How to read your insurance programme in one afternoon

An insurance programme is a set of promises with conditions attached. The conditions live in the definitions and exclusions, not in the headline limit, which is why a summary schedule rarely tells you what you need to know.

Start with the definitions section of each policy. Confirm that the defined terms match how your organisation actually operates: what counts as an insured location, an employee, a subsidiary, or a claim.

Then move to exclusions and read them against your top five operational risks. If any of those risks lands inside an exclusion, you have found a gap worth pricing.

Finally, check retentions and aggregates. A limit that looks generous can be exhausted quickly by frequency rather than severity, and aggregate erosion is the most common source of unpleasant renewal conversations.