My Policy is Getting Non-Renewed- Now What?

Article written by Daryl Henry, an insurance advisor for Bitner Henry Insurance Group.

A Real-Life Example:

As a broker, when an insurance company told me they wanted to non-renew the auto policy for one of my structured cabling contractor clients, I worked through these exact steps.

The client had had three claims in the last year, and from the carrier’s perspective, it wasn’t profitable to continue with their auto claims. Their plan was to renew the rest of the policy, but they wanted to drop the auto coverage.

I picked up the phone and called the underwriter directly.

“If I go to market with the full account, I’ll get competitive offers. If we have to leave, it makes more sense to take the rest of the account with us, too. Long-term, we both know that this is a good account. I don’t want to move it, and I don’t think you want to lose it,” I told her.

A couple of days later, she called back and said, “We’re going to walk that back. We’ll renew the whole account, but we’re going to need a rate increase on the auto.”

By using leverage, I was able to help the underwriter to take another look at the account.

If you ever face a nonrenewal of your insurance policy, you may feel panic, confusion, or even a sense of indignity.  Why me, and why now?

As an agent who has walked many clients through this process, here are some things to consider and do to help keep the coverage you want.

First, understand that non-renewals happen. It’s not always your fault. Even if nothing changed about you, the carrier may have changed their underwriting guidelines!  Insurance companies sometimes decide a certain type of risk isn’t what they want to cover.

It’s possible the carrier doesn’t have all the information they need to make the decision, or worse, they have wrong information about your organization or claims.  You may think it’s time to ‘move on!’ and call someone else, but first, make sure that this is needed.

Why not just search for other companies to quote with?  Many brokers may be tempted to go immediately to quoting, but there may be some problems with this. For example, searching for only one coverage, the nonrenewed one, may be difficult. Your premiums may double in this area, or even triple. Searching for only one coverage could break your continuity and confuse underwriters in the future, as well as undermine relationships with your current ones.

Finding Your Insurance Leverage. Work with your broker to identify your leverage—what you control and what your insurance carrier wants.  Do you have a strong account or a bundled policy the carrier wants to keep? Is there something the underwriter is missing, like recent improvements you’ve made?

Discuss what the carrier likes about your account and what you can use as leverage. Use these insights to keep your account intact.

Discuss with your broker or agent how they plan to negotiate. You want them to work for you, and showing some understanding of renewals will make them more willing to put in the work needed for the best results.

Ensure that your broker can acknowledge the underwriter’s concern, but that they can also provide relevant context. For example, they might say, “Three claims in 12 months is rough. However, two of those claims were tied to one driver, who now no longer works for the client.” If you and your broker can find relevant examples of how you’ve fixed the problems, this may encourage underwriting to look closer at your renewals.

Decide if You and Your Broker Want to Consider a Different Carrier. The underwriter may not want to lose your account, especially if it is a good one. By deciding ahead of time if you and your broker and willing to switch carriers, you can provide leverage through the ability to walk away.

While it may be unsettling at first, a non-renewal notice is just a starting point for a conversation. The way you respond will shape the outcome.  Be a partner with your agent and work together to keep or find the coverage that you want!

1. Work With Your Broker to Find Leverage
2. Talk to Your Broker About Calling the Underwriter
3. Decide if You and Your Broker Want to Consider a Different Carrier
4. Have Your Broker Call the Underwriter

Don’t rely on email threads. Ask your broker to personally call the underwriter and help present the full account, your leverage points, and your real story.

Sometimes underwriters don’t understand the full story of why things happened and how you are looking to prevent them in the future. When you can tell the real story, the narrative changes.

Discuss leverage with your broker before they call and work together to understand what changed and what the underwriter should know.

Good brokers don’t just shop for deals- they build stable programs. That means negotiating well and creating outcomes that serve everyone involved. Find a broker who will negotiate well for you and for your long-term plans and goals.

Final Thoughts

As long as you are willing to work with your broker, put the story together for an underwriter, and help your broker use leverage, non-renewals don’t have to be terrifying.

When you work together with your broker and consider leverage, you won’t have to fear nonrenewal- you’ll know where to start.