Carriers decline or decline to quote a meaningful share of small and mid-market cyber submissions. The reasons are usually sound: missing controls, unclear exposure, a class of business outside appetite. But the business does not stop needing cover, and the distribution relationship usually stops at the decline letter.
What a decline costs
A decline is not free. It consumes underwriting time, it sends the insured to a competitor or to no cover at all, and it leaves no route back when the risk improves. For the distribution team, it is a lead that has been qualified, assessed and then dropped.
A referral route instead of a dead end
The alternative is to treat a decline as a referral. The business is passed to a partner that can do three things:
Show the business what is wrong, in plain language and in dollars
Give them a path to fix it, prioritised by what moves insurability most
Bring them back to market with evidence that the gaps are closed
Step | Today | With a referral route |
|---|---|---|
Decline issued | Relationship ends | Business referred to Sternwake with consent |
Assessment | None | Complimentary Astragar cyber risk assessment |
Remediation | Left to the business | Prioritised fix list with dollar impact |
Return to market | Unlikely | Resubmission with exposure data attached |
The businesses you decline still need cover. The question is whether they come back to you when they are ready.
In plain language
A declined submission can become a future bindable risk if someone helps the business close the gaps and brings the evidence back.
Why Sternwake
Sternwake is an independent US brokerage appointed by HSB, with a producer licensed in every state across all lines. Through Astragar's network partners, we connect to more than 60 large US carriers. Every business that places through Sternwake gets a complimentary cyber risk assessment, so submissions arrive with exposure data attached.
What we are asking carriers for
An appointment, so Sternwake can place your products when a referred business is ready. And, for a small number of carriers, a seat as a launch carrier for in-platform quote requests on Astragar.
Next step. Point us to the person who owns agency appointments or embedded partnerships, or see the carrier partner overview →
For any comments or information please reach out to info@astragar.com
See your cyber risk in $ terms, not CVSS scores.
