What Is a Loss Run Report? How to Read, Request and Use One

TL;DR

• A loss run is a report from an insurance carrier listing every claim filed under a policy during a set period, usually the last 3 to 5 years, with amounts paid, amounts reserved and claim status.
• Underwriters use loss runs to price and accept new business: how often claims happen (frequency), how large they are (severity), and whether open claims could still grow.
• Business owners or their agents request loss runs from each prior carrier, usually by email or through a carrier portal. If there were no claims, the carrier issues a no-loss letter instead.
• Every carrier uses its own format, which makes loss runs slow to key in. Extraction software such as Sensible turns loss run PDFs into structured claim data.

A loss run report is the claims history of an insurance policy, produced by the carrier that wrote it. It lists every claim reported during a period, usually the last 3 to 5 policy years. For each claim it shows when the loss happened, what happened, whether the claim is still open, and how much has been paid and set aside. When a business shops for commercial insurance, the loss run is often the most important document in the submission after the application itself.

What a loss run contains

Formats differ by carrier, but most loss runs include the same core information.

Policy-level information

• Named insured and mailing address
• Carrier and, sometimes, the producing agency
• Policy number, line of business (for example, general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, property) and policy period
• Valuation date: the date the figures were current as of
• Totals per policy year: number of claims, total paid, total reserved, total incurred, and sometimes earned premium and a loss ratio

Claim-level information

Field	What it means
Claim number	The carrier’s identifier for the claim
Date of loss	When the incident happened
Date reported	When the claim was reported to the carrier
Claimant / description	Who was involved and a short description, such as “rear-ended at stop light” or “slip and fall in store”
Coverage or cause of loss	Which coverage responded, such as bodily injury, property damage, medical or indemnity
Status	Open, closed or reopened
Paid	Money already paid out, often split into indemnity (to the claimant), medical, and expense (legal and adjusting costs)
Reserve (outstanding)	Money the carrier expects to pay in the future on an open claim
Incurred	Paid plus reserve: the total expected cost of the claim
Recoveries	Subrogation or salvage recovered, which reduces the net cost

How to read a loss run

1. Check the valuation date. A loss run valued nine months ago can hide claims reported since then. Underwriters generally want loss runs valued within about the last 90 days.
2. Check that every policy year is covered. Gaps in the years shown are one of the most common reasons a submission comes back for more information.
3. Look at frequency. Many small claims can worry an underwriter more than one large one, because frequency suggests a pattern.
4. Look at severity and open reserves. A large open claim can still grow. Note how much of the incurred total is reserve rather than paid.
5. Compare incurred losses to premium. If earned premium is shown, the loss ratio (incurred losses divided by earned premium) is the simplest measure of how profitable the account has been.
6. Read the descriptions. Claim descriptions show whether losses are random or point to a fixable problem, such as fleet driver training or a wet-floor policy. Underwriters give credit when the insured has addressed the cause.

How to request a loss run

Loss runs come from the carrier, not the agent, although agents usually request them on the client’s behalf.

• Who can ask: the named insured, or an agent or broker with the insured’s authorization. A new agent may need a signed letter of authorization from the insured.
• What to include: the named insured, every policy number, the lines of coverage and the policy years needed (usually the last 3 to 5).
• How: most carriers accept requests by email to a loss run or underwriting service address, or through an agent or policyholder portal.
• How long it takes: often a few business days, but it varies. Request loss runs well before the renewal date, since every prior carrier must respond before a full submission can go out.
• No claims? The carrier provides a no-loss letter, or a loss run showing zero claims, for the period.

How underwriters use loss runs

Underwriters use loss runs for three things.

• Deciding whether to quote: frequency, severity and open claims can put an account outside appetite.
• Pricing: experience is a direct input to commercial pricing, especially for larger accounts and for workers’ compensation.
• Terms: they set deductibles, exclusions or loss-control requirements.

Because one submission can include loss runs from several carriers in different formats, someone has to rekey the claims into a single summary before the underwriter can use them. At an agency, that is usually an account manager. At a carrier or MGA, it is an underwriting assistant.

Automating loss run data entry

Loss runs are among the hardest insurance documents to automate. Every carrier uses its own layout. Tables run across pages with repeated headers, subtotals sit in the middle of tables, and some carriers send scanned images. Rules-only templates break when a carrier changes its format. Generic OCR can capture the text but not reliably which number belongs to which claim.

Modern loss run extraction combines layout handling with language models. Known carrier formats get configured extraction. Unfamiliar formats are parsed by a model that understands what a claim row is. The output is structured data: one record per claim, with date of loss, status, paid, reserve and incurred, ready to load into a rating model, an underwriting workbench or a spreadsheet summary.

• Sensible is our top pick for loss run extraction. It combines layout configurations for known carrier formats with LLM-based parsing for everything else, publishes its pricing (from $499 per month for 750 documents), and returns claims as structured JSON you can validate.
• SortSpoke, Indico Data and Roots parse loss runs as part of wider submission and renewal intake.
• Docsumo handles loss runs among its general document types.

The full comparison is in our guide to the best loss run parsing software. For the rest of the submission (applications, schedules and certificates), see insurance document extraction software.

FAQs

What is a loss run in insurance?

A loss run is a claims history report produced by an insurance carrier for a specific policy. It lists each claim, with the date of loss, a description, the claim status, and the amounts paid and reserved, over a set period, usually 3 to 5 years.

Why do I need a loss run report?

Insurers ask for loss runs when you shop for new coverage or renew with a different carrier. The new underwriter uses your claims history to decide whether to offer coverage and how to price it. Without loss runs, many carriers will not quote commercial lines.

How do I get a loss run report?

Ask your current or prior insurance carrier, either directly or through your agent. Most carriers accept requests by email, through an online portal, or with a signed request letter. Include the named insured, policy numbers, lines of coverage and the years needed.

How many years of loss runs do underwriters want?

Most commercial underwriters ask for 3 to 5 years of loss runs, and they want them to be current, typically valued within the last 90 days. Requirements vary by carrier and line of business.

What is a no-loss letter?

When a policy had no claims during the period, the carrier issues a letter or report stating that no losses were reported. Underwriters treat it as a loss run with zero claims.

What does incurred mean on a loss run?

Incurred is the total expected cost of a claim: the amount already paid plus the amount still held in reserve for future payments. On a closed claim, incurred equals paid. On an open claim, incurred can change as reserves are adjusted.