Client Engagement Checklist

Pull D&B firmographics, state Secretary of State filings, and any public loss data (LexisNexis CLUE for personal lines, ISO ClaimSearch where available). Note prior carriers and any non-renewal history — accounts shopped from declination need a different conversation than accounts shopping for price.

Look up the assigned producer's NPN on NIPR and confirm an active resident or non-resident license plus the relevant lines of authority in the state where coverage will be bound. Lapsed CE = lapsed license = unauthorized transaction if you bind.

Screen the named insured, owners over the carrier's threshold (commonly 25%), and any DBAs against the OFAC SDN list. Save the screening result to the AMS — this is the same screen you will re-run at bind and at every claim payment.

Compare the prospect's class codes, hazard grade, and exposure size against each appointed carrier's appetite guide. If no admitted carrier writes the class, plan for a wholesale / E&S submission rather than burning underwriter time on a declination.

Walk the ACORD 125 commercial app section by section with the prospect rather than auto-populating from prior renewal data. Drift in payroll, sales, locations, and class codes across renewal cycles is the most common cause of premium audit disputes.

Request currently-valued loss runs (within 90 days) from each incumbent carrier. Most underwriters require five years on commercial lines; workers comp e-mod calculations need the full experience period. Attach as a single combined PDF.

Pull every dec page and read the schedule of forms and endorsements — not just the limits page. Manuscript endorsements, sublimits, and exclusionary endorsements (cyber, abuse, communicable disease) are where coverage gaps hide.

Document gaps against the prospect's actual operations: cyber for any business handling NPI, EPLI for any business with employees, professional liability for any service business. Exposure changes since the last renewal (new locations, fleet additions, payroll growth) reset hazard grade.

Assemble the signed ACORD 125 plus line-specific apps (130 for WC, 140 for property), supplementals for any high-hazard class, statement of values for property, and the loss run PDF. Underwriters reject incomplete submissions outright — don't burn a market on a partial.

Decide whether the account goes to admitted markets via direct appointment or to surplus lines via a wholesaler. E&S placements trigger state premium tax remittance and stamping office filings post-bind in many states — flagging this now sets up the right downstream filings.

Send the same complete package to each market on the same day to keep effective dates aligned. Track responses in the AMS with timestamps so you can hold underwriters to their stated turnaround.

Indications are non-binding and almost always subject-to (subject to inspection, signed application, updated loss runs). Treating an indication as a bindable quote and binding against it is a textbook E&O exposure — confirm the status explicitly for each carrier response.

Clear every subject-to with the underwriter in writing — signed application, current loss runs, completed inspection — before treating the response as bindable. Do not bind off an email that says 'we can probably do' anything.

Re-screen the named insured at bind — the SDN list updates frequently and a clear screen at outreach does not satisfy the screening obligation at the moment of premium acceptance.

For E&S placements, file with the state's stamping office and remit premium tax within the state-specific window (commonly 30–60 days post-bind). The wholesaler may file, but compliance ultimately rests with the producer of record — confirm in writing who files and keep the stamped policy in the file.

Generate the binder, then produce ACORD 25 certificates for each contractually-required certificate holder. Watch the additional-insured vs certificate-holder distinction on the form — listing a property owner only as certificate holder when the contract requires additional-insured status is the most common COI error.