data Format.
VIN Record Not Found on VTR Database.
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Invalid VIN’s Submitted.
Invalid Expiration Date.
III. Data Corrections
Any format or VIN corrections made by a reporting company shall be sent with the
next reporting period’s data, not intermittently.
IV. Insurance Company Reporting Procedures
Insurance companies will provide their entire Nebraska ‘book of business’ through
a bi-monthly FTP process. The electronic filing process will be designed as
follows:
Insurance Company completes and returns the Insurance Company Profile
to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Nebraska.gov sets up the directory, and account information (username
and password) and notifies the Insurance Company of account information
and provides technical contact/support information.
The Insurance Company and Nebraska.gov will coordinate an initial test file
to ensure completeness (see Testing Procedures below).
The Insurance Company will be notified if the test file was
successful/unsuccessful. Once a successful file has been transmitted, the
Insurance Company will be considered in ‘production’.
V. Testing Procedures
Our testing procedures will consist of three phases:
Transaction format testing: Ensure files sent in the Nebraska proprietary
format are formatted correctly.
Validation testing: Testing to determine data submitted by Insurance
Company is accurate and complete.
Return file testing: A sample of each of the files identified in II above will be
returned to each reporting Insurance Company via the FTP process.
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Contact Information
I. Department of Motor Vehicles Business Contact
Betty Johnson, Administrator
Driver and Vehicle Records Division
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles
P.O. Box 94789
Lincoln, NE 68509-4789
Phone: 402-471-3918
Fax: 402-471-8694
E-mail: betty.johnson@nebraska.gov
II. Department of Motor Vehicles Software Administrator
John Brophy, IT Supervisor
Information Systems Division
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles
P.O. Box 94789
Lincoln, NE 68509-4789
Phone: 402-471-3906
Fax: 402-471-8694
E-mail: john.e.brophy@nebraska.gov
III. Nebraska.gov FTP Coordinators
Nebraska.gov
Phone: 402-471-7810
Fax: 402-471-7817
E-mail: ne-support@tylertech.com
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Nebraska Proprietary Record Layout
Field Start End
Field Name Length Position Position
NAIC Number 5 1 5
Company Reference
1
5 6 10
VIN 17 11 27
Policy Number 20 28 47
Policy Transaction Code
2
3 48 50
Policy Expiration Date
(CCYYMMDD) 8 51 58
Policy Holder Name
3
35 59 93
Line Feed
4
1 94 94
Nebraska Proprietary Header Record Layout
Field Start End
Field Name Length Position Position
NAIC Number 5 1 5
Company Reference
1
5 6 10
Transaction Date
(CCYYMMDD) 8 11 18
Number of Records 7 19 25
Line Feed
4
1 26 26
1
Company Reference will be considered an optional field and may be used by insurance providers
providing insurance through multiple companies and choose to segregate the data by company.
2
Always ‘ADD’.
3
First named insured (no specific format required).
4
Line Feed Character = ASCII character 10
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Return File Record Layout
I. Incorrect Data Format
Files received in an incorrect format will be returned to the sender via FTP using
the file name identified in the FTP Information Section. In addition, the code
‘IDF’ will be in the Policy Transaction Code field.
II. VIN Record Not Found on VTR Database
Data records received which do not match records on the DMV VTR system
will be compiled and returned to the sender via FTP using the file name
identified in the FTP Information Section. In addition, the code ‘VNF’ will be in
the Policy Transaction Code field.
III. Invalid VIN’s Submitted
Data records received containing invalid VIN’s will be compiled and returned to
the sender via FTP using the file name identified in the FTP Information
Section. In addition, the code ‘IVN’ will be in the Policy Transaction Code field.
IV. Invalid Expiration Date
Data records received containing invalid expiration dates will be compiled and
returned to the sender via FTP using the file name identified in the FTP
Information Section. In addition, the code ‘IED’ will be in the Policy Transaction
Code field.
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Insurance Company Profile
Directory: (leave blank)
Password: (leave blank)
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles
Date:
Company Name: NAIC #:
Mailing Address: E-mail Address:
Primary Contact: Phone:
E-mail Address:
FTP Contact: Phone:
E-mail Address:
Encryption*: Yes No
*Nebraska.gov supports PGP encryption.
Error Report FTP Address Information:
Directory:
Password:
Return completed form to:
Nebraska.gov
1135 M St. Suite 220
Lincoln, NE 68508
Fax: 402-471-7817
Email: ne-support@egov.com
Instructions for Completing the Profile Form
Step 1: Enter the date the form is filled out.
Step 2: Enter your company information.
Step 3: Enter your company contact information.
Step 4: Enter your Encryption information.
Step 5: Provide your FTP address and password for the return reports generated.
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FTP Information
I. FTP Instructions
These instructions are intended only as a general reference, and will vary greatly
depending on the client, platform, and encryption method used. Nebraska.gov
now only supports FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) using explicit encryption to
ftpscure.nebraska.gov. FTPS clients known to support this are WS_FTP Pro,
FileZilla, and WinSCP. It is recommended to encrypt the file before sending using
PGP file encryption. For the purposes of this guide, instructions for connecting with
WS_FTP Pro are provided.
II. Standards and Conventions
Filenames:
All files sent to Nebraska.gov will be named in the following manner:
NAIC_DDDYYYY where NAIC is the NAIC number of reporting company (if
there are multiple NAIC numbers for a single company, a separate file must be
submitted for each NAIC number) and DDDYYYY is the three-digit day of the
year followed by the four-digit year. E.g., a company’s file for February 5
th
,
2004, for policies under NAIC number 12345 would be named 12345_0362004
Return files:
All files returned by Nebraska.gov will be returned in the same way they were
received. If the files were sent encrypted with PGP, the files will be encrypted
with PGP and either left for the user to retrieve or pushed back to the client. If
they are encrypted via SSL, the files will either be transferred back to the client
over an SSL-encrypted FTP session by Nebraska.gov or will be left in their
drop-off location for the reporting company to retrieve. There will be four files
generated for each transmission: an Incorrect Data Format file, a VIN Record
Not Found file, an Invalid Expiration Date file, and an Invalid VIN file. The file
names for the error files will be the same as the submitted file, with the following
four-character extensions: "IDF" for Incorrect Data Format, "VNF" for VIN
Record Not Found, "IED" for invalid expiration date, and "IVN" for Invalid VIN.
Using our example from the Filenames section above, we would have a total
of five files for each NAIC number submitted:
o 12345_0362004 Original Reporting File Submitted
o 12345_0362004.IDF File containing any records not conforming to
the data format standard specified in the
Nebraska Insurance Reporting Guide.
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o 12345_0362004.VNF File containing records for which VIN’s were not
found in the DMV database. Most likely, these
are VIN’s incorrectly entered in the reporting file.
o 12345_0362004.IVN File containing records for which the VIN did not
pass the VIN verification routine.
o 12345_0362004.IED File containing records for which the date was
invalid. For example, February 30
th
, 2023, will
be flagged as an invalid date.
It should be noted the IDF file check is a file-level check. If the file fails this
check, processing is stopped and notification the file failed the file format check
is sent to the submitting entity. The IDF file will contain the records violating
the file formatting rules. All other files will contain the records which failed the
check for the file. Each record will also have the policy transaction code field
set to the appropriate error value.
III. Transferring a File Via SSL Using WS_FTP Pro 8.03
Launch WS_FTP Pro.
If the Connect to Remote Host window does not appear, choose the Connect
option from the File menu.
If this is not your first time connecting to the Motor Vehicle Insurance Reporting
FTP Site, go to Step 9. Otherwise, click the Create Site button.
On the Profile Name screen, choose a name for the profile, preferably
something easy to remember. When you're done typing in the name of the
profile, hit the Next button.
On the Host Address screen, type in the address of the Nebraska Motor Vehicle
Insurance Reporting FTP Site ftpsecure.nebraska.gov in the box provided.
Once you've done so, hit the Next button.
On the Login Credentials screen, enter in the username and password provided
to you by Nebraska.gov into their respective boxes. Choose Save Password
if you don't want to be prompted for the password each time you connect. Make
sure the Anonymous box is not checked. Also, please note both the username
and password are case sensitive. Once done, hit the Next button.
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On the Remote Server Type screen, on the Server Type menu, choose the
FTP/SSL (AUTH SSL) option. Leave the port at port 21. Hit Next to continue.
Note for other FTPS clients, select Explicit SSL as the encryption type.
On the Host Type screen, leave the Host Type menu on Automatic detect, with
the passive mode box checked. Hit the Finish button.
On the Connect to Remote Host screen, highlight the profile for the Nebraska
FTP Site, and click the Connect button.
Once connected, in the left-hand pane, navigate to where the file you wish to
send is located. Double-click on the file to begin transferring the file. Once the
file has transferred completely, it will appear in the right-hand pane. You can
click on the Close button at the bottom of the screen. This will disconnect you
from the Nebraska Insurance Reporting FTP Site.
