Maximize the potential of the busier times of year

The commercial insurance calendar features several ‘pinch points’ and times of intense activity as both brokers and insurers seek to meet targets and closeout trading periods in a strong position. 

December and May are the busiest months for the commercial insurance sector in the US, with all parties striving to maximize their revenue ahead of the key Jan 1 / July 1 renewal dates.

Efficiency is critical during periods of increased workload. We analyzed our platform data to explore the issue and found: 

• The main thing that stands out from the analysis of past data is the impact busier trading periods have on churn rates.  
  
• When averaged across the year, the rate of churn (policies taken to market) sits at around 20%, with the peak churn month hitting 24%.  
  
• Busier months generally show a 2% fall in churn against the yearly average, as both brokers and insurers focus almost exclusively on renewals. 

The data suggests that the two may well be linked, with the rise in renewals corresponding on a timeline to the fall in churn rate. This is doubtless due to the increased volume of renewal business consuming resources throughout the distribution channels, leaving little capacity to address other areas of business. In short, brokers have little spare time to handle both renewals and remarketing. 

Efficiency is critical during periods of increased workload. Planning ahead for the remainder of 2025, all parties are encouraged to use tools, such as Broker Insights Vision™, to pinpoint in-appetite business, engage early, and maximize the resources of those striving to end the year ahead of plan.

Time to engage

Data from our Vision platform shows that, on average, insurers engage with brokers over in-appetite business 102.06 days ahead of the renewal date. For ease, let’s call it three months.

At the time of writing, it is three months until July, suggesting that now is the time for both and insurers and brokers to lean on their pipeline management tools and start to engage over opportunities.

Given the ambitious growth targets at the core of many commercial insurance organizations’ annual plans, finding the new activity required to meet these targets is an ongoing pressure, as is dealing with fluctuating resource requirements throughout the year. Data driven insights can not only inform annual planning, but open up opportunities, build engagement and enable effective resource allocation year-round.

If you are a Broker Insights USA client, the simulation tool that provides decision intelligence and enables you to forecast revenue from different placement strategies, is particularly useful.