If you had to name a single tool for the portfolio mindset, this would be it: a table showing the renewal date, cancellation window and owner of every one of the company's insurance contracts, in one place. Not software, not a service – a table. And yet it's what decides whether the company runs its portfolio, or the portfolio runs the company.
- Most corporate insurance renews automatically at its renewal date – anyone who can't see the dates is making a decision every year without knowing it.
- The table's minimum: contract, insurer, renewal date, cancellation window, annual premium, owner.
- The renewal date isn't an administrative burden but a once-a-year chance to renegotiate – the table is what makes that possible.
Why the renewal date, specifically?
Most open-ended corporate contracts run on a renewal date, and cancellation is typically tied to it too: you can act during a set period before the renewal date – the cancellation window. Anyone who misses the window stays put until the next renewal date, even if they've found a better solution in the meantime. That's why the table's most important column isn't even the renewal date, but the opening of the cancellation window: the date by which you have to decide. On the order of switching: switching at renewal and cancelling the proper way.
What should go into the table?
The working minimum is six columns: the contract's name and policy number; the insurer; the renewal date; the cancellation window (from–to); the annual premium and payment schedule; and the owner – the person the decision sits with. Useful extras: a one-line summary of the cover, the date of the last review, and a "to do" column. A ready-made, fillable version is on the Resources page: renewal table template.
How does the table live through the year?
The table isn't a museum piece: a five-minute look every quarter – is a cancellation window coming up in the next few months – and an update at every portfolio change: new contract in, terminated one out, premium change updated. And at renewal, the table's row is the agenda: does it need re-tendering (annual review), has the company changed (what to report), and has claims experience been built in (claims-experience lessons).
Who should keep it?
Without an internal owner, the table dies – but the owner doesn't need to be an insurance professional: a finance person, an office manager, even the managing director themselves. Under a broker mandate, keeping the table and watching the windows is my job: the client gets a ready-made decision, not a deadline hunt. That's the practical meaning of "in one hand" – and putting together the first table is the first tangible result of a portfolio review.
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