The 15% Problem: Why Carriers Are Disrupting Your Entire Book for a Few Bad Risks

An agent partner recently told me she spent an entire day on damage control, handling calls about non-renewals and rate hikes for good clients she’d placed with confidence just a year before. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone in a turbulent personal umbrella market. At Monoline, we see the data behind these stories, and I want to share our perspective, and how we’re building a different path forward.

The Cross-Currents in Personal Umbrella

The standalone personal umbrella market is a contradiction. Growth is exploding, driven by new demand and disruption in the home and auto markets. As primary carriers shed risk, packaged policies are forced into the standalone space, fueling growth even as profitability comes under severe pressure.

Many legacy carriers were slow to adapt. They chased growth by writing this new wave of customers with inadequate pricing, and now they face the consequences: drastic actions like staggering rate increases of 30–80% and sudden underwriting tightening.

Monoline's model is built for stable, long-term capacity because we are an underwriting company first.

What’s Changing in the Personal Umbrella Market

For our agent partners, these market shifts create daily friction. You’re seeing:

• Higher underlying auto limit requirements.
• Significant rate increases.
• Good-quality risks pushed into the E&S market based on broad rules.
• Widespread non-renewals hitting even long-time, profitable clients.

This disruption erodes trust and creates hours of difficult, non-revenue-generating work.

What Most Books Actually Need (It’s Not a Wrecking Ball)

Here’s the candid truth from our data: a wrecking ball isn’t necessary.

Our analysis consistently shows that only about 10–15% of a typical portfolio warrants significant underwriting action—the slice that may need higher limits or is better suited for E&S.

The problem is that many carriers lack the granular tools to see the difference. They apply blunt actions to their entire book because they can’t surgically isolate the 10–15% needing attention. This is a failure of the model, not the market, and it’s why we’ve chosen a different path.

Why Monoline Operates Differently

Monoline's model is built for stable, long-term capacity because we are an underwriting company first. To deliver on that promise and avoid the disruptive actions you're seeing elsewhere, we are thoughtfully evolving our platform and product suite. This is our commitment to building a resilient and predictable market for you, and we want to share our roadmap for the coming year.

Greater Precision for Greater Stability: 

Our core philosophy is that surgical underwriting on the front end prevents the need for using a wrecking ball on the back end. To enhance this precision, we will be incrementally integrating new data sources into our platform, lessening the burden on you to collect driving and claims history. We’re starting with MVRs, rolling out in California this November with other states to follow. In early 2026, we will integrate claims data, followed by insurance scores later in 2026.

Now, we know that new underwriting steps can feel like new hurdles. The natural question is: Will this just lead to more declines?

Our early results from Florida show the exact opposite. By using data with precision, we’ve found that 92% of submissions are approved (83% automatically and 9% with a quick manual review), while only 8% are declined.

This isn't about finding more ways to say 'no.' It's about having the clarity to say 'yes' to the vast majority of your clients with more confidence and stability than anyone else in the market. It allows us to protect the 92% from the portfolio-wide rate hikes and disruptions that define the current market.

The current turbulence will pass, but the market’s underlying challenges will remain for carriers who don’t adapt. Monoline was built for this environment.

Game-Changing Products to Help You Grow: 

Our evolution doesn’t stop with underwriting. We are also introducing game-changing products that will give you a significant competitive advantage.

• A Path Forward for Every Risk: For that small slice of accounts that don't fit our admitted product, you will soon have a powerful alternative. In 2026, we will be rolling out our E&S product, providing a seamless path for risks that need more tailored underwriting or pricing. Instead of a hard decline from us, you’ll have another solution.
• A Uniquely Powerful High-Limit Solution: We are also expanding your reach at the top of the market. We will be introducing a $10M limit offering, making Monoline the only standalone carrier where you can secure up to $10M in coverage directly. No waiting 4-6 weeks for a quote; get one in minutes! This is a true game-changer for agents serving high-net-worth clients. Access to $10M will be something our strongest partners can earn. More to come on this later.

These enhancements are precisely how we will continue to provide the stable, long-term capacity you need, helping you build your business with confidence.

A Partnership for the Long Term

The current turbulence will pass, but the market’s underlying challenges will remain for carriers who don’t adapt. Monoline was built for this environment.

Our underwriting-first philosophy, risk-by-risk evaluation, and unique ability to offer both admitted and E&S solutions provide the one thing you and your clients need most: stable, long-term capacity.

We are committed to being the partner that helps you build your business with confidence, not the one that forces you into damage control.

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