Have last year's turnover, payroll, subcontractor spend, claims history and equipment values ready, each reconciled to your accounts. Declare payroll as actual gross pay split by type of work, and subcontractor spend separately with a valid insurance certificate for each, because costs without one can be counted towards your premium when the policy is audited.
Your broker advises on what to declare and what cover to buy; AI is for the paperwork around that. It can summarise last year's policy wording, flag certificates with date gaps and draft the note listing what changed. Start 60 to 90 days before renewal, because certificates take chasing. This is general information, so ask a qualified adviser about your own policy.
The pack on one page: which figure feeds which cover
Contractors usually buy several covers, and each rates on different numbers. This map shows where each figure comes from and what to check it against before anyone else sees it.
| Figure | What it commonly feeds | Where it lives | Check it against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover, actual and estimated | Liability and professional indemnity | Year-end accounts, invoicing system | Tax filings and the accounts total |
| Payroll by role | Employee injury cover (workers' compensation or employers' liability, depending on where you trade); sometimes liability | Payroll reports | Payroll tax filings |
| Subcontractor spend and certificates | Employee injury cover and liability | Ledger export, certificate folder | Certificate dates against dates worked |
| Claims record | Every cover | Statements from each previous insurer | Your own incident log |
| Equipment and vehicle schedule | Tools and plant cover, motor policy | Asset register | Replacement cost quotes or recent invoices |
| Contract details | Contract works and liability | Contracts list | Signed contracts |
| Risk controls | Every cover | Safety policy, training records | The documents themselves |
Insurers describe their own requirements in different words. Two insurers' audit pages, for example, ask for payroll registers or logs, payroll tax filings, income statements, profit and loss statements and tax returns, plus a description of operations so the right classifications are applied to the policy (see Westfield's audit preparation page). The checklist below follows that pattern, in the order that makes gathering easiest.
Group 1: what you do, and what changed since last year
- Description of operations. One paragraph on the trades you perform, plus a table showing each work type as a percentage of turnover (new build, repair and maintenance, refurbishment). Why: it sets the classification and the rate. Check: compare it with the job types in your invoicing system, not with how you describe the business on your website.
- Changes since last renewal. New activities, work at height, hot work, demolition, excavation, new premises, new vehicles, bigger contracts, new types of client. Why: mistakes or omissions in what you tell an insurer can cause problems at claim time. Check: ask each site lead "what did we do this year that we didn't last year?" and compare the answers with the contracts list.
- Contract demands. Indemnities, liability caps and the insurance limits your clients require. Why: they affect the limits you need. Check: read the five largest contracts for insurance clauses, rather than recalling them.
Group 2: turnover, actual and estimated
- Last full year's turnover. Excluding indirect tax, per your accounts. Check: it should match the figure in your tax filings, and if it doesn't, write down why.
- Current year to date and forecast. Turnover so far, and your best estimate to year end. Why: a renewal is priced on the coming period, not the last one.
- Split by work type and client type. Homeowners, businesses, public bodies; new work against repair. Why: insurers often rate work types differently. Check: run it as a pivot on your invoice export.
- Largest contracts. The five biggest jobs and any single job above the size your current policy mentions. Why: large contracts can need separate cover or a referral.
- Share that is subcontracted. The subcontractor cost as a percentage of turnover. Why: insurers watch it, and it should match Group 4.
The examples in this checklist all use one illustrative firm: a building contractor with 14 employees, two owners and $3,000,000 of turnover. Here is its work-type split. Demolition is new this year, so it gets flagged rather than folded into refurbishment.
| Work type | Turnover | Share | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions and new build | $1,080,000 | 36% | Mostly residential |
| Refurbishment | $900,000 | 30% | Includes two commercial fit-outs |
| Repairs and maintenance | $840,000 | 28% | Steady repeat clients |
| Internal demolition | $180,000 | 6% | New activity this year |
| Total | $3,000,000 | 100% | Matches the accounts |
Two ratios are worth working out as a sanity check. Payroll of $700,000 is 23 per cent of that turnover, and subcontractor cost of $410,000 is about 14 per cent. If either ratio jumps from last year's, an underwriter will ask why, so have the answer written down before they do. And use one turnover number everywhere. When a liability form, an employee injury form and the tax filing carry three different totals, the questions you get back all start with "why?". The tutorial on job costing with AI shows how to get turnover by work type from your job records.
Group 3: payroll, split the way the policy splits it
- Gross pay by role. Office and clerical, site supervisors, skilled trades, labourers and apprentices, drivers. Include bonuses, commissions and holiday pay, and record overtime, because insurers ask for it. Ask your broker which pay elements count on your policy. Check: reconcile the totals to your payroll tax filings.
- Headcount by role and location. Insurers use it to cross-check payroll. Check: compare it with the people on the payroll system at the renewal date.
- Owners and directors. Their names, titles, ownership share and what they are paid. Why: treatment of owners differs between policies. List them separately and ask the broker how they count.
- Temporary, casual and agency workers. Who pays them and who insures them. Why: directly paid workers usually belong in your payroll figure; agency workers often sit with the agency. Confirm with the broker.
A filled-in payroll table for the same contractor's 14 employees (the two owners are listed separately):
| Role | Headcount | Gross pay last year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and clerical | 2 | $90,000 | Kept apart from field pay |
| Site supervisors | 2 | $130,000 | Includes bonuses |
| Skilled trades | 6 | $360,000 | Overtime recorded by month |
| Labourers and apprentices | 4 | $120,000 | Two started mid-year |
| Total | 14 | $700,000 | Matches the payroll tax filings |
Group 4: subcontractor spend and the certificate gap
- Annual spend per subcontractor. A ledger export grouped by supplier, with the total matched to the subcontractor line in your accounts.
- Insurance certificates. One per subcontractor, covering the right type of cover, with start and end dates and limits. Check: the certificate must cover the dates the subcontractor worked for you, not merely the date you collected it.
- Written agreements. A signed subcontract for each, plus any yearly statement your insurer asks you to complete about each subcontractor's status. Why: it supports the position that they are independent.
- Labour-only individuals. People who work under your direction without their own business. Insurers may treat them as employees, so ask the broker how they should be declared.
Insurers' own audit guidance is blunt on this point. State Farm's premium audit page says that without proof of insurance, a subcontractor's workers may be included in your premium calculation, which it says could increase your premium substantially. Here is the same illustrative contractor's subcontractor schedule, with the gaps marked.
| Subcontractor | Paid last year | Certificate | Dates worked | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical firm | $96,000 | Full year | January to December | Covered |
| Plumbing firm | $84,000 | Full year | January to December | Covered |
| Roofing firm | $62,000 | Expired 30 June | January to October | Gap July to October; $20,000 was paid in that period |
| Plasterer (individual, labour only) | $41,000 | None on file | Throughout | Likely counted as payroll |
| Groundworker (individual) | $37,000 | None on file | Throughout | Likely counted as payroll |
| Four smaller firms | $90,000 | Full year each | Various | Covered |
| Total | $410,000 |
The sum: the two individuals ($78,000) plus the roofer's uncovered months ($20,000) put $98,000 at risk of being counted as payroll. On top of $700,000 that is $798,000, or 14 per cent more. At an illustrative blended rate of $3 per $100 of payroll, that is $2,940 of extra premium, against the price of chasing one renewed certificate and two new ones. The tutorial on tracking subcontractor insurance expiry builds the reminder so the roofer's lapse is caught on 30 June, and the audit records tutorial covers what happens after the year ends.
Group 5: claims, incidents and near-misses
- Claims record from each previous insurer. Insurers usually want several years, so ask your broker how many. A statement from the insurer, sometimes called a loss run, beats memory. The tutorial on reading loss runs shows what these statements contain.
- Open claims. The amount reserved, the status and what you've done to prevent a repeat.
- Incidents and near-misses. Events that didn't become claims but that your site log recorded. Why: underwriters ask about them, and a clean answer with a fix beats a vague one.
- What changed afterwards. A training session, a new guard, a changed method. One sentence per incident.
Check: compare the insurer statement with your own incident log. A claim in one and not the other is the thing to resolve before the broker calls.
A filled-in incident entry shows the level of detail that works (illustrative): "March. Tools stolen from a locked van overnight; $6,200 of loss, claim paid $5,100 after the excess. Cause: the van was parked on the street with tools left inside. Change made: tools now go into a locked store each night, and both vans have deadlocks and a tracker." Four short facts, one fix, no excuses. An entry like that tells an underwriter that you looked at the cause, and it takes two minutes to write while the event is still fresh.
Group 6: equipment, vehicles and stored materials
- Plant and tools schedule. Description, identifier, year, replacement value and where it is kept. Why: a sum insured set below replacement cost leaves you short at claim time. Check: price three items from a current supplier rather than copying last year's values.
- Hired-in plant. What you hire regularly, from whom, and who insures it under the hire contract.
- Vehicles. If they sit on a separate motor policy, list them so the broker can see the whole picture.
- Stored materials and site security. The value held in yards and vans, and how it is locked or alarmed.
| Item | Year | Replacement value | Kept at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini excavator | 2019 | $38,000 | Yard |
| Tower scaffold set | 2021 | $9,500 | Van and yard |
| Laser level kit | 2023 | $1,900 | Van |
A spreadsheet is enough to hold that schedule. The tool tracking tutorial compares a paid app with a sheet built with AI if you want it kept current through the year.
Group 7: current policy papers and risk controls
- Schedule, wording and endorsements. Every page, including the endorsements that were added mid-term. Why: they hold the conditions you must keep meeting.
- Expiry date, premium and any audit or declaration adjustment. Last year's adjustment tells you whether your estimate ran high or low.
- Risk controls. Safety policy, training and competence records, site inspection checks, how you vet subcontractors. Check: each should be a dated document someone could show an underwriter, not a statement of intent.
Estimating next year's payroll and turnover without guessing
An estimate is last year's actual plus known changes. For the illustrative firm: last year's payroll was $700,000. Two skilled tradespeople at $52,000 each will start in month seven, adding $52,000 across the year. A 4 per cent pay rise on the existing $700,000 adds $28,000. The estimate is $700,000 + $52,000 + $28,000 = $780,000, and I would use that rather than a flattering $740,000.
The reasoning: insurers commonly set the premium from an estimate and adjust it against your real figures after the period. State Farm's page says the audit can produce a return premium if the estimate was too high and an additional premium if exposure was greater than estimated. A low estimate just moves the bill to later, and it can strain cash when it arrives. Do the same for turnover: last year's actual plus signed contracts and known pricing changes, with any big pending contract named in the note rather than buried in the total.
When three turnover totals disagree, and how to explain it
The day-60 reconciliation in the timetable below is where most packs stall, and the cause is usually ordinary bookkeeping rather than an error anyone needs to hide. Take the illustrative firm again. Its accounts show $3,000,000 of turnover, the invoice export from its job software totals $3,046,000, and last year's renewal form carried an estimate of $2,900,000. That is three numbers and one obvious question from the underwriter.
Working through the gap takes an afternoon with the accountant. The export included $31,000 of credit notes that the job software lists as separate documents instead of netting them off, and a $15,000 deposit invoiced in the last week of the year for a job starting in the new one, which the accounts carry forward. Together they explain the $46,000. The $2,900,000 was last year's estimate, and the actual figure came in $100,000 higher mainly because of the two commercial fit-outs nobody had planned for. Put those lines in the cover note so the broker can answer before anyone asks: "Accounts $3,000,000. Job software export $3,046,000: $31,000 of credit notes not netted, $15,000 deposit carried into next year. Last year's estimate $2,900,000; two unplanned fit-outs added about $100,000."
An AI assistant can help find a gap like this if you give it both exports and ask for the invoices that appear in one list and not the other. The explanation still has to come from you and your accountant, because only you know why a deposit was moved or a credit note raised.
Where AI helps with the paperwork, and where it stops
Policy documents and payroll hold personal and commercial data, so use a business-tier AI account that doesn't train on your content by default, or remove names and replace figures with placeholders first. Three jobs suit it. Each one still needs your review and your broker's.
1. Summarise last year's wording. Paste the policy text, or upload it, with a prompt that forces quotes and a "not found" answer:
This is last year's contractor insurance policy wording and schedule (names removed).
List: 1) limits and excesses, with the clause number; 2) exclusions that could affect a building contractor, such as work at height, hot work, demolition or subcontractor conditions; 3) conditions we must act on, such as keeping subcontractor certificates or security measures; 4) any clause mentioning turnover, payroll or subcontractor cost as a basis for the premium.
Quote the clause for each point. If something is not in the text, write "not found". Do not advise whether to buy or change cover.A plausible output (illustrative): "Limit: $[X] any one occurrence, excess $[Y] (clause 3.2). Exclusion 12: work above a stated height unless declared. Condition 7: subcontractors must hold their own liability cover while working for you. Basis of premium: estimated turnover, adjusted after the period (clause 9). Hired-in plant: not found."
What you would fix in a draft like this: the assistant paraphrased exclusion 12 without the actual height, so open the clause and copy the figure. It said hired-in plant was "not found", which can happen when the tool misses a tools and equipment extension on an endorsement page, for example because that page is a scanned image it can't read properly. And it didn't say whether condition 7 is a warranty with consequences if broken. Those three questions go to the broker, in writing, with the page numbers.
2. Find certificate gaps in a list. Replace the subcontractors' names with letters, then give the tool each one's certificate dates and the dates they worked, with a prompt that stops it guessing:
Below are subcontractors A to I with: amount paid last year, certificate start date, certificate end date, first and last date worked, and payments by month. All dates are day/month/year.
For each one, say whether the certificate covered every date worked. Where it didn't, give the uncovered period and the amount paid for work in that period.
List any subcontractor with no certificate separately. If a date is missing, say so instead of guessing.A plausible reply (illustrative): "C: certificate ended 30/06, worked until 31/10, uncovered 1 July to 31 October, $20,000 paid in that period. D and E: no certificate on file. F: uncovered from 1 December, $6,000 paid on 12 December. All others covered." The C, D and E lines match the Group 4 table. The F line is a false alarm: F finished in late November and was paid in December, and the tool treated the payment date as a working date. Correct that by giving it the last day worked from the job records, not the ledger. Two other habits keep this check honest: tidy the ledger export first if one supplier's name is spelt three ways, and spot-check the three biggest results against the certificates themselves.
3. Draft the cover note. This is where a short, honest note beats "same as last year". Before: "Nothing much has changed." After (illustrative): "Changes since last renewal: two new skilled employees from July; we began internal partition demolition, about 6 per cent of turnover; one new van; one claim for stolen tools in March, settled, with locked storage added since; the largest pending contract is a $420,000 refurbishment starting in February." The second version gives the broker something to place; the first gives the underwriter a reason to ask. Even so, the AI can't decide what is material, and whether to mention something is the broker's call. The tutorial on how brokers use AI to compare policy wordings shows what the other side of the table does with these tools.
A 90-day timetable to renewal
- Day 90. Pull the policy papers, last year's figures and the claims statements. Set a diary entry for each step below.
- Day 75. Send certificate requests to every subcontractor, naming the dates you need covered, and log each reply the day it arrives.
- Day 60. Reconcile payroll, turnover and subcontractor totals to your accounts. Fix mismatches now.
- Day 45. Draft the estimates and the cover note, and run the AI wording summary.
- Day 30. Send the pack to your broker, with the questions the AI raised.
- Day 21. Go through the quotes with the broker: limits, excesses and conditions, not just the price.
- Day 7. Decide, sign and keep a copy of every form you submitted.
The days are my suggestion, not a rule from any insurer. What matters is that certificates and reconciliation are done before the pack goes out, because those are the two things that stall a renewal. The advice on cover itself always stays with your broker.
Questions contractors ask before a renewal
Do I declare estimated or actual figures at renewal?
You normally give an estimate for the coming policy period, built from last year's actuals and adjusted for known changes such as hires and larger contracts. Many policies are then checked against your real figures after the period ends, which can produce an extra premium if you estimated low or a refund if you estimated high.
Do I need a certificate for every subcontractor?
In practice, yes, because without proof of insurance a subcontractor's costs, and sometimes their workers, can be counted in your premium calculation. Each certificate should cover the dates that subcontractor worked for you and the right type of cover. Ask your broker what your insurer accepts.
How far back should my claims record go?
Insurers usually ask for several years of claims history, so ask your broker how many your policy needs. Request a statement from each previous insurer rather than relying on memory, and check it against your own incident log, since a claim missing from either list is a question you want answered before the broker calls.
Can AI fill in the renewal proposal form for me?
It can pre-fill answers from your records and flag gaps, but you sign the form and the answers are yours. Check every figure against the source document, and send the draft to your broker before it goes to the insurer. Mistakes or omissions in what you tell an insurer can cause problems when you claim.
Further reads
- AI in Contracting: Subcontractor Paperwork Chasing Checklist — A chasing routine for the paperwork every subcontractor owes you.
- AI Software for Contractors: An Office Stack for a Five-Person Firm — An office stack that keeps payroll and subcontractor records tidy.
- Compliance Calendar: Track Licences, Insurance and Certificates — A calendar that tracks licences, insurance and certificates in one place.
- Can AI Draft a Moving Company Contract? Liability and Cancellation — Draft a moving company contract with AI, then test the liability cap, cancellation fees, access clause and claims window against your insurance and a solicitor.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: insurer guidance on premium audits and renewal preparation, including State Farm's premium audit page and Westfield's audit preparation page, which describe the records insurers ask for and how subcontractors without proof of insurance can be counted. Figures in the examples are illustrative. This is general information, not insurance advice.