For many insurance brokerages, the renewal process is treated as a routine administrative task – but according to Jackson Fregeau (pictured), co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based insurtech Quandri, it’s actually the heartbeat of the business. It’s where client loyalty, revenue growth, and profitability all converge – and where, too often, the system starts to break down.
Fregeau said that renewals are the primary touchpoint for most clients, since few interact with their brokers outside of that yearly exchange. That makes renewal the single biggest driver of both client satisfaction and retention, as well as the point where most cross-selling and upselling happens.
“The renewal is really the cornerstone of the brokerage,” he said. “It’s a key revenue moment and a key driver of profitability.”
But brokerages, he added, rarely have the bandwidth to deliver the renewal experience they want to provide. Staffing shortages, rising rates, and growing pricing complexity have left many teams focused only on the loudest problems – clients facing the steepest premium jumps – while the rest of the book receives minimal attention.
As a result, renewals have become reactive rather than strategic. Most brokerages are “doing what they can,” Fregeau said, but not necessarily what they’d like to do. That gap, between intention and execution, is where he believes a significant amount of lost revenue and client trust still sits. In his view, a brokerage’s renewal process ultimately shapes its reputation, retention rate, and long-term growth prospects. “It’s top line, bottom line, and client experience all at once,” he said.
Compounding the issue is a lingering fear that more frequent outreach could hurt retention rather than help it. Fregeau said this idea – that too much contact on renewal increases cancellations – has been deeply ingrained in brokerage culture for years.
In his view, it’s a misunderstanding of what meaningful communication looks like. Many brokers equate outreach with automation – mass email templates that make clients feel like one of many. That approach doesn’t deliver value, he said; it just reminds customers how impersonal the process can be.
When brokers actually invest time in demonstrating value – reviewing policies, comparing options, and explaining rate changes – the results tend to flip. Fregeau said brokerages that take this approach consistently see higher retention and stronger revenue growth. “The highest retention rates come from those delivering a proactive, best-in-class renewal process,” he said.
He added that the best-performing firms view renewal contact as service, not sales. “When you show clients that you’ve done the work and earned your commission, that’s when loyalty builds,” he said.
Behind the scenes, the reason many firms can’t engage clients more effectively is simply time. Fregeau said the average personal lines renewal can take between 45 minutes and an hour and a half from start to finish.
Brokers must compare past and present policies, identify changes like new drivers or endorsements, and check for product adjustments from carriers. If a client’s premium has increased sharply – 30% or more is common – they then need to quote alternatives, summarize their findings, and reach out personally by email or phone.
That workload adds up fast. Even small brokerages can spend hundreds of hours each renewal cycle, while large national firms dedicate entire teams to it. “You’re talking about dozens and dozens of people doing renewals full-time,” Fregeau said. “And there just aren’t enough people coming into the business to handle that volume.”
For many, it’s not just an operational bottleneck but a strategic one. Time spent firefighting renewals is time not spent on growth, client education, or process innovation – areas that define a brokerage’s competitive edge in the long run.
While the issue is especially visible in personal lines, Fregeau said commercial business faces a similar challenge. Rate increases have been less severe, but the complexity of commercial accounts means each renewal takes even more time and attention. “It’s actually, in a lot of ways, as big of a problem in commercial lines,” he said.
The pattern extends well beyond Canada. Quandri, which operates across North America, has seen the same capacity issues in the United States – in some cases, even worse. The harder US market and the number of carriers exiting regions have created an environment where brokers are quoting more frequently than ever. “It’s probably a little bit more acute in the US,” Fregeau said.
And as workloads rise, the gap between the experience brokers want to deliver and the one they realistically can continues to widen – a tension Fregeau believes the industry will need to address head-on before the next renewal cycle begins.
