An insurance renewal checklist is worth running every year, because a commercial policy describes the business as it was when it was last updated, not as it is now. Turnover grows, machines are sold, a new contract brings a new certificate requirement, and the work changes. If the renewal simply rolls over, those changes are missing from the policy that is supposed to respond to them. This checklist covers what to update before your commercial business insurance renews.
Start Early
Give the renewal time. Start the conversation with your broker at least a month before expiry, and earlier for larger businesses or harder-to-place risks. Time lets your broker approach other insurers if terms change, gives you room to question new exclusions, and avoids signing whatever arrives in the final week. If a principal needs a fresh certificate of currency on the renewal date, build that into the timing too.
Turnover, Wages and Subcontractor Payments
Declared turnover and wages are commonly used to rate liability and other covers. At renewal:
- Give realistic estimates for the coming year, not last year’s figures copied forward.
- Split turnover by activity if the business does different types of work.
- Include payments to subcontractors where the policy asks for them.
- If the policy is adjustable, supply actual figures at the end of the period when asked. The premium may be adjusted either way.
Understated figures can cause problems at adjustment and at claim time. Overstated figures cost premium you did not need to pay.
Asset Schedule and Sums Insured
- Add plant, vehicles, tools and equipment bought during the year.
- Remove items sold, scrapped or written off.
- Update serial numbers, attachments and financier interests.
- Check each sum insured against today’s replacement cost, not the price paid years ago.
- Review building, contents and stock values, including seasonal stock peaks.
A sum insured that is too low can reduce a claim payment through underinsurance provisions. Our guide to underinsurance and co-insurance explains how.
New Work Types and Locations
A business that started in residential maintenance and now does commercial fit-outs is a different risk. List new activities, new premises, interstate or remote work, and any work on mine sites, rail corridors, at height or near water. The occupation description is central to liability cover; see why the occupation matters. Work that is not described can leave a claim without a policy to respond to it.
Contracts Signed During the Year
Contracts commonly impose insurance requirements, and they are easy to lose track of across a busy year. Look for:
- Liability limits required by principals, head contractors or councils.
- Requests to note a principal as an interested party or to extend indemnity to them.
- Indemnity and hold harmless clauses that expand what you are responsible for. Liability policies can exclude liability you take on under contract beyond what you would have at law.
- Waiver of subrogation clauses, which can affect your insurer’s recovery rights.
- Requirements for contract works, professional indemnity or specific certificate wording.
Send your broker the insurance clauses, not just a summary. Any certificate of currency issued after renewal should reflect what each contract asks for.
Vehicles Added, Sold or Changed
- New vehicles, trailers and registered plant.
- Vehicles sold, and finance interests to remove.
- Changes in use, such as starting to carry goods for others.
- Modifications, new bodies, tail-lifts, racking or signage.
- New drivers, particularly younger or less experienced ones.
Claims and Incidents
List the claims made during the year and any incidents that could lead to a claim, even if nothing has been lodged. Liability and professional indemnity policies commonly require circumstances to be notified during the policy period in which you became aware of them. Leaving them off the renewal can create an argument later about which policy, if any, responds.
Your Duty of Disclosure
Before a business policy renews, you will generally receive a notice explaining your duty of disclosure. For business insurance, you generally have a duty to tell the insurer anything you know, or that a reasonable person in your circumstances would know, is relevant to the insurer’s decision to insure you and on what terms. The duty applies at renewal as well as at the start.
Matters commonly relevant include prior claims, insurance that has been refused or cancelled, criminal convictions, insolvency history of directors, and changes to the business or its premises. If you are unsure whether something matters, tell your broker and let them decide how to present it.
Other Covers to Reconsider
- Business interruption. Whether the sum insured reflects current gross profit, and whether the indemnity period still fits. See choosing an indemnity period.
- Emerging exposures. Cyber, management liability or professional indemnity as the business grows.
- Excess levels. A higher excess can reduce premium if small claims are rare for you.
- Payment options. Premium funding can spread the cost across the year.
Read What Comes Back
The renewal offer is not a formality. Before you accept it, compare it line by line with last year’s schedule:
- Names. The insured should be your correct legal entity, with its ABN, plus every related company or trust that needs to be insured. A new entity set up during the year is easy to miss.
- Sums insured and limits. Confirm they match what you sent, not last year’s figures.
- Excesses. Look for increases, and for new excesses on particular events.
- Endorsements and exclusions. New wording can narrow cover without changing the price. Ask your broker to explain anything added.
- Interested parties. Financiers and principals should still be noted where required.
Your Insurance Renewal Checklist
- Start at least a month before expiry.
- Update turnover, wages and subcontractor estimates.
- Reconcile the asset schedule with what you own today.
- Describe every activity and location.
- Send the insurance clauses from new contracts.
- Update vehicles, drivers and finance interests.
- List claims and circumstances.
- Read the duty of disclosure notice and answer fully.
- Review limits, excesses and indemnity periods.
- Confirm payment before the expiry date.
Common Questions
What happens if I miss the renewal date?
Cover may end at expiry. Do not assume there is a grace period. Certificates of currency held by principals will show an expired policy, which can breach your contracts.
Should I compare the market every year?
Not necessarily. Stability with an insurer that knows your business has value. Ask your broker to explain what changed in the terms and whether testing the market makes sense this year.
Can I change cover partway through the year?
Yes. Mid-term changes can be made by endorsement. Tell your broker when something changes rather than saving it all for renewal.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will work through the checklist with you well before your renewal date. See our commercial business insurance page for the covers we arrange.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.