“Do we have to switch every year?” – people sometimes ask. Not at all: constant hopping is costly and pointless. “So should we leave alone what works?” – not that either: a policy that never moves quietly loses its freshness year after year. The right answer lies between the two: a regular look, and tendering when the signals call for it. This article is about those signals.
- The renewal-time look is due every year; a full re-tendering is typically justified every few years, or when the warning signs appear.
- The signals: a premium rising steadily with unchanged cover, an outdated scope of cover, improved claims statistics, poor service experience, a major change in the building.
- Tendering does not commit you to switching: the outcome may well be that the current policy is the right one – but then the building will know it.
Two different exercises: the look and the tender
The renewal-time look is the light exercise: value maintenance of the sum insured, claims statistics, the indexation decision – a quarter of an hour a year, with no intention of switching. A full re-tendering is the bigger round: the data list, several quotes, the comparison table, a decision – you do not need to run this every year, but you do every few years, or when the warning signs appear. The two are connected: it is the annual look that shows, in good time, when the bigger round is needed.
The five signals that call for tendering
1. The premium keeps rising, the cover does not. Indexation is normal; repeated increases with nothing added deserve a market check. 2. The scope of cover is out of date. The building has changed – solar panels, a renovation, new building systems – and the policy has not followed (the cover map). 3. The claims statistics have improved substantially. After a riser replacement or a roof renovation the building is a better risk than its price suggests – the market can price that in (the claims history article). 4. The service experience is poor. Cumbersome claims handling, administration you cannot reach – alongside the premium, this is substance too. 5. A major change in the building. A new management company, a newly formed community, a significant investment – these are natural review points.
And what is not a warning sign?
Two common false arguments. The first is “the building next door pays less”: the premiums of two buildings can be compared only where the cover and the risk profile are the same – without that the figure says nothing (premium factors). The second is the shock caused by a single indexation: value maintenance is not a price rise but keeping the cover at its proper level (why). The right response to these is not a reflex switch but understanding – and if questions remain after the understanding, tendering can follow.
The outcomes of tendering
An important frame: re-tendering does not mean an automatic switch. It has three good outcomes: switching to better substance or a better price (how switching works); staying put, confirmed – now knowing that the current policy holds its own in the market field; or staying put on improved terms – competition can open up room to move at the existing insurer as well. All three outcomes are a gain: the building has made an informed decision. The process is free of charge and without obligation – a 20-minute conversation is enough to get started.
A question about your own building? Book a free 20-minute consultation →
