Leveraging Your Carrier Partnership for Policy Renewals

During renewal strategy meetings, carriers must showcase their investments in reaching your organization’s goals and anticipate projects for the following year. As an active partner, your carrier should also have a keen understanding of your organization’s current losses and be knowledgeable of your existing relationships with your broker and third-party administration (TPA). However, if you want to get the most value from your partnership, it should not stop there.

“Organizations must not settle for anything less than high standards in their carrier relationship,” said Lucy Dolya, Account Executive at Safety National. “Your business development representative should advocate for your needs proactively with broker partners and TPAs while also holding each side accountable to ensure you can get the best results quickly.”

Here, we review a few key carrier competencies for insurance buyers to consider during renewals.

1. Transparency in All Communications

Open communication is vital for a carrier to understand an insured’s goals. Sharing organizational initiatives, intentions, and future projects can help your carrier better understand where you are and where you want to be. While pricing is always a consideration in renewals, there may be other concerns that might be expressed. Are you experiencing audit issues? Do you have purely claims-related concerns, or is something lacking in your overall service experience? Your carrier is aware of the pain points in your insurance program, but without transparency in the partnership, there is no way to resolve these issues.

2. Collaboration and Execution to Find the Best Policy Fit

Everyone may have a seat at the table during renewals, but for planning to be the most effective, everyone’s input must be genuinely valued. Your business development representative must listen to your ideas thoroughly before providing solutions to you. For example, maybe you are concerned with recent motor vehicle accidents in your claims that have incurred substantial losses. Your organization’s risk manager may have an idea to mitigate future incidents that your carrier’s risk control experts have also considered. Collaborating and building on that idea makes it accessible to create a more robust risk management program for the following year.

Collaboration also opens the door for creativity in executing the policy’s underwriting. Your carrier should consider whether collateral or surety has the flexibility to optimize your premium needs. Current concerns like claims development, risk management needs, or desired policy changes must be addressed. Additionally, any financial changes in your organization will need to be considered, especially substantial concerns like bankruptcy, payroll updates, and declining company sales. A good carrier partner will also spend considerable time developing and expanding your experience with them for the coming year.

3. Consistency, Dedication, and Stability in the Support Team

Are you familiar with your carrier’s internal account support team that is assigned to your personal account? Many carriers will discuss a customized approach from their account support, but does that ring true from experience? Are they empathetic to your needs, or do you feel like a number? A compelling account support team will be consistent and dedicated to meeting your needs throughout the partnership. Typically, a dedicated account team will also generate more stability with resources committed to specific insureds. Additionally, can you talk to an executive at the company, or are they inaccessible to their clients? The value of your input does not end after signing on the dotted line; you need to be highly regarded throughout the partnership.

To reach your operational goals effectively, whether it be stronger claims management, expanded risk control efforts, or just enhanced support when you need it, your carrier should take a unique approach to match your business’s goals and needs, as opposed to a blanket solution that fits other companies.