An agency that places business with several insurers rarely has one renewal calendar. Each insurer sends notices on its own timetable, in its own format, through its own portal. If nobody brings those notices together, renewals end up depending on memory, and that is how policies lapse.
This guide sets out a simple way to track renewals across insurers: one list, a few fixed checkpoints, and clear ownership.
Why renewals slip when you work with several insurers
Renewals rarely slip because someone didn’t care. They slip because the information is spread across too many places:
- Different notice periods. One insurer sends renewal terms 45 days out, another 21 days out, and another only on request.
- Different channels. Some terms arrive by email, some sit in a portal, and some come through a wholesaler.
- Personal inboxes. When the producer who placed the policy is on leave, the notice waits in their inbox.
- No single “due” date. The expiry date, the date terms arrive and the date the client must decide are three different dates.
Step 1: Build one renewal list, whatever the insurer
Start with a single list of every active policy, sorted by expiry date. It can be a spreadsheet or your agency system. The format matters less than the rule: every policy appears once, whichever insurer carries it.
Keep the columns to what you need to act on:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Client | Who you’ll contact |
| Policy type and number | Which policy you mean when you call the insurer |
| Insurer | Where the renewal terms will come from |
| Expiry date | The deadline everything else works back from |
| Owner | The one person responsible for this renewal |
| Status | Where the renewal stands right now |
| Next action and date | What happens next, and by when |
Leave out anything nobody acts on. A list with 30 columns stops getting updated.
Step 2: Work back from the expiry date
Don’t wait for each insurer’s notice. Set your own checkpoints, counted back from expiry, and use them for every policy:
- 60 days out: review. Check whether the client’s situation has changed (new premises, staff, vehicles or claims) and whether the cover still fits.
- 45 days out: chase terms. If the insurer hasn’t sent renewal terms, ask for them.
- 30 days out: present. Send the client the terms, any changes, and your recommendation.
- 14 days out: escalate. Any renewal without a client decision goes to a senior member of staff.
- Expiry: confirm. Record whether the policy renewed, moved, or lapsed on instruction, and keep the evidence.
Adjust the numbers to suit your lines of business. Commercial risks usually need longer lead times than personal lines. Once set, keep them the same for every insurer, so the team works to one rhythm instead of several.
Step 3: Use a short, fixed set of statuses
Statuses only help if everyone uses them the same way. Five are usually enough:
- Due: inside the review window, no action yet.
- Awaiting terms: the insurer has been asked.
- With client: terms sent, waiting for a decision.
- Renewed: confirmed, documents issued.
- Closed: moved elsewhere or lapsed on the client’s instruction, with the reason recorded.
Step 4: Always record the next action
A status tells you where a renewal stands. A next action tells you what to do about it. “With client” on its own doesn’t say whether someone should chase today or next week. “Call to confirm building value, by 10 Nov” does.
Make it a rule: whenever a renewal changes status, its owner adds the next step and a date. The weekly review then takes minutes, because the list shows what is due.
Step 5: Review the list every week
Once a week, filter the list to the next 30 days and go through it as a team. Three questions are enough:
- Which renewals have passed a checkpoint without moving?
- Which have no next action, or an overdue one?
- Does any renewal’s owner need to hand it over because they’re away?
Common questions
Should we track renewals by insurer or by client?
Track them by expiry date, and add insurer and client as columns you can filter on. Grouping by insurer hides which deadlines are closest.
Is a spreadsheet good enough?
For a small book, yes, if one person owns the file and the list is never split into copies. Once several people update it every day, or you need a history of who did what, a shared system is safer.
How far ahead should we start?
Start at least as far ahead as your slowest insurer’s notice period, plus time for the client to decide. For many agencies that means 60 days for commercial policies and 30 for personal lines.