What Are Loss Runs? The Insurance Report That Sets Your Price

What are loss runs? They are the official claims history reports for your insurance policies, issued by your current and former carriers, showing every claim reported, its status, and what has been paid and reserved. Think of them as your business’s insurance credit report: when you shop coverage, underwriters read your loss runs before almost anything else, and the story those pages tell drives your pricing, your terms, and sometimes whether a carrier will quote you at all. Understanding them turns renewal season from a mystery into a negotiation.

What a Loss Run Actually Shows

A standard loss run lists each policy period, each claim with its date and description, the amounts paid to date, the reserves set aside for expected future payments, and whether each claim is open or closed. It covers typically three to five years, which is the window most underwriters ask for. Two details deserve special attention: reserves count against you just like payments, since an open claim reserved at $50,000 reads as a $50,000 loss even if it ultimately settles for a fraction of that; and claims you reported but that closed with no payment still appear, telling their own story about frequency.

Why Loss Runs Matter So Much

Underwriters price the future by reading the past. Frequency, many small claims, often worries them more than one unlucky large loss, because frequency suggests how a business operates. A contractor with six small property damage claims in three years looks like a shop with process problems; a business with one large closed claim and clean years around it looks like lightning struck once. Your loss ratio, losses compared to premium paid, feeds directly into whether carriers compete for your account or load it with surcharges, and in workers’ comp, the same history drives your experience mod for years.

How to Get Your Loss Runs

Request them from your agent or directly from each carrier for the last three to five years, and expect delivery within days; many states require carriers to provide loss runs promptly on request. Ask early when shopping, because quotes cannot be finalized without them, and stale loss runs, more than 60 to 90 days old, are often rejected by new carriers. If you have changed carriers several times, you will need runs from each one, which is one more quiet argument for consolidation with an agency that tracks this for you.

Reading Your Own Report Before Underwriters Do

Review loss runs the way the market will. Check for errors first, claims that are not yours, duplicates, or claims that should have closed but show open with fat reserves, and push to correct them, since a stale $40,000 reserve on a long-resolved claim is costing you real premium. Then look for patterns: repeated tool theft suggests vehicle security investment, repeated minor injuries suggest safety program attention, repeated auto claims suggest driver screening. Fixing the pattern does two things: it stops the losses, and it gives your agent a narrative to sell underwriters, because a documented fix after a bad year is exactly what turns a declination into a quote.

Cleaning Up Your Story

You cannot erase history, but you can manage it. Report claims promptly but thoughtfully, since near-deductible losses absorbed internally never hit the report. Work open claims to closure before renewal, asking carriers to review and reduce outdated reserves. Document safety improvements, training, and equipment investments and put them in front of underwriters alongside the runs. And give your agent time: a market submission with clean, explained loss runs sixty days before renewal gets quoted; a last-minute submission with messy runs gets loaded or declined.

Frequently Asked Questions About Loss Runs

Who can request my loss runs?

You, and anyone you authorize, such as your agent shopping your renewal. GCs and clients sometimes ask for loss information in prequalification too.

Do claims where I was not at fault still count?

They appear on the report. Underwriters distinguish fault where documentation supports it, which is why claim notes and subrogation outcomes matter.

How long do claims stay on loss runs?

The runs show whatever period is requested, and most underwriting looks back three to five years. Older history fades in influence as clean years accumulate.

My business is new and has no loss runs. Is that bad?

New ventures are priced on industry, experience, and controls instead. A no-loss letter from any prior coverage helps establish history as you build it.

Can I dispute something on a loss run?

Yes. Contact the carrier through your agent with documentation. Reserve reductions and error corrections are requested, and won, all the time.

Talk to a Nevada Insurance Expert

Send us your loss runs and we will tell you what underwriters will see, and what to do about it, before you go to market. My Policy Plug is a Nevada independent insurance agency that shops multiple carriers to find the right coverage at the right price. Call us today at 702-444-2367 or visit mypolicyplug.com for a fast, free quote.