Stop 4 of 8 · Daily
The coverage summary
A declarations page turned into one page a client can read, written so it explains the policy without standing in for it.
The document nobody sends
The declarations page is a grid of abbreviations, form codes and figures, and Ramy has watched hundreds of clients fold one into a drawer without reading it. The renewal comes, the premium is up, and the client has no idea what the policy does. That is the account that shops.
A one page summary in plain English fixes the reading problem and creates a writing problem, because a plain English sentence about coverage is a representation. So the summary is built to explain and to point at the form, and it says which it is on the page itself.
The five sections
| Section | The rule for it |
|---|---|
| Each coverage line | One sentence, then its limit, from the dec page only |
| Not on this policy | Named, with what adding it involves |
| After a loss | Who to call, what to have ready, no outcomes |
The middle section is where the cross-sell conversations start, and it is also the section clients quote back to you. Flood, earthquake, sewer backup, service line, jewellery over the sublimit, business use of a vehicle. Naming them is not selling. It is the difference between a client who chose not to buy flood and a client who did not know.
Attached is a redacted declarations page. Inside the Agency Project, write a one page coverage summary for the named insured. Sections: what this policy is in two sentences, then each coverage line with a one sentence explanation and the limit exactly as it appears, then the deductible, then a short list of things not on this policy that people commonly assume are, then who to call after a loss and what to have ready. Plain reading level. No jargon unless you define it in the same sentence. Include the line that the policy form controls and this page explains it. Do not say that any specific loss would be paid or denied. End with "Verify against the policy form" listing every coverage line, limit and endorsement with its form number.
Here is the summary you just wrote and the declarations page it came from. Go line by line and show me every figure in the summary next to the figure on the dec page. Flag anything you inferred rather than read, and anything on the dec page you left out.
Same job for a commercial package on a small contractor. Add a section on what the general liability limits mean per occurrence and in aggregate, and a line on which certificates the client can request from us. Same rules on outcomes and the verify list.