Issuing the first policy documents to a new client

12 hours ago
3 min read

Introduction

Insurance is unusual in that the client pays a substantial sum and receives, in return, a document. There is nothing to unwrap and nothing to look at. Until something goes wrong, the paperwork is the entire product.

Most brokers send it as an attachment with a one-line email. That is a wasted opportunity in a trade where clients routinely cannot tell one broker from another and default to comparing price, because price is the only thing that was ever made visible to them. Documents can change that.

1. Issuing the first policy documents is a chance to show the work

The advice you gave is invisible unless you describe it. Describe it every time.

Summarise the cover in plain language

What is covered, what the main limits are, what the excess is. Four or five lines in front of the schedule, in words a non-specialist reads once and understands. Avoid policy wording entirely.

Say what you checked and what you adjusted

Sums insured, business description, an exclusion you had removed, a limit you increased. Without this the client assumes you forwarded a quote. List the changes you made.

2. Flag the things clients get wrong

Most claim disputes trace back to a misunderstanding at inception. Prevent them at issue.

Highlight the conditions and warranties

Alarm requirements, locks, minimum security, inspections, record keeping. A breached condition is how a valid claim becomes a declined one. Read the key ones out.

Explain the duty to disclose changes

New premises, a new vehicle, a change of activity, a claim elsewhere. Clients genuinely do not know they must tell you, and the consequence lands at the worst moment. Say it plainly at inception.

3. Make the important information easy to find

The document nobody can locate is the document that failed. Assume an emergency.

Point out the claims number and process

Where it is, who to ring, what to do first, what not to do. In an incident nobody reads twelve pages. Put it on one card.

Provide it digitally as well as on paper

Emailed, and stored somewhere they will find it. Suggest a photograph of the certificate on their phone. It takes them ten seconds.

4. Be clear about the money

Confusion here damages trust quickly. Be explicit about every charge.

Set out the premium, instalments and fees

What is paid, when, by what method, and any charges. Instalment arrangements and interest should be stated plainly rather than discovered. Give the total cost.

Explain what happens at renewal

That you will be in touch beforehand, and roughly when. It sets an expectation you can then meet, which is half of retention. Give the month.

5. Open the relationship properly

The issue of documents is the start, not the end. Treat it as an opening.

Invite questions and mean it

Say that no question is too small and that a five-minute call now is better than an assumption for a year. Offer a time.

Diarise the follow-up

A mid-term check for changes, and the renewal conversation. Recorded now, while the file is open, it actually happens.

Conclusion

The paperwork is the entire product until something goes wrong, so do not send it as a bare attachment. Summarise the cover, the main limits and the excess in four or five plain lines, and say what you checked or adjusted — otherwise the client assumes you simply forwarded a quote.

Highlight the conditions and warranties, since a breached condition turns a valid claim into a declined one, and explain the duty to disclose changes, which clients genuinely do not know about. Point out the claims number and what to do first, supply the documents digitally as well as on paper, state the premium and any instalment charges plainly, and diarise both a mid-term check and the renewal conversation.