Renewal underwriting is fundamentally different from new business underwriting — and agents who don't understand that difference are often caught off guard at renewal time. Renewals have a claims history, a track record with the carrier, and a premium benchmark. New business has none of that. Knowing how underwriters approach each scenario helps agents prepare clients and manage expectations.
At renewal, the underwriter already has the account's loss history, payment history, and prior submissions. They are evaluating whether the account's risk profile has changed since the last renewal and whether the current premium reflects the current risk.
For accounts with clean loss history and stable operations, renewal is usually straightforward — the underwriter applies a rate adjustment (flat, increase, or decrease) based on market conditions and renews the account without requesting new applications.
For accounts with losses, significant growth, new operations, or prior unpaid premium, renewal triggers more scrutiny.
Underwriters typically request new applications and updated information at renewal when:
• The account had one or more significant losses during the policy period • Revenue, payroll, or property values have changed significantly • The insured has added new locations, operations, or lines of business • The prior policy was written with missing information that the underwriter now wants to fill in • Market conditions have hardened and the carrier wants to re-evaluate all accounts in a segment
A renewal with losses is not automatically bad — it depends on what happened and what the trend looks like. Agents should approach a renewal with losses proactively:
• Pull the loss runs and review them before the underwriter does • Identify claims that are closed vs. still open with reserves • Prepare a narrative explaining what happened and what changed as a result • Highlight any trend improvement — if losses peaked two years ago and declined since, make sure the underwriter sees that • If the account is genuinely difficult, start remarketing early to have alternatives ready
Agents who wait until 30 days before renewal to address problems are at a significant disadvantage. At 30 days, alternatives may not have time to quote, and the incumbent carrier knows there is limited time to shop.
Best practice: review all accounts at 90 days out. Flag any with losses, significant changes, or market concerns. Start remarketing at 90 days for any account where renewal may be uncertain. This gives the agent leverage and time to present alternatives if the incumbent comes in with a large increase.
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