Policy renewals are often not treated equally as the first time placing a policy, particularly when the renewal is with the incumbent carrier. The attention to detail that may have been applied the first time around may be deemed superfluous on a renewal, but from the policyholder perspective, equal attention to detail should be exerted since changes to the policy forms could make an impact, as well as changes to the insured’s business that could warrant a change in the coverage.
I reviewed a renewal quote this week for a challenging risk that contained many exclusionary endorsements similar to the expiring policy, but when I aligned the two to compare, I noticed there were a couple of differences that were not pointed out in the quote nor would a business owner likely discern. Further perplexing was that in addition to all the signature lines being highlighted, presumably for the benefit of the insured, there were three other handwritten signature lines included and highlighted in the quote. Two were placed next to the list of exclusionary endorsements on two consecutive pages of the quote and a third where a broker fee was inserted.
I suspect the handwritten signature lines inserted by the list of exclusions were to have the insured acknowledge the exclusions, but no call or meeting was arranged to review them with the insured. It may not be required, but it is good business practice to do so for a variety of reasons and I certainly would encourage insurance professionals to take the extra time to review policy exclusions with the policyholder, even on policy renewals with the same carrier.