Plan order

The Priority column in the user interface

In the BillingCenter user interface, the Administration tab has a set of screens that list each plan. All of these list screens have a Priority column on the right side. You can use this column to modify the plans' priority values.

For the plans that are assigned implicitly (such as return premium plans), the Priority is relevant. When a new account is created, BillingCenter associates it with the relevant plan with the lowest priority. (The lowest priority plan is always shown at the top of the list.)

For the plans that are assigned explicitly (all plans except for return premium plans), the Priority is typically irrelevant. This is because the user or process that creates the new account, policy, or producer can associate it with any active plan. The priority values do not limit which plan can be chosen.

For all plans, the Priority column also controls the order in which the plans are listed on the screen.

The planOrder field

All plans have a PlanOrder field, which is set to an integer that defines the plan's Priority. A plan set to 1 is shown at the top of the screen (and is the plan assigned to new entities if the plan is assigned implicitly). A plan set to 2 is shown below the plan whose PlanOrder is 1, and so on.

POSTing and planOrder values

When you create a plan through Cloud API, you cannot specify a planOrder value. BillingCenter automatically sets the new plan's planOrder to "the current highest planOrder value + 1". In other words, new plans are given the highest possible planOrder value (and therefore the lowest priority).

For example, suppose there are 5 delinquency plans as follows:

  • Delinquency plan A (planOrder: 1)
  • Delinquency plan B (planOrder: 2)
  • Delinquency plan C (planOrder: 3)
  • Delinquency plan D (planOrder: 4)
  • Delinquency plan E (planOrder: 5)

You submit the following request, which creates a new delinquency plan.

POST /admin/v1/delinquency-plans

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "name": "Delinquency plan F",
      ...
    }
  }
}

The new delinquency plan is given a planOrder value of 6.

PATCHing and planOrder values

You can specify a planOrder value in a PATCH. When you do this, BillingCenter assigns that value to the plan. It also increments the planOrder value of all existing plans whose planOrder value was at or above the specified value.

For example, suppose there are 6 delinquency plans as follows:

  • Delinquency plan A (planOrder: 1)
  • Delinquency plan B (planOrder: 2)
  • Delinquency plan C (planOrder: 3)
  • Delinquency plan D (planOrder: 4)
  • Delinquency plan E (planOrder: 5)
  • Delinquency plan F (planOrder: 6)

You submit the following request, which PATCHes delinquency plan F so that it has a planOrder value of 4.

POST /admin/v1/delinquency-plans/bc:planF

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "planOrder": 4,
      ...
    }
  }
}

This results in the plans having the following planOrder values:

  • Delinquency plan A (planOrder: 1)
  • Delinquency plan B (planOrder: 2)
  • Delinquency plan C (planOrder: 3)
  • Delinquency plan F (planOrder: 4)
  • Delinquency plan D (planOrder: 5)
  • Delinquency plan E (planOrder: 6)