How policy checking protects your agency from E&O claims
When a claim is denied because a coverage the insured expected wasn't on the policy, the next call is often to the agency's errors-and-omissions carrier. 'Failure to procure' and 'failure to maintain' coverage are among the most common — and most defensible-or-not — agents' E&O allegations, and the difference usually comes down to procedure.
A renewal policy-checking procedure — comparing every issued renewal to the expiring policy and documenting the result — is one of the cleanest controls an agency can point to.
The fact pattern the check defends against
A renewal comes back with a dropped completed-operations additional insured, a narrowed causes-of-loss form, or a new exclusion. Nobody compares it to the prior policy. A loss hits the gap. The insured argues they reasonably expected the same coverage they'd carried for years — and asks why their agent didn't catch the change. Without a checking record, that's a hard claim to defend.
What makes the procedure defensible
Three things turn 'we usually check' into a defensible control:
- Consistency — every renewal checked the same way, not just the accounts someone remembered.
- Documentation — a dated record of what was compared, what changed, and what was communicated to the insured.
- Communication — flagged changes actually surfaced to the client, so the file shows informed acceptance.
Where the E&O premium credit actually comes from
Agents' E&O programs tied to the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big 'I') Best Practices standards have offered premium credits to agencies that pass a documented procedures audit — often an Operational Improvement Review, a structured examination of how the agency actually runs. That audit is what earns the credit; no software grants it. Consistent, documented policy checking is one of the procedures the audit evaluates. Eligibility and the exact percentage vary by carrier and program, so confirm with your own E&O provider.
Producing the artifact the audit expects
BindCheck doesn't grant the credit — it produces the record the audit (and any E&O defense) wants to see. Every renewal, new-business and coverage-standard check is saved with the date, the changed or missing forms/limits/endorsements, the manuscript items flagged for review, and a source-page citation on each finding — the consistent, documented coverage review a procedures audit is checking for.
Frequently asked questions
Does software checking count as a documented procedure?
The documented procedure is your policy of checking every renewal and acting on the results; software is how you execute and record it consistently. A saved, dated, page-cited diff per renewal is exactly the kind of evidence the procedure is meant to generate — and the kind a procedures audit reviews. Confirm specifics with your E&O carrier.
Does using BindCheck earn the E&O premium credit?
No — no software earns the credit by itself. The credit comes from your carrier's procedures audit (often an Operational Improvement Review) that examines how your agency operates, with documented policy checking as one of the procedures it evaluates. BindCheck produces that documentation consistently, but eligibility and the amount depend on your carrier, program and full risk profile. Confirm with your E&O provider.
Diff your first renewal free — upload the prior policy and the renewal, and see what changed in about a minute. No signup wall, no demo call.