Insurance Automation
Commercial Insurance Quoting Workflow
The commercial insurance quoting workflow is the sequence of steps an agent follows from the moment a prospect requests a quote to the moment a quote is presented to the client. In most agencies, this workflow is ad hoc — different agents follow different steps, completeness varies, and timeline is unpredictable. A standardized quoting workflow produces consistent timelines, consistent quality, and consistent close rates.
The 7-step commercial quoting workflow
1
Prospect qualification
Before beginning a full intake, confirm the prospect is a fit. Minimum information: business type, estimated revenue, current insurer, desired effective date, any recent losses. This takes 5 minutes and filters out accounts outside your appetite or market access before you invest 45 minutes in a full intake.
2
Send digital intake link
Send the client a structured intake link with a target completion date (typically 48–72 hours). Do not conduct a verbal intake call. The client completes the structured form on their own time — you review completed data, not intake notes.
3
Initiate loss run request
Immediately upon qualifying the prospect, contact the prior carrier and request loss runs. Do not wait for intake to complete. Loss runs are on the critical path — they take 3–7 business days from the prior carrier. Starting this step in parallel with intake compresses the overall quoting timeline by a full week.
4
Generate ACORD forms from completed intake
Once intake is complete and loss runs are received, generate ACORD forms from the structured intake data. Review the pre-populated forms for accuracy and adjust the operations description to ensure it is specific to this account. Run the pre-submission quality checklist.
5
Submit to all target markets simultaneously
Submit to every market you plan to approach at the same time — do not stagger submissions. Simultaneous submission means quotes come back in parallel, not sequentially. A parallel submission to 3 markets takes 3 weeks; sequential submission to the same 3 markets takes 6–9 weeks.
6
Follow up at 5 business days
If a market has not acknowledged receipt or responded within 5 business days, follow up by email or phone. Track submission dates so you know when follow-up is due — do not rely on memory or calendar reminders.
7
Present quotes and obtain bind order
Present all received quotes to the client with a clear comparison, a coverage explanation, and a recommendation. Obtain the bind order with effective date, down payment, and any conditions confirmed before binding. Do not bind without a signed application or bind order in your file.
Typical quoting timelines
Clean account, standard market, complete submission
5–10 business days to quote
Clean account, complete submission, loss runs pending
10–14 business days (loss run receipt determines timeline)
Adverse losses, specialty market, complete submission
14–21 business days
Incomplete submission — AI request sent by underwriter
Add 3–7 business days per AI round trip
Streamline your commercial quoting workflow
AgencyAssist provides the digital intake, ACORD form generation, and submission tracking that makes a standardized commercial quoting workflow possible. Free trial — no credit card required.