Published June 10, 2026 · Last updated June 10, 2026
Loss runs explained: the document every quote depends on
Loss runs are carrier-issued reports of your claim history — the first document any new market asks for and the last one businesses think to request. If there is one administrative task that speeds up every insurance placement, it is requesting five years of loss runs in writing, today, before you need them.
What are loss runs?
Loss runs are reports from your insurance carriers listing every claim on your policies — dates, descriptions, amounts paid, amounts reserved, and whether each claim is open or closed. They are the commercial insurance equivalent of a credit report, and nearly every new quote requires them.
How do I request loss runs?
Email your current agent or carrier and ask, in writing, for “currently valued loss runs for the past five years, all lines.” Carriers customarily respond within days; many states set expectations for timely delivery. Request them the moment you consider remarketing — they arrive on the carrier’s clock, not yours.
A template that works: "Please send currently valued loss runs for [business name], all lines, policy years [20XX–20XX], in PDF. This is a routine request for our records." Send it to your agent and copy the carrier's customer service address if you have it. No explanation is owed or needed.
Why do underwriters care so much about loss runs?
Because they are verified history rather than self-reporting. Underwriters read them for frequency, severity, open reserves, and trajectory — whether the story is improving or deteriorating. An account that arrives with loss runs attached and explained reads as organized; one that promises them later reads as a risk.
What if my loss runs have something ugly on them?
Explain it before you’re asked: what happened, what it cost, what changed afterward. Underwriters price documented turnarounds every day — what they decline is surprise. A one-paragraph narrative attached to each significant claim is the cheapest improvement any hard-to-place submission can make.
This is exactly how we package non-renewed and post-claim accounts: loss runs plus narrative plus documentation of what changed. Underwriters write trajectories, not snapshots.
Submitting an intake with us? Email your loss runs to mathis@setinsure.com right after — it's the single biggest accelerant for a quote.