Loss Run Review For Pricing

How to review a loss run report field by field before you price

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In short Every carrier lays out its loss runs differently, and paid, reserve and incurred only mean something as of a valuation date. A loss run is ready for pricing once every field sits in one claim history, tied back to its source page. A claim split across a page break can lose its detail or get counted twice, and either mistake can change the premium and send the quote back into the queue. Upstage Studio lines up the fields with their sources and lists the open questions, so the underwriter starts from review instead of rebuilding the carrier's table.

Why loss runs slow down the quote You reach the bottom of a carrier's loss run and scroll back up, because the claim continues on the next page but the column headings don't. On your other monitor, the working loss history has an empty cell where that claim's amount should go, and the broker is waiting on a quote. The next carrier tucks claim details beneath each row, and another puts the valuation summary at the very end. Before you can even start weighing the losses, you have to pull all of those layouts into one history and keep track of what each number actually represents.

What a loss run report actually tells you A loss run is a carrier's record of the claims on a policy. It shows each claim's status and the amounts paid, reserved and incurred as of a valuation date, and those three numbers only make sense next to that date. Reviewing loss runs for underwriting means bringing reports from several carriers into one claim history and deciding whether that history is solid enough to price the account. That call belongs to the underwriter. The fields, one by one Every carrier arranges the same handful of fields in its own order, and each one has to land in the right column of your working history. Field On the carrier's report In your working history Where it goes wrong ① Carrier and policy period Report header Carrier and policy period columns A missing policy year leaves a gap the underwriter has to ask about ② Valuation date Date the figures were current Valuation date, per report The summary carries a different date from the detail rows ③ Claim number and date of loss Start of each claim row One row per claim A row that continues on the next page gets read as a second claim ④ Claim status Open or closed, next to the claim Status column The status is read without its valuation date, even though an open claim can still develop ⑤ Paid Amount paid to date Paid column Payment lines nested under the claim get left out ⑥ Reserve Amount set aside on an open claim Reserve column The reserve sits in a detail block the working history skips ⑦ Expense (ALAE) Paid and reserved expense, sometimes in its own columns Expense column, noting whether the carrier includes it in incurred Expense gets left out, or counted twice when it's already in incurred ⑧ Incurred Usually paid plus reserve Incurred as reported, with source page The reported incurred doesn't equal paid plus reserve ⑨ Valuation summary Totals at the end Checked against the claim rows The detail amounts don't add up to the summary

Fields ③ and ⑧ carry the most pricing risk. A claim number that shows up on the next page without its heading row looks like a brand new claim, and an incurred figure that doesn't equal paid plus reserve might reflect expense, a recovery like subrogation or salvage, or an adjustment on the carrier's side. Experienced reviewers follow one rule here. Count each claim once, keep the incurred figure exactly as the carrier reported it, and write down the question instead of fixing the number yourself. Building a claim history you can price from Gather the carrier loss runs supplied for the account. Note the periods covered and the valuation date on each report. Follow claim rows across page breaks and read the details nested beneath them. Bring the claim information into one working history, keeping the original labels and sources handy. Compare the claim details with the valuation summaries and flag questions for review. Ask for clarification or updated reports where needed, then revisit the affected entries. Decide whether the history supports pricing and note anything still unresolved.

Where the rework happens Steps 3 through 6 are where the backtracking happens. A number without its heading sends you back a page, a summary that uses a different label sends you through the details again, and when a replacement report arrives, someone has to figure out which entries need another look. Even at step 4, a filled-in column isn't ready until it has its valuation date and source page. Spreadsheet templates built for each carrier help with familiar layouts, but they break as soon as a carrier changes its format, and someone still ends up keying numbers in by hand. A tidy total can hide an unfinished review Picture a report where a claim amount sits on one page and its supporting detail continues on the next. If the working history leaves out that detail, the underwriter prices from an incomplete picture. If the continuation gets read as a second claim, the account looks worse than it really is. Either way, the premium is off. A late question also sends the quote back into the queue. The underwriter has to reopen the history, go back to the broker and redo the pricing work, and a premium that's already been discussed with the broker may have to change. That means another round of review and a harder conversation about the offer.

What changes with Upstage Studio The Loss runs agent in Upstage Studio pulls multi-page tables, nested claim details, irregular columns and inconsistent valuation summaries into one view. Gaps and details that don't match come back with the evidence attached, so the underwriter can look at each reported figure next to the material that explains it. A claim that runs across a page break shows up as one row, with both source pages beside it. The underwriter still decides whether the claim history is solid enough to price or needs clarification first, which figures to use and what the loss experience means for the risk. The difference is where the work starts. Instead of rebuilding the carrier's table, the underwriter starts with the...