Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director · Last reviewed 8 July 2026
The renewal invitation has arrived and the maths does not stack up. Turnover is broadly flat but the premium has jumped, the wording review was thin, or the broker never asked about the shift into commercial valuation work. Surveyors change broker at renewal for reasons like these and the mechanics are well established. This entry covers what to expect from the outgoing broker, what the incoming broker needs, and the RICS continuity points that must be handled correctly in transit.
The prompts are observable. The premium moved without a corresponding change in turnover, claims record or work mix. The wording review was a covering paragraph, not a written analysis of the basement exclusion, the high-rise carve-out, the Japanese knotweed sub-limit or the valuation aggregate. The broker did not ask about the move into Red Book valuation, the party wall work you started, the survey type mix or a change in the residential-to-commercial split. The submission went to a single insurer’s facility rather than an open-market panel. Renewal terms were late. Any of these can be a one-off. Together they usually mean the file has not been actively broked.
Under ICOBS 2 information duties and the wider FCA client-service framework, your current broker is required to provide the information you need to make an informed decision at renewal. The current wording in full, the schedule, the claims record, the renewal invitation and any change in terms since inception all belong to you. Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A) applies where the principal is treated as a consumer of the broking service; the “consumer understanding” outcome is the practical hook. A written request for the file is enough. You do not owe an explanation for leaving.
RICS Rule 9 of the Rules of Conduct requires PII on RICS-approved terms in place at all times, sourced from a RICS Listed Insurer. The minimum limit follows a turnover-band scale published by RICS — the incoming broker needs the current-year turnover figure and the projected next-year figure to size the limit correctly. Six-year run-off is the standard for a firm ceasing to trade or ceasing to hold RICS regulation; run-off availability should be confirmed with the incoming insurer at inception. Red Book valuation work — particularly commercial and high-value residential — is treated differently by underwriters and needs disclosure at re-broking so the risk is priced against the actual exposure. The RICS PII register position, and any move on the register, should be confirmed in writing. Under the Building Safety Act 2022 section 135, any survey or valuation touching pre-2022 dwellings sits within the extended thirty-year limitation window and needs a proper retroactive-date read on the new wording.
Take the mechanics in order.
First, do not cancel the current policy until the new one is bound. A claims-made policy needs an unbroken chain. Second, give the incoming broker access to the current wording, schedule, claims record and RICS listing information so the submission is built on the same factual base. Third, the fair-presentation duty under section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015 applies at renewal and at every material variation — do not soften the valuation-exposure disclosure. Fourth, any circumstance already notified to the outgoing insurer stays with that insurer; the new policy responds to claims made during its own period. Fifth, confirm the retroactive date on the new policy matches the outgoing inception so historic survey and valuation files remain within cover. Sixth, read the aggregation clause on the new wording — how a series of related valuations is treated as a single claim — against the outgoing wording, and check the basement, high-rise and knotweed sub-limits are equivalent or better.
A broker doing the work properly on a surveyors’ file looks like this. A named broker reads the wording and writes down the analysis. The submission uses the turnover band, service mix and claims record to build the risk picture, and goes to the RICS Listed Insurer panel on an open-market basis. Rule 9 continuity is treated as an operational constraint, not a footnote. Material variations mid-year are handled at the point they happen. When surveyors move to Apex Insurance Brokers from another broker, they tell us the difference is the same broker on the phone and a wording review that engages with the Red Book work rather than reciting the RICS rulebook. That is the working model, and it is why the retention rate on the surveyors’ book runs at 95%.
Renewal at hand?
Send us your current renewal terms and we’ll take a look. A named broker will read every submission and come back within one working day with a proper comparison.