James Mahon, head of reinsurance pre-sales at DXC Technology, emphasized that in an increasingly complex and softening market, reinsurers/insurers must rethink their renewal strategies and invest in automated renewal management, rather than relying on manual, people-dependent processes.
Mahon told Reinsurance News that recent market conditions have made the renewal process increasingly complex. However, despite its importance, renewal management is not as modernized as it should be.
“For many (re)insurers, renewal remains a reactive, largely manual, back-office function that relies on legacy systems, spreadsheets and lengthy email chains,” Mahon explains. “However, as market conditions soften and pricing pressure increases, the quality of the refresh process is more important than ever. A strong, well-managed refresh approach is no longer just an operational necessity but a competitive advantage.”
He emphasized that the lack of a single source of truth limits visibility and control of the entire update portfolio.
“Information is often dispersed across individuals and shared drives, making even basic planning difficult, such as determining which treaties are up for renewal, or distinguishing between immediate renewals and those requiring negotiation,” Mahon said.
He emphasized that today’s reduced visibility allows more digital competitors to engage earlier and win business.
He continued: “Fragmented data further undermines the effectiveness of renewals. Performance information (including premiums, claims and loss rates) is often spread across multiple systems and requires manual collection, reconciliation and verification.
“As a result, renewal decisions are delayed or made without full understanding. Negotiations may have already begun or ended by the time data becomes available. This increases the risk that pricing and terms are agreed without full understanding of historical performance.”
These challenges are exacerbated by operational pressures during the renewal season. “Heavy reliance on knowledgeable personnel to manually find, re-enter and reconcile information creates bottlenecks and key personnel risk, drawing resources away from higher value activities,” said Mahon.
“Manual processing increases the likelihood of errors, inconsistencies and version control issues, especially in a soft market with more renewals to negotiate.”
Mahon explains that the consequences of this are missed opportunities to restructure terms or exit underperforming treaties, delays in premium recognition, cash flow constraints and reputational damage.
He emphasized the key role of automation in dealing with these pressures. Centralized, integrated renewal management can provide early visibility of upcoming renewals within a configurable timeline, enabling proactive planning and portfolio-level prioritization, he said. This identifies high-risk and high-value renewals early so the team can focus on what matters most.
Mahon added: “A single source of truth also provides immediate access to core performance data as it is updated. By eliminating manual data collection, resources can focus on evidence-based decision-making, supporting underwriting discipline and justifying pricing and terms in a more competitive environment.
“Automation further enables faster response times by processing pre-agreed renewals directly and automatically generating contracts and professional documentation. For negotiated renewals, guided workflows and standardized processes enable consistent, controlled adjustments to terms, limits and deductions, significantly reducing rework and errors.”
He also highlighted the importance of governance, saying: “End-to-end lifecycle management provides comprehensive auditing from initial offer to acceptance, supporting compliance, reporting and post-renewal reviews. This transparency enables (re)insurers to understand not just individual results, but broader portfolio trends and negotiation patterns.”
Mahon reiterated that as update volume, complexity and market expectations continue to rise, reliance on manual, people-dependent processes is no longer sustainable. He stressed that in a weak market, weaknesses in the renewal process are quickly exposed.
He concluded: “It is time for (re)insurers to rethink their renewal strategies. By investing in automated renewal management, renewals become repeatable, consistent, auditable and insight-driven. They become a strategic asset.
“Market cycles are always going to change. But renewed discipline, supported by the right fundamentals, can allow (re)insurers not only to survive changing conditions, but to outperform under those conditions.”