Quote and renewal automation for insurance brokers

Where does a brokerage lose time and renewals?

A broker's work repeats on a calendar. Every policy comes round again, and every renewal needs the same reminder, the same documents and the same checks. The losses sit in the gaps between those steps:

• Quote requests arrive half complete. A form asks for a name and a phone number, so the first call is spent collecting details the form could have taken.
• Renewal reminders depend on memory. Someone runs a report, writes the emails and hopes nothing was missed while they were on leave.
• Documents are chased by hand. The same request goes out three times, and the reply lands in one person's inbox.
• Clients ring for paperwork. A schedule or certificate they already hold has to be found and sent again.
• Handoffs are verbal. A case moves from the person who quoted to the person who administers it with no written note of what was agreed.

Which three solutions fit a broker?

These are the three we would expect to scope for a brokerage. Each one pulls a different lever, and you may only need one of them. Our insurance page covers the wider picture.

What is it worth? Do the sum

The leak, in an owner's words: "We spend half the week chasing renewals by hand, and some still slip through." Renewal automation fixes it in four moves. The system reads the renewal date, sends the reminder and the document request, chases on a schedule you set, and gives a handler a task only when a person is needed.

The sum for workflow automation has two parts: the manual steps, and the mistakes.

Example figures. Swap in your own. These are round numbers we made up to show the method. They are not a result and not a forecast. The hours only count as money if you use them: a part-time hire you no longer need, or the same team looking after more policies.

To get your own number, count three things for one month: renewals handled, minutes spent on each before a handler makes a decision, and renewals that lapsed where the client had not said no. Bring those to a call. The audit report then prices each problem for a year.

What stays with a person, and why it is not optional

Any advice on cover is regulated advice. It stays with a qualified person, and the written scope settles which steps need approval before anything goes out in your name. The automation moves paper and dates. It does not recommend a policy, compare cover or tell a client they are protected.

The reason is practical as well as regulatory. In Moffatt v Air Canada (2024), a Canadian tribunal held the airline liable for incorrect fare information its website chatbot gave a customer. The argument that the chatbot was responsible for its own actions was rejected. A broker carries the same responsibility for anything an automated message says.

So we set approval steps where they matter: renewal terms, anything about money, complaints and any message that could read as advice. Our guide to decisions to keep human lists the tests we use.

How does a build run?

1. Audit. We map one renewal and one new quote from start to finish.
2. Design. A written scope names the systems, permissions and approval steps.
3. Build. Inside your own accounts, keeping the broking system and tools that already work.
4. Test. Real cases, edge cases and failure paths, such as a client who replies to the wrong email, before anything touches a client.
5. Launch. In stages, one line of business first.
6. Improve. We review the numbers with you and agree the next changes.

The closest mechanism we can show is our build for MRM Group, a property company and not a broker: document handling, task workflows, reminders and audit history, with human approval at sensitive financial-promotion points.

What does it cost?

We start with a paid audit: £3,000 plus VAT (US $5,000), with a written report delivered within 10 working days. The fee is credited against the build when the build deposit is paid within 14 days of the report. Before the audit we give a range, not an exact price.

Scoped builds run from £5,000 to £20,000 (US $10,000 to $30,000). A portal for one client type, with login, onboarding, files, messages and progress, sits at £4,500 to £10,000, and our client portal pricing page explains what moves it. The timeline is agreed in the written scope.

Hosting, software and AI usage are paid directly to the providers from your own accounts. You own the code and the data. Ongoing support is optional, from £1,000 a month.

When is the software you already have enough?

If your broking system already sends renewal reminders and you handle a small book, turn that feature on before you pay anyone. A shared diary and a checklist will carry a brokerage a long way. A custom build is not worth it until the manual steps cost more each year than the build does.

It is also the wrong first move if your renewal dates are unreliable. Automation sends whatever the data says, so clean the records first. The free Business Systems Scorecard shows which gap is largest.