Bad insurance experiences rarely start at claim time – they typically start at binding. We've put together the most common binding mistakes: every one of them is avoidable, and every one has the same remedy: an orderly process.
- The five classics: a premium-driven decision, guessed sums, forgotten items, an ill-considered deductible, an unread policy.
- Every mistake bills you at claim time – at binding, it can still be fixed for free.
- The remedy: survey → content-based comparison → policy check.
Mistakes 1–2: the spell of the premium and the guessed value
Reaching for the lowest-priced quote on reflex: a premium difference is almost always down to a difference in content – a narrower scope of cover, a higher deductible, more exclusions. The premium should be the last row in the table, not the first: this is how we compare. The gut-feel figure: "let's just put down fifty" – a guessed value produces either underinsurance (the average rule) or an unnecessary premium (overinsurance). Finding out the real value doesn't cost much more: inventory template.
Mistakes 3–4: the forgotten item and the wrong deductible
Forgotten items have recurring hits: tenant improvements, off-premises equipment, property stored outdoors, the production line that just arrived. Whatever needs separate naming (tenant improvements, property stored outdoors or off-premises) stays uncovered without that naming; whatever belongs to an asset group is covered by its sum insured – and if that sum is too low, a pro-rata settlement follows. An ill-considered deductible: set at zero it's expensive, pushed too high it hurts at claim time – the right level comes from the company's own capacity: deductible logic.
Mistake 5: the unread policy – and the system-level mistake
A policy filed away without checking sets small mistakes in stone: a misspelled address, a missing endorsement, the wrong sum – these only surface at claim time, when it's too late. The five-minute policy check is unmissable: how binding cover works. And the system-level mistake: the "bind it and forget it" mode – without upkeep, the policy drifts further from reality year after year. The remedy is routine: annual review.
And the good news: these mistakes aren't character flaws, they're process flaws – for anyone binding cover through an orderly process (survey, table, check, annual routine), there's simply no room for them to happen. And the process doesn't cost the company time: I, as the broker, carry most of the work, free of charge.
Have a question specific to your premises? Book a free 20-minute site survey consultation →
