James Mahon, Reinsurance Pre-Sales Lead at DXC Technology, emphasised that in an increasingly complex and softening market, re/insurers must rethink their renewal strategy and invest in automated renewal management rather than relying on manual, people-dependent processes.
In an interview with Reinsurance News, Mahon noted that recent market conditions have made the renewal process increasingly complex. However, despite its importance, renewal management has not been modernised as much as it deserves.
“For many (re)insurers, renewals continue to be a reactive, largely manual back-office function, reliant on legacy systems, spreadsheets and lengthy email chains,” Mahon explained. “Yet as market conditions soften and pricing pressure increases, the quality of the renewal process matters more than ever. A robust, well-governed renewal approach is no longer just an operational necessity – it is a competitive differentiator.”
He highlighted that the lack of a single source of truth limits visibility and control across the renewal portfolio.
“Information is often scattered across personal and shared drives, making even basic planning difficult – such as identifying which treaties are approaching renewal, or distinguishing straight-through renewals from those requiring negotiation,” said Mahon.
He emphasised that slower visibility today allows more digitally enabled competitors to engage earlier and win business.
He continued, “Fragmented data further undermines renewal effectiveness. Performance information – including premiums, claims and loss ratios – is often spread across multiple systems, requiring manual effort to gather, reconcile and validate.
“As a result, renewal decisions are delayed or made without full insight. By the time data is available, negotiations may already be underway or concluded. This increases the risk of agreeing pricing and terms without fully understanding historical performance.”
These challenges are compounded by operational strain during renewal season. Mahon stated, “Heavy reliance on knowledgeable individuals to manually locate, rekey and reconcile information creates bottlenecks and key-person risk, pulling resources away from higher-value activities.
“Manual processing increases the likelihood of errors, inconsistencies and version control issues, particularly in a softening market where more renewals require negotiation.”
The fallout of this, Mahon explained, is missed opportunities to restructure terms or exit underperforming treaties, delayed premium recognition, cash-flow strain, and reputational damage.
He highlighted the critical role of automation in addressing these pressures. He stated that centralised, integrated renewal management provides early visibility of upcoming renewals across configurable timelines, enabling proactive planning and portfolio-level prioritisation. This allows high-risk and high-value renewals to be identified early, so teams can focus on what matters most.
Mahon added, “A single source of truth also enables immediate access to core performance data at the point of renewal. By eliminating manual data gathering, 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 through straight-through processing of pre-agreed renewals, with contracts and professional documentation generated automatically. For negotiated renewals, guided workflows and standardised processes support consistent, controlled adjustments to terms, limits and deductions – significantly reducing rework and error.”
He also underlined the importance of governance, saying, “End-to-end lifecycle management provides full auditability from initial offer through to acceptance, supporting compliance, reporting and post-renewal review. This transparency enables (re)insurers to understand not only individual outcomes, but broader portfolio trends and negotiation patterns.”
Mahon reiterated that as renewal volumes, complexity, and market expectations continue to rise, reliance on manual, people-dependent processes is no longer sustainable. He stressed that in a softening market, weaknesses in renewal processes are quickly exposed.
He concluded, “Now is the time for (re)insurers to rethink their renewal strategy. By investing in automated renewal management, renewals become repeatable, consistent, auditable and insight driven. They become a strategic asset.
“Market cycles will always change. But renewal discipline, enabled by the right foundations, is what allows (re)insurers not just to survive changing conditions, but to outperform across them.”
