Your commercial insurance renewal is based on more than last year’s policy.
It should reflect what your business looks like now. If your business changed during the year, your insurance may need to be reviewed before renewal.
Some changes affect pricing. Some affect coverage. Some affect whether the current carrier is still a good fit. Some may create contract, audit, certificate, or claim issues if they are not addressed.
The Short Version
Business changes that can affect your commercial insurance renewal include changes to payroll, revenue, operations, services, locations, vehicles, drivers, employees, property, equipment, contracts, leases, subcontractors, claims, ownership, and states where work is performed.
If something changed in your business, tell us before renewal. Even if the change seems small, it may matter.
Payroll Changes
Payroll is a major rating factor for many commercial policies.
It may affect:
- Workers compensation
- General liability
- Umbrella or excess liability
- Some business owners policies
If payroll increased, the renewal premium may increase. If payroll decreased, the renewal may need to be adjusted. If payroll estimates are too low, the business may face a larger audit adjustment later.
Payroll changes can include:
- Hiring employees
- Laying off employees
- Adding part-time staff
- Adding seasonal workers
- Changing employee duties
- Expanding into another state
- Changing owner or officer payroll treatment
Sales Or Revenue Changes
Some commercial policies use sales or revenue to help rate the policy.
Revenue changes can affect:
- General liability
- Professional liability
- Cyber liability
- Business owners policies
- Umbrella or excess liability
Revenue also helps tell the story of the business. A business that doubled in size during the year may need a different review than a business that stayed flat or reduced operations.
New Services Or Operations
One of the most important renewal questions is simple:
What does the business do now?
New services can change the risk profile.
Examples:
- A contractor starts doing a new type of work
- A restaurant adds delivery or catering
- A professional services firm adds consulting, design, or technology services
- A property owner changes tenants or occupancy
- A retailer starts online sales
- A business starts working for larger commercial customers
- A company starts manufacturing, installing, repairing, or distributing a new product
Insurance companies underwrite the business based on operations. If the policy still describes the old business, the renewal may not fit.
New Or Closed Locations
Locations matter.
Tell us if your business:
- Opened a new location
- Closed a location
- Moved offices
- Added a warehouse
- Added storage space
- Started working from home
- Added a jobsite office
- Changed where vehicles are garaged
- Changed where equipment is stored
Locations can affect property coverage, liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, certificates, and underwriting.
Vehicle Changes
Commercial auto policies need to stay current.
Tell us if the business:
- Bought a vehicle
- Sold a vehicle
- Leased a vehicle
- Added trailers
- Changed vehicle use
- Changed vehicle garaging
- Increased delivery, hauling, or travel radius
- Uses rented vehicles
- Uses employee-owned vehicles for business
A missing or incorrectly described vehicle can create problems. Renewal is a good time to clean up the schedule.
Driver Changes
Drivers can affect commercial auto pricing and underwriting.
Tell us about:
- New drivers
- Drivers who left the business
- Employees who occasionally drive
- Drivers with accidents or violations
- Employees using personal vehicles for business
- Changes in who is assigned to each vehicle
For some businesses, driver changes are one of the biggest renewal issues.
Property, Equipment, Or Inventory Changes
If your business property values changed, your coverage may need to be reviewed.
This may include:
- Buildings
- Tenant improvements
- Business personal property
- Inventory
- Tools
- Contractors equipment
- Computers and technology
- Production equipment
- Outdoor signs or property
- Business income exposure
Property limits can become outdated quickly. Purchases, renovations, inflation, supply costs, and business growth can all affect the amount of insurance needed.
Contract Or Lease Changes
Contracts and leases often create insurance requirements.
Tell us if you signed:
- A new client contract
- A construction contract
- A lease
- A vendor agreement
- A franchise agreement
- A property management agreement
- A lender agreement
These documents may require certain limits, additional insured status, waiver of subrogation, primary and noncontributory wording, umbrella coverage, professional liability, or other coverage terms.
If we know about these requirements before renewal, we can review them before they become urgent.
Subcontractor Or Independent Contractor Changes
Subcontractor usage can affect general liability, workers compensation, audits, certificates, and underwriting.
Tell us if:
- You started using subcontractors
- You stopped using subcontractors
- Subcontractor costs changed
- You require certificates from subcontractors
- You use uninsured or partially insured subcontractors
- You changed the type of work subcontractors perform
This is especially important for contractors, property owners, restaurants, professional services firms, and businesses that use independent labor.
Claims Or Incidents
Claims history can affect renewal pricing, carrier appetite, underwriting questions, and market options.
Tell us about:
- Filed claims
- Incidents that may become claims
- Customer complaints involving damage or injury
- Employee injuries
- Auto accidents
- Property losses
- Cyber incidents
- Contract disputes that may involve insurance
The earlier we know, the better we can prepare the renewal.
Ownership Or Entity Changes
The named insured matters.
Tell us if:
- You formed a new entity
- Ownership changed
- You added a DBA
- You sold part of the business
- You bought another business
- You merged operations
- You changed how assets are owned
Entity issues can affect coverage, certificates, contracts, billing, audits, and claims.
Work In New States
If your business started working in another state, tell us before renewal.
This can affect:
- Workers compensation
- General liability
- Commercial auto
- Professional liability
- Licensing
- State-specific coverage requirements
- Payroll reporting
Even occasional work in another state may matter.
What You Should Do
Before renewal, think through what changed during the year.
If you are not sure whether something matters, tell us anyway. We would rather review a detail and find out it does not affect the renewal than miss something important.
The Bottom Line
Commercial insurance should follow the business.
At Vantage Point Risk, we ask about business changes before renewal because payroll, sales, operations, vehicles, drivers, contracts, property, claims, and ownership can all affect coverage, pricing, and carrier fit.
This article is part of our commercial insurance renewal review process, which covers how we review renewals across your whole program.