Thinking About Changing Insurance Companies? Here’s What You Should Know Before Remarketing

Summary: Remarketing helps high-net-worth individuals and families assess whether their current carrier still offers the right protection at the right price. The process goes beyond comparing premiums and requires updated documentation, new underwriting, and careful evaluation of inspections, coverage differences, and lifestyle changes. While rising costs often trigger a review, switching isn’t always the best choice—long-term carrier relationships and service levels matter too. With the right preparation and guidance, remarketing becomes a valuable opportunity to strengthen your overall insurance strategy.

Premium increases and market volatility often prompt individuals and families with complex insurance needs to revisit their coverage. Before exploring alternatives, it helps to understand the process known as remarketing—a detailed review in which an advisor gathers updated information about your homes, vehicles, collections, and risk-mitigation measures, then evaluates multiple insurance carriers to determine whether another option better aligns with your needs.

Remarketing is not the same as simply shopping for a lower premium. It involves new underwriting, updated documentation, and careful comparison of coverage differences that can significantly influence long-term protection. Understanding what the process entails helps ensure any changes strengthen your overall insurance strategy.

Start by Understanding Why Your Premium Changed

A higher renewal premium is usually the first trigger for reconsidering your carrier, but the increase itself doesn’t answer the bigger question of whether it’s time to move. Carriers regularly adjust pricing based on construction costs, loss trends, and their financial results. Before remarketing, it’s important to determine whether the change is due to market-wide movement or something specific to your account.

Homeowners are often surprised to learn how certain changes can affect premiums and placement options long before renewal, including:

• A claim in the past three years, which affects both pricing and placement options
• New exposures, such as a young driver, a new vehicle, or a recently acquired home

• Mid-term endorsements, which may only partially adjust pricing during the policy term

Evaluating these factors helps to determine whether switching carriers is likely to provide a true improvement.

Remarketing Requires More Work Than Many Expect

A common misconception is that switching carriers is simple because prior application information exists. In reality, remarketing requires renewed underwriting and updated documentation. Carriers need current details about the home and occupants, including roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, HVAC, and recent renovations.

If you have secondary homes, rental properties, or vacation residences, you may be asked to provide documentation for each location, even if you’ve been insured for years. Coastal or high-risk properties frequently require elevation certificates or wind mitigation reports.

Expect a New Home Inspection—and Expect It Quickly

Inspections are standard for high-value homes, and many carriers schedule them within the first 30–60 days after binding coverage. The goal is to validate replacement cost, evaluate maintenance, and identify opportunities to reduce future risk. Inspectors focus heavily on the age, condition, and documentation of:

• Roof age and material (e.g., slate, cedar, or asphalt shingles)
• Electrical panels and wiring, including updated breaker boxes
• Plumbing systems and supply lines (e.g., braided steel hoses vs. older plastic lines)
• HVAC system age, service records, and performance

What often reassures clients is understanding why carriers take this approach. For high-value homes, an accurate valuation and strong risk-prevention strategy dramatically improve claim outcomes and help protect the property more effectively.

Coverage Differences Can Meaningfully Affect a Claim

Premiums matter, but coverage differences matter more, especially when evaluating high-net-worth carriers against middle-market or excess and surplus (E&S) options. Key variations include:

• Replacement cost settlement, which determines how the insurer pays for damage to the home or personal property; some policies deduct depreciation, while others offer guaranteed replacement cost that covers the full cost to repair or replace without depreciation
• Water backup limits, which may be only $5,000–$10,000 under some policies, far below what’s needed for finished basements or luxury materials
• Service line coverage, especially valuable for older homes with buried utility lines
• Medical payment limits, which vary across carriers

A lower premium doesn’t necessarily mean better value if the underlying coverage is weaker or misaligned with your risk profile.

Valuables Require Careful Consideration Before Switching

If you have jewelry, fine art, wine, or specialty collections, pay close attention to scheduling requirements and appraisal rules during remarketing. Items valued at $100,000 or more typically require a recent appraisal, updated every two to five years, depending on the carrier. Specialty items, such as rare watches or custom artwork, may require additional underwriting review. Understanding these requirements in advance helps avoid delays and ensures each piece is properly protected.

Staying Put Sometimes Provides Long-Term Advantages

A lower premium from a new carrier does not always mean switching is the best choice. Long-term relationships with an insurance carrier can provide benefits such as:

• Eligibility for tenure-based discounts
• Greater flexibility when exceptions are needed, such as adding a young driver or navigating multiple claims in a short period
• Smoother underwriting, because the carrier already understands the property and prior evaluations

We have seen some of our clients decide to stay with their current carrier after reviewing side-by-side comparisons. Seeing the differences in coverage, service levels, and long-term benefits helps bring clarity and often reinforces confidence in remaining with the existing insurer.

Carriers can also see how often a household has moved between insurers. Stability can support future underwriting requests and claims experiences, especially in unusual or high-stakes scenarios.

Preparation Makes the Remarketing Process Smoother

Preparing the right documents in advance allows for a faster, more accurate evaluation. Carriers commonly request:

• Current declarations pages and schedules
• Dates of updates for roofing, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC
• Most recent inspections
• Wind mitigation or elevation certificates (for coastal properties)
• A list of risk-prevention devices such as water-shutoff valves, interior sprinklers, permanent generators, and central alarms

Documentation not only speeds up the process; it also positions you to secure all available discounts and favorable pricing.

A Thoughtful Approach Leads to Better Outcomes

Remarketing isn’t simply about finding a lower premium. It’s an opportunity to ensure your insurance program reflects your lifestyle, property characteristics, and evolving risk profile. With the right preparation and a clear understanding of what carriers evaluate, high-net-worth homeowners can make decisions that strengthen their long-term protection.

If you’re evaluating whether it’s the right time to remarket your insurance program, contact B. F. Saul Insurance to review your coverage and explore the best path forward.

FAQs

1. What is the biggest misconception homeowners have about switching insurance companies? 
   Many homeowners assume the process is quick and requires little new information, but switching insurance carriers requires updated documentation, new underwriting questions, and a fresh property inspection.
   
   
2. Why do insurance carriers require new inspections when switching companies?
   Inspections validate replacement cost, assess the condition of home systems, and identify risk-prevention opportunities. High-value homes often require more detailed evaluations to ensure accurate coverage.
   
   
3. Which coverages vary most between high-net-worth insurance companies? 
   Water backup, service line coverage, medical payments, and guaranteed replacement cost are the most significant differentiators and can meaningfully impact claim outcomes.
   
   
4. How do appraisals affect insuring valuables like jewelry and fine art when changing insurers?
   Most carriers require up-to-date appraisals for items valued at $100,000 or more. Some may require updated appraisals every two to five years to maintain accurate coverage.
   
   
5. Is it worth it to switch insurance companies if the savings are small?
   Not always. Long-term insurance carrier relationships can provide tenure discounts, underwriting flexibility, and better support during complex claims, factors that may outweigh modest premium differences.