Unless policies require mid-term adjustments, renewals are the one time of the year when clients, brokers and insurers focus heavily on risk and risk mitigation.

While they occur throughout the year, there are peak renewal periods that are particularly busy.

Miramar Liability Insurance Underwriter Catherine Wilson and Miramar Property Insurance Underwriter Alisa Pijper share their tips on how brokers can work with underwriters to make the renewal process as smooth and hassle-free as possible.

When should brokers start talking to clients about renewals?

Catherine says that from a liability insurance perspective, starting discussions with clients six weeks ahead of a renewal is recommended.

"We will send a renewal declaration to the brokers, but they can start the renewal process before renewal declarations are received. Catherine says, "sometimes brokers have trouble contacting clients or receiving responses back in time."

It's particularly important to start discussions early if the broker is aware circumstances have changed in their client's business, especially if there's a chance Miramar will need to consult its London-based security provider.

Alisa says that on the property insurance side, the appropriate time to start client discussions depends on the type of client and the volume of policies in their program. However, she suggests that 45 days out from the renewal date is a good place to start.

She adds that while Miramar can only release renewal quotes 45 days before the renewal is due, the agency is happy to begin discussions with brokers before that.

What details do underwriters need?

Catherine says that for liability insurance, the main things underwriters need to know are changes to turnover, business activities, or contractor payments.

Contractor payments and the activities contractors are fulfilling (that were once undertaken by permanent staff members) have become a focus for underwriters across the board.

"If a business heavily relies on contractor labour, we will be asking for things like safe work practises and induction policies and procedures," Catherine says.

Another issue for liability insurance is the nature of business exports. Miramar needs to know if a company is exporting goods to the US and Canada as they are excluded from cover.

"Ours is a worldwide policy, with half a dozen countries excluded – North Korea, Belarus, Russia, and parts of Ukraine that have been annexed by Russia are among them, as are the US and Canada. If clients are exporting products to North America, we are required to apply a special endorsement to extend cover to them, and it's rated according to how much they're exporting."

Alisa says that for property insurance with Miramar, underwriters need details of any changes to the business or the risk.

"That includes claims information, updated asset schedules, turnovers, changes to business activities and reviews to the limits of liability," she says. "We'll also want to know whether outstanding risk recommendations from any surveys have been performed."

"A major risk for property insurance that we have been highlighting is the impact of inflation on building costs. It's also important to consider the adequacy of indemnity periods on property portfolios."

What details do brokers often forget?

Catherine says businesses often fail to include full details of the contractors they use for liability insurance.

Meanwhile, from a property insurance perspective, a failure to revise building sums insured for a period of time often stands out, according to Alisa.

"We will look back at our files and see that a building sum insured hasn't been updated for three, four or five years, and that's not prudent, particularly in the current environment when those costs are skyrocketing," Alisa says. "At the very least, we need clients to obtain valuations to confirm that there have been no changes in prior valuations."

How else can brokers help the renewal process run smoothly?

It is important to provide details as early as possible and make sure as many details that may impact the risk profile are included.

"If there are no changes to the risk profile, it's helpful if brokers come back to us and confirm this fact, so we know we're good to go ahead and issue renewal quotations," she says.

Alisa says sending the correct information as soon as possible can help brokers avoid doubling the work of reissuing renewal quotations based on updated information.

Contact us for more information

For more information about liability insurance or property insurance, the team at Miramar can help. Contact details for all of our experienced insurance professionals can be found on our website.

Miramar Underwriting Agency Pty Ltd (‘Miramar’) acts as agent for the Insurer(s) of the products, certain underwriters at Lloyd’s and HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia.