Two quotes' bottom-line totals are, on their own, just two numbers – you can only compare them once you know what they cover. So I never hand over the results of a tender as a pile of letters, but as a single table, with the same criteria row by row. This article shows how to read it.
- The table's rows are the cover elements and condition points, its columns the insurers – the premium is just one row.
- The substance is in the difference rows: where the limit, the deductible, the scope of exclusions differ.
- A good decision is neither "the cheapest" nor "the most expensive because that's surely good" – it's the price-to-value fit for the company's risk.
How the table is built
The comparison table's backbone is constant: the cover elements (what they apply to, at what sum insured), the limits (per event, per year, sub-limits for critical risks), the deductibles (amount and type), the key exclusions and conditions (the ones that touch the company's actual operations), the service elements (claims-handling commitments, additional services) – and the premium, with its payment schedule. Every insurer appears in every row – if a cell is blank or differs, that's not a formatting glitch, it's information.
How to read it
Don't start with the last row (the premium), start with the differences: where does the content genuinely diverge? The rule of thumb: behind a significant premium difference there is almost always a difference in substance – narrower cover, a higher deductible, a missing element. Once you know what makes the cheaper one cheaper, the question becomes: does that difference matter to your company? Sometimes not (that particular risk is irrelevant to you), and sometimes very much so – this is how you avoid the cheap-premium trap. For checking the fine print, the condition-reading method gives you the routine.
Decision criteria beyond the premium
Four criteria that help you decide from the table: coverage of critical risks (which quote answers the company's top-3 risks best); deductible affordability (how large a deductible the company can absorb at a claim without trouble); claims-handling track record (how the insurer performs in practice – as a broker I have visibility into this); and fit within the portfolio (renewal-date alignment, relationship to existing contracts – renewal table). Talking through the table is joint work: I explain the rows, the decision is yours – and the next article carries the binding process forward.
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