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Insurance Policy Checking: How to Check an Issued Policy Against What Was Bound
Policy checking means comparing an issued policy with what the carrier agreed to bind, before you file it. Most errors it catches are small: a deductible that didn't change, a vehicle that should have been removed, two transposed digits in a VIN. Each one is cheap to fix now and expensive to find at claim time. The catch is what you compare against. Checking the policy against the quote misses every term the carrier changed at binding. So the standard is the quote the client selected, updated by every change the carrier confirmed. A client's request doesn't count until the carrier agrees to it. This guide covers what to compare, a step-by-step process, and a worked commercial auto example where AI found four errors and drafted the correction request, finding by finding, with the documents to download.
By Isaiah Hall · Published · Updated
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- Why checking against the quote isn't enough
- What to compare
- The policy checking process
- Worked example: what we gave the AI
- What came back
- Finding 1: the collision deductible
- Finding 2: unit 4, the sold service van
- Finding 3: unit 6's VIN
- Finding 4: the auto count
- Before you send
- On your next issued policy
- Check every policy, not just the big ones
Why checking against the quote isn't enough
In this commercial auto file, the quote and the issued policy both show a $1,000 collision deductible. If you check the policy against the quote, that row passes. But the carrier's binding confirmation set it at $2,500, so the declarations still show $1,000 against a bound $2,500. The policy has to match what was bound: the selected quote for terms the carrier didn't change, updated by every change the carrier confirmed. A client's request isn't one of those until the carrier agrees.
We gave a general-purpose AI model this file and a plain request. It came back with a completed check: four places where the issued policy doesn't match what the carrier bound, including that collision row, and a draft request asking the carrier to fix them. The worked example below walks through that result one finding at a time: what the AI found, how to confirm it in the documents, and what the draft asks for.
What to compare
Check each of these against what was bound. Most errors show up in the schedules and the deductibles, so read those line by line rather than scanning totals.
| Item | What to check |
|---|---|
| Named insured and mailing address | Exact legal names of every named insured, including entities added at binding |
| Policy period | Effective and expiration dates, and the time of day if the form shows one |
| Limits and deductibles | Every limit and deductible, per coverage, including any the carrier changed at binding |
| Schedules | Vehicles, VINs, drivers, locations and equipment: each added or removed item, and the count |
| Forms and endorsements | Every endorsement the quote or binder promised is attached, with the right edition |
| Additional insureds, loss payees, mortgagees | Names and addresses match the bound list |
| Premium, taxes and fees | Matches the binder, and still holds after any corrections |
| Subjectivities | Anything the carrier needs before or after binding, like a signed application, and who owes it |
The policy checking process
Gather the four documents
The quote the client selected, the client's change requests, the carrier's binding confirmation, and the issued policy. Without the binder, you can't tell which changes the carrier actually agreed to.
Build what should be on the policy
Start from the selected quote and apply each change the binder confirms. Keep client requests the carrier hasn't confirmed on a separate list; they're follow-ups, not errors.
Compare line by line
Go through the checklist above against the issued policy. Note the document and page for both sides of every difference, so anyone can confirm it.
Send the carrier one request
List each correction with what the policy shows, what was bound, and where. Ask the carrier to confirm the premium still holds after the changes.
Track it until the corrected policy arrives
Check the corrected endorsement or reissued policy the same way before you close the file.
Worked example: what we gave the AI
The file is a contractor's commercial auto policy, four documents and 14 pages: the quote the client chose, the client's email asking for changes, the carrier's binding confirmation, and the issued policy CA-2026-018442. The model received the text of the four PDFs, labeled by page, and this request:
I'm an account manager at an insurance agency. Attached are four documents for one client: the quote they chose, their email asking for changes, the carrier's binding confirmation, and the issued policy. Please compare the issued policy against what the carrier agreed to, tell me about any differences or anything else that needs my attention, and draft a request to the carrier for anything they need to correct.
That's the whole prompt. Use an AI tool your agency has approved for client documents.
What came back
| # | Item | Binder (9/30/26) | Issued policy (10/7/26) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collision deductible | $2,500 per covered auto (change #3) | $1,000 per covered auto | Binder p.1; Policy p.2 |
| 2 | Unit 4, 2018 service van, VIN ending 6640 | Removed (change #1; not on bound schedule) | Still scheduled | Binder p.1–2; Policy p.3 |
| 3 | Unit 6, 2026 pickup, VIN | VIN ending 4471 (matches client's email) | VIN ending 4417 (digits transposed) | Binder p.1–2; Client email; Policy p.3 |
| 4 | Total scheduled autos | 5 | 6 | Binder p.2; Policy p.3 |
It also listed what matched, kept the client's two unconfirmed requests (a higher comprehensive deductible and an additional insured) apart as follow-ups rather than carrier errors, and drafted the request. The full response is in the downloads, unedited.
Finding 1: the collision deductible
The quote and the issued policy both show a $1,000 collision deductible, so side by side they agree. But the carrier's binding confirmation, page 1, changed it: "3. Collision deductible: $2,500 per covered auto." The policy's declarations, page 2, still read "Collision: Actual cash value, $1,000 deductible per covered auto". The policy doesn't show the deductible the carrier confirmed.
Confirm it by opening those two pages. We open the cited pages in Decla's citation view: the citation opens the binding confirmation at page 1 with the $2,500 line highlighted, and Next source opens the policy at page 2 with the $1,000 line highlighted. In any other tool, open the two pages yourself.
The draft's item:
1. Collision deductible. The declarations show $1,000 per covered auto. The binder confirmed $2,500 per covered auto.
Finding 2: unit 4, the sold service van
The client's email, page 1: "1. Remove unit 4, the 2018 service van. We sold it." The binding confirmation, page 1, confirms it ("Unit 4, 2018 service van, VIN ending 6640: removed."), and the bound schedule on page 2 doesn't list it. The issued policy's schedule, page 3, still does.
2. Unit 4 (2018 service van, VIN ending 6640). Please remove it. The binder confirmed its removal, but it still appears on the schedule of covered autos.
Removing it may affect the premium; that's for the carrier to confirm, not something to assume.
Finding 3: unit 6's VIN
The bound schedule, page 2, shows "Unit 6: 2026 pickup, VIN ending 4471", matching the client's email. The issued schedule, page 3, shows "VIN ending 4417". The documents only show the last four digits, so before this item goes out, check the full VIN on the vehicle's registration.
3. Unit 6 (2026 pickup). The schedule shows the VIN ending 4417. The bound VIN ends in 4471. Please correct it and confirm the full VIN on the policy.
Finding 4: the auto count
The bound schedule lists five autos; the issued schedule lists six. This one follows from finding 2: the extra auto is unit 4.
4. Total scheduled autos. Please correct to 5 (Units 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6), per the bound schedule.
The premium matches: $25,350 on both the binding confirmation and the policy. The draft asks the carrier to confirm it still holds after the corrections. That's a question, not a premium error.
Before you send
An item is ready when each page supports its own side of it: the document that controls the term (the selected quote, or the carrier's confirmation where it changed the term) shows the expected value, and the issued policy shows the value the item says it has. Open the two pages and read the lines. Send the carrier only the items you've checked. The draft also asks the carrier to confirm the premium and the signed application the quote requires; keep those questions or drop them.
Use the AI for the documented comparison and the draft, and leave coverage conclusions to qualified review. The response also said the wrong declarations entry "controls until it is corrected," which is a coverage conclusion rather than a comparison of the documents.
On your next issued policy
Don't stop at whether the policy agrees with the quote. Give your approved AI tool the quote, the client's request, the carrier's confirmation and the issued policy, with a plain request like the one above. Read the comparison finding by finding, open the pages behind each item, and send the carrier the checked items before the file goes back in the drawer.
Downloads: the four PDFs from this file, the plain request, and the AI's full response, unedited. A longer structured prompt we also tried, and its response, are available too.
- Quote, Option 2, version 3 (PDF, 4 pages)
- Client change request, September 26 (PDF, 1 page)
- Carrier binding confirmation, September 30 (PDF, 2 pages)
- Issued policy CA-2026-018442 (PDF, 7 pages)
- The plain request (TXT)
- AI response to the plain request, unedited (Markdown)
- The longer structured prompt, with placeholders to fill in (TXT)
- AI response to the structured prompt, unedited (Markdown)
Check every policy, not just the big ones
Most agencies only check the larger policies because a line-by-line comparison takes time. Decla runs the comparison on the documents in your email and AMS and shows each finding with a link to the page it came from, then drafts the correction request. Your team checks each item and decides what goes to the carrier.
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