Book roll

Definition

Moving a group of policies from one carrier to another, usually to win a better commission or rate.

Why It Matters

A roll can lift commissions overnight and it puts every moved policy back in front of the client, which is when a quiet renewal becomes a shopping decision. An agency that rolled a large share of its book in the year before sale has pulled retention forward and left the risk with the buyer. Ask which carriers received rolls in the past three years and what retention did in the twelve months after each. A book that looks stable on average can be hiding one roll that has not finished settling.