What Shows Up on a Loss Run Report

A loss run typically covers three to five years of claims history and includes the claim number, date of loss, a brief description of what happened, amounts paid to date, reserves still held against the claim, and whether the claim is open or closed. Even claims that were denied or closed with no payment usually still appear, since the report is meant to show claim activity, not just paid losses.

• Open claims with active reserves can affect a quote more than closed ones, since the final cost isn't settled yet.
• A loss run with zero claims for several years is one of the strongest things you can bring to a new carrier when shopping coverage.
• Most states allow a business to request its own loss run history at any time, not just at renewal.

How Underwriters Use Loss Run History

When you apply for a new policy or renew an existing one, the underwriter uses your loss run to judge whether your claims frequency and severity fit the rate they're offering. A pattern of small, similar claims (say, repeated slip-and-fall claims at the same location) can raise more concern than a single large claim that was clearly a one-time event, because it points to an ongoing operational or property issue rather than bad luck.

Why This Matters When You Switch Carriers

If you're moving to a new insurer, that carrier has no direct claims history with you, so your loss run is effectively your track record. A business that can't produce a clean loss run, or that has one showing multiple recent claims, will often see higher premiums or added exclusions from the new carrier, even if the underlying risk hasn't changed. Requesting loss runs from every prior carrier, well before shopping renewal, avoids being caught without documentation an underwriter is asking for.