What is a loss run, and why do underwriters ask for several years of them?
Commercial insurance broker
A loss run is a report from an insurer showing the claims history on your policies, including dates of loss, descriptions, amounts paid, and amounts reserved for open claims. Underwriters ask for several years, often three to five, because one year rarely tells the full story of how a company performs.
Multiple years show trends. A single bad year might be an outlier. Several years of steady frequency, or rising severity, tell an underwriter much more about what to expect. Open claims with significant reserves also matter, because those reserves represent estimated future costs that haven't been paid yet.
Loss runs should be current, typically valued within the last few months. Stale loss runs can delay a submission or lead underwriters to assume the worst. Make sure you have loss runs from every insurer for every policy year being reviewed, including prior insurers.
The numbers alone aren't enough. Underwriters respond better when large claims come with explanations: what happened, why it happened, and what you changed. A serious accident followed by documented training changes, new hiring standards, or new technology tells a very different story than the same accident with no explanation.
Review your loss runs regularly, not just at renewal. Check for errors, closed claims still showing reserves, and claims that don't belong to you. Clean, accurate, well-explained loss history is one of the most valuable parts of any submission.