Coterie Insurance

Carrier appetite summary

Coterie is a digital small commercial market focused on very small businesses written via automated underwriting. Core small business eligibility from the April 2025 Appetite Guide includes: annual revenue generally up to $10M (limited to $5M for contractors), a maximum of 50 employees (15 for contractors), one location per policy, no more than two losses in the last five years with none over $15,000, and no prior cancellations, non-renewals, or bankruptcies. Home-based businesses are explicitly welcomed. Underwriting is largely rules-based and handled in real time through their online platform, using prefill data and automated eligibility checks; risks outside guidelines typically decline instantly without manual review. Preferred / target business: very small ‘main street’ accounts across personal services, artisan/trade contractors, professional services, retail and home-based/online stores, and select community and service risks. The current appetite guide highlights as “businesses we love to write”: personal services (beauticians, nail salons, barber shops); artisan and trade contractors (electrical, masonry, plumbing, HVAC, painting – subject to the contractor revenue/employee caps); medical offices (doctors, dentists); professional services (accountants, architects, engineers, insurance and real estate agents); retail stores including home-based and internet stores; business consultants (HR, marketing, business, management, education); pet services (boarding, grooming, veterinary); wholesalers and distributors; outpatient mental health services; testing laboratories; health and fitness (personal trainers, yoga/Pilates/dance instructors); florists; freelance businesses (photographers, designers, IT technicians); hobbyist clubs and organizations (women’s auxiliaries, booster/fan clubs, senior associations); trade, art, and business schools; restaurants and bakeries including catering; landscape and janitorial services; funeral homes and mortuaries; publishing and printers; property management; and dry cleaners. Appetite indications show which lines (BOP, GL, MPL) Coterie will consider for each of these classes. Geographic & product availability: Coterie writes small commercial nationwide on partner paper. Current guidance indicates BOP and GL are available in all 50 states, with BOP subject to coastal property restrictions (agents should expect some coastal CAT limitations or declinations when property exposure is close to the shoreline). Miscellaneous Professional Liability is available in most states but is currently not offered in DC, IL, MA, MT, NY, ND, and VA. Contracting classes are unavailable in New York. Agents should also note that certain professional lines and coastal property risks may be restricted or modified by the automated CAT and professional liability underwriting rules, even where the state is generally available. Restricted / declined characteristics: The appetite guide calls out several baseline underwriting rules that function as effective declines: accounts exceeding $10M in revenue (or $5M for contractors); more than 50 employees (or more than 15 for contractors); more than one location per policy; more than two losses in the preceding five policy years or any single loss over $15,000; any prior policy cancellation, non-renewal, or bankruptcy. Risks outside these parameters are typically ineligible in the platform. Contracting classes in New York are not available at all, and MPL is entirely unavailable in the listed no-go states. Additional class-based and hazard-based restrictions (e.g., high-hazard contractors, heavy manufacturing, large frame habitational, or non-mainstreet exposures) are enforced by the digital appetite and will appear as ineligible when you search classes in the Digital Appetite Guide. Submission and workflow expectations: Business is submitted, quoted, and bound entirely online through the Coterie agent dashboard or API/AMS integrations. The quoting process generally requires only business name and address plus class selection, with the system pre-filling and validating exposure details. There is no traditional narrative underwriting submission—eligibility and pricing are driven by Coterie’s automated engine using public data and embedded underwriting rules. The producer guide and platform emphasize that agents should accurately select the NAICS/industry that best reflects the majority of the insured’s revenue, and must not misclassify or manipulate rating information. Certificates, policy documents, and endorsement requests are handled digitally; a policy change form and COI generator are available in the producer resources section. Manual underwriting intervention is limited; producers should assume that ‘out of appetite’ or ‘ineligible’ messages are final unless specifically directed by Coterie support. Broker/producer notes: Coterie distributes exclusively through licensed agents, brokers, and wholesalers using appointed producer relationships tied to the agent’s NPN. Producers are expected to maintain active licenses in all states where they place Coterie business and to comply with all state DOI rules. The producer-facing terms prohibit submitting false, incomplete, or misleading underwriting information, misclassifying businesses, or using unapproved marketing referencing Coterie. New producers can sign up and request appointment online; once appointed, they gain access to the agent dashboard and digital appetite tools. For appetite or underwriting questions that are not resolved by the Digital Appetite Guide, Coterie directs producers to the Agent/Producer support contacts listed in the Producer Resource Hub rather than sending traditional email submissions. Overall, Coterie expects fast, accurate, and fully digital placement of micro and very small commercial accounts within the stated eligibility bands, with producers using the online appetite tools up front to avoid off-target submissions.

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