Insurance Request for Quote (RFQ) Document

What a good one includes

• A concise description of your business operations, industry sector, and geographic footprint to help underwriters assess your baseline risk profile.
• Specific descriptions of the insurance lines required, including desired policy limits, deductibles, and endorsement preferences.
• At least three to five years of officially documented claims history to demonstrate your historical risk management performance.
• Current business metrics such as projected annual revenue, payroll figures, employee headcounts, and property valuations.
• Clear instructions outlining the exact deadline for proposals, the preferred format for submissions, and key contact details.
• A brief outline of how proposals will be scored, prioritizing factors like insurer financial strength ratings, coverage breadth, and cost.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Failing to provide comprehensive claims history, which forces underwriters to assume the worst and inflate their premium pricing.
• Using vague or generic descriptions of your business operations instead of highlighting specific safety protocols and risk mitigation efforts.
• Setting unrealistically tight response deadlines that prevent brokers from negotiating the best possible rates with their underwriter networks.
• Omitting clear instructions on broker assignment, which can lead to multiple brokers accidentally approaching the same carrier markets and locking out competitive quotes.

Frequently asked questions