The Million-Dollar Difference in Commercial Insurance

The right broker can save an organization money while improving coverage and outcomes. 

by Bry Shields

Mobile County recently saved taxpayers more than $2 million on their insurance premiums — and it almost didn’t happen. The county renewed their property insurance in December 2025, securing a 12% premium reduction. What they weren’t told is other organizations of similar sizes on the Gulf Coast were frequently securing 25-30% premium/rate reductions. In the spring of 2026, my colleagues Jerrime Kitsos and Allen Chapman were asked to market Mobile County’s property insurance. They secured better deductibles and a more than 30% reduction in premiums.

This wasn’t luck. The property insurance market has been softening since 2024, but like any shrewd business, insurers aren’t always so quick to give their lowest rates away. Allow me to reveal some trade secrets that may help with your next insurance renewal. The advice I provide is generalized across industries and lines of business but is most appropriate for large commercial property insurance buyers ($10 million-plus insured values).

Market Expertise Matters

Market dynamics are constantly changing in any industry, and insurance is no different. A high-quality agent keeps their finger on the pulse of the market. They know who the carriers are within their domain of clients and prospects. They know how far they can push those carriers and how to position and negotiate with them to get you the best deal. These are the nuances that make a big difference.

I recently renewed a property policy for a longtime client, and the wholesale broker provided us a renewal offer with a 15% premium reduction. Many agents would happily present that to their client and move along. However, I happen to know that carrier has excess capacity to deploy and is “hungry” for growth. I also know there are other carriers who are hungry and would gladly undercut them.

Knowing where the market rate should be, I politely went back to them and assured them they can retain the business if they will hit my target premium and deductibles without removing any favorable terms within the policy. I also reminded them this account has had only one claim in the last five years. They obliged. My commission went down, but my client is now far more likely to stay with me for years to come and to refer others to me. I share this as an example not to virtue-signal, but as an example of applying market expertise to a renewal.

Here’s what you can do: Ask your agent what’s happening in the market and to give you examples of any recent renewals. It’s also healthy to at least have conversations with competing agents and gather their market insights.

Hire an Agent Who Knows YOUR Business

It’s obvious that knowing insurance is an important trait for your agent, but you should also hire an agent who knows your unique business risks and understands how to position your submission for maximum interest from underwriters.

Your agent should spend time studying your business and asking you questions. If an underwriter sees a full submission with fully completed applications, a detailed Statement of Values, a complete Loss History report and a detailed Submission Narrative, they are much more likely to be interested in quoting — and with aggressive terms.

Pick Your Horse and Ride It

Many business leaders go in one of two very extreme directions: Either they have intense, unconditional loyalty to one agent, or they call three to four agents to shop it for them, thinking this will yield the lowest premium (what I call the “spray and pray” approach).

In the former scenario, this is fine if you really do trust your agent, but often complacency creeps in and you become taken advantage of, unintentionally. I want all my clients to hold me accountable, and they should all know I am staying focused on always working hard for them. This is what you deserve from your agent, and you should expect nothing less!

Regarding the “spray and pray” approach where you call multiple agents for quotes, that seems like an intuitively good strategy, doesn’t it? Here’s the problem. Commercial insurance isn’t the same as getting bids on your renovation project — and for several reasons.

Commercial insurance carriers only work with one agent at a time. They do not want to deal with multiple applications and conflicting information. It’s very inefficient for them to work this way because commercial insurance underwriting requires careful attention, often with complicated modeling and rating software involved, so spending time working with multiple agents would make a slow process even slower.

One good agent can generate plenty of competition for your business among the top insurance carriers. I have even seen people get a worse deal with this approach because insurers lose interest in quoting when they start seeing submissions from multiple agents. They feel they won’t get a true opportunity to write it, so they put it at the bottom of their stack.

Finally, when you have one solid agent, they will be able to jockey carriers among each other and create a frenzy of interest if they present the risk correctly. That’s almost impossible to do if the same agent doesn’t know the “hand” each carrier is holding, to borrow a poker analogy. It’s all about transparency and trust.

What Happens When Claims Arise

The entire purpose of insurance is to transfer risk at the lowest possible cost. Most agents are so focused on the front end of the process they forget how to help on the back end. Most insurance buyers are the same way. They want the lowest price, but don’t pay enough attention to coverage or disaster planning.

Find an agent or broker who has dedicated attention to this. Ask your agent how they handle claims and what their process is for ensuring you’re treated fairly by the adjusters. Many carriers use third-party adjusters, and often they are not very experienced or are overworked. Additionally, if your contractor isn’t experienced in working with insurance companies, they may overlook critical steps.

One of my clients recently had a $500,000 roof claim, and we referred them to a local restoration contractor who helped them communicate with the adjuster and navigate the claim. We had virtually no problems and the carrier paid the full cost of repairing the roof. If they had hired a different contractor or the wrong adjuster, they could easily have faced six figures in uninsured repairs.

I recommend you have some kind of plan for how you’ll handle claims if one arises and have an agent who plans to be actively involved and who can bring together the best adjusters and contractors. It’s also important they have the resources to overturn unfair claim denials.

If you are a buyer of commercial insurance, the biggest takeaway I can offer is that your agent can be a conduit to massive financial variance. Choose wisely! If you’d like a second opinion on your insurance program, I’m happy to have that conversation.

Bry Shields is senior vice president and Commercial Insurance producer at HUB International in Mobile.