The renewal arrived with a higher number. Nobody has explained what you are paying for.

An independent read of the renewal terms you have been offered, compared against the expiring policies, your current exposures, and the insurance requirements in the contracts you have signed since the program was last structured. It answers three questions: is the program still sized and shaped correctly, did anything change in the forms at renewal, and is the pricing explained by changes in exposure or loss history. It is diligence on the renewal, not a quote.

90 to 120 days before expiration. That window leaves time to read the expiring forms, collect loss runs, and compare the renewal against contract obligations before terms are final. Inside 30 days the realistic options narrow to accepting the renewal or negotiating the edges, because underwriters need time to review any alternative submission.

The current policies with all endorsements (not just the declarations or a binder), five years of currently valued loss runs, the renewal proposal or indications if you have them, and the customer, sponsor, distribution, and lease agreements that impose insurance requirements. A short note on what has changed in the business since the last renewal - new products, sites, entities, revenue mix - makes the read faster.

Not necessarily, and no one can promise that it will. Sometimes the finding is that the renewal is priced and structured appropriately for the risk, which is useful confirmation for a board or audit committee. Other times the finding is a structural issue - a limit that no longer matches a contract, an exclusion added without discussion, a missing additional insured endorsement - that matters more than price.

The insured signs a broker-of-record letter on company letterhead designating a new broker for specified policies or lines. The carrier acknowledges it, notifies the incumbent, and typically allows a short period before the change takes effect. Because a market generally works with only one broker per account submission, a BOR letter is how a company moves access to a market that the incumbent has already approached. Timing relative to the renewal date matters, and the decision belongs to the company.

No. The review is complimentary and the output is a written read of the program. Many companies use it to sharpen the conversation with their current broker before binding. What you do with the findings is your decision.