Managing Your Insurance Programme Renewal

Do you have a plan in place for your next insurance renewal or do you rely on your current insurance broker to manage your renewal process?

Renewing an insurance programme can be a complex process, involving numerous stakeholders and the collection and collation of large amounts of data. Ensuring that the renewal meets the expectations and needs of your organisation requires time and careful planning.

The renewal process itself should be treated as a project, with an established overall objective. This should be supported by a detailed breakdown of the various tasks required to meet that objective. When planning a Insurance Programme Renewal process, a simple method is to start at the renewal date and work backwards. A stakeholder analysis should be conducted to determine all the parties that will be involved in the process (e.g., decision makers, holders of renewal information, etc.) so that they understand their respective roles and can fulfil them within the desired timeframe. For complex renewals, it may be necessary to commence the process 5-6 months prior to the renewal date.

In its’ most basic form, a renewal timetable may look something like the below (using 30 June as the example expiry date):

Insurance Programme RenewalSome of the Key Aspects of an Insurance Programme Renewal include:

Strategy Session with your Insurance Broker

This is the initial session and one of the most important aspects of the renewal process. In this session, the objectives of the renewal should be determined (e.g., premium expectations, coverage adequacies, appropriateness of limits and deductibles, etc.) Your insurance broker should be able to provide advice on the status of insurance markets and what insurers may be available to provide quotes. It is a good idea to review the results of the previous renewal to understand any issues that were encountered and how to overcome these for the upcoming renewal. This is also an opportunity to provide your broker with updates on your business, together with any future plans, so that these can be incorporated into your underwriting submission. Lastly, a review of your claims history should be provided by the broker, including updates on any open claims that may impact on your renewal terms. At the conclusion of the session, there should be an understanding of the objectives of the Insurance Programme Renewal an understanding of the information required to present to the insurance markets; the insurers that are likely to participate in the renewal process, a timetable of the various tasks that need to be undertaken and a deadline for each of the tasks.

Determining the information required

Depending on the class of insurance, there are some standard business metrics (e.g., financials, staff numbers, budgets and forecasts) that will be required as the foundation of your Insurance Programme Renewal submission.  However, supporting information which can assist to present your risk in the most favourable light is also important. These include details of any risk control measures in place. As an example, for property type covers, evidence of a Business Continuity Plan and detailed COPE information (i.e., construction, occupation, protection and exposures) are very important. The more you can demonstrate that your risks are well protected and controlled, the more positive your renewal terms will be.

Collection of Underwriting information

Understanding the information that is desired is one thing but collecting it can often be a challenge.  It is important that you know the information sources that are available within your organisation and the stakeholders who can assist you in obtaining that information. Insurers may request information that is not readily available or maintained within your organisation.  Understanding this early in your renewal process will allow communications between your broker and insurers so that compromises or alternative information sources can be agreed.

Preparation & Review of an Underwriting Submission

This is generally prepared by your broker and is a collation of all the renewal information obtained. However, it needs to be more than just a set of figures and business metrics. The submission should be a presentation of your business in the best light possible. You will be competing against other organisations with a similar risk profile in the insurance market, and as such, the submission needs to “sell” your risk to insurers. Given the importance of this document, it is essential that you review the underwriting submission prior to it being sent to insurers. You know your business better than any external party, so you need to ensure what is being presented to insurers is accurate, while being complimentary.

Insurance Broker Marketing

In addition to the underwriting submission, it can also be beneficial to involve key executives and management from your business to present your story directly to insurance markets. This can be done though either group presentations or one-on-one meetings. Having direct contact and allowing insurers to raise questions about your business is invaluable. It also demonstrates to insurers that key management and executives are engaged with your insurance programme.

Initial Indicative Terms

Often insurers will submit their preferred terms and may not consider what is best for you commercially. Having an initial idea of what insurers are considering can then give you the time to analyse the offering and work on finessing terms by considering different limits/sub-limits, deductible options and changes to policy terms.

Final Terms for Approval & Binding Instructions

Although the process may be lengthy, it is vitally important to leave sufficient time for the decision makers, be that an executive or the Board, to review the final terms and provide the necessary approvals so that the renewal can be bound and finalised. 

Risk Advisory Services for Insurance Programme Renewal

At RAS, we specialise in providing advice and assistance to clients for all your insurance needs. As part of this, we can help to manage your Insurance Programme Renewal process or provide advice on any aspect of this. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to know more about how we can help you.

Authors: Gordon Young and Fiona Eccles
Nov 2023