Claims

What Is a Bordereau? Bordereaux Reporting Explained

ClaimsGateway

16 Oct 26

•

min read

A bordereau is a regular schedule an underwriting agency or coverholder sends to the insurer carrying the risk, listing the policies written, premiums collected or claims handled under its authority. Claims bordereaux show each claim's status, reserves and payments. They are how an insurer oversees work done in its name, so their accuracy matters.

Key takeaways

A bordereau, plural bordereaux, is a periodic report from a party acting under delegated authority to the insurer behind it.
According to Lloyd's, its Coverholder Reporting Standards Version 5.2 split reporting into three bordereaux: Risk Written, Premium Paid and Claims.
According to the Underwriting Agencies Council, its more than 130 member agencies are responsible for over $10.5 billion of premium a year.
Most bordereau problems start upstream, in claim and policy records that were never captured consistently.

What is a bordereau?

A bordereau is a schedule of risks, premiums or claims that a party acting under delegated authority sends to the insurer carrying the risk. Underwriting agencies, Lloyd's coverholders and claims administrators send them, usually monthly. The insurer uses them to record its exposure, reconcile money owed and oversee how its authority is being used.

The word comes from French, where it means a note or a schedule, and the plural is bordereaux. In insurance it has come to mean any structured report of this kind. For example, an agency writing professional indemnity cover for two insurers sends each one its own bordereaux every month. Each set covers only the business written on that insurer's capacity.

Bordereaux exist because of delegated authority. When an insurer lets an agency bind cover or settle claims, it can no longer see each transaction as it happens. The bordereau gives it that view after the fact. The delegated authority explainer covers how that authority is granted.

What is the difference between premium and claims bordereaux?

Premium and risk bordereaux report the business written: which policies were bound, for what cover and premium, and which premiums have been paid. Claims bordereaux report the claims handled: each claim's dates, status, reserves, payments and recoveries. Insurers use the first to track exposure and money, and the second to track claims performance.

According to Lloyd's, Version 5.2 of its Coverholder Reporting Standards moved to three separate bordereaux. The Risk Written bordereau records the risks bound. Next, the Premium Paid bordereau records the premium actually collected and paid over. Finally, a Claims bordereau records the claims handled under the authority.

For every open and recently closed claim, a claims bordereau typically carries the policy, the dates of loss and notification, the claimant and the cause. It also shows the current status, the reserve, payments to date and any recoveries. In addition, it usually flags claims referred to the insurer because they exceed the agency's authority.

Who sends bordereaux, and to whom?

Underwriting agencies, Lloyd's coverholders and delegated claims administrators send bordereaux to the insurers or Lloyd's syndicates whose capacity they use. A TPA handling claims for an insurer may send claims bordereaux too. The recipient is whoever carries the risk and owes the regulator an account of it.

In Australia, underwriting agencies are the largest senders. According to the Underwriting Agencies Council, its members represent the vast majority of Australian underwriting agencies. An agency with several capacity providers sends a set of bordereaux to each, often in each insurer's preferred format. A claims page for agencies describes the claims side of that work.

Lloyd's coverholders follow the same pattern for business written on Lloyd's syndicates. The guide to binders and coverholders explains how coverholders differ from other agencies.

What do Lloyd's reporting standards require?

Lloyd's Coverholder Reporting Standards set a core data set for coverholders and delegated claims administrators. It covers risk, premium and claims data, across classes and territories. Version 5.2 separates reporting into Risk Written, Premium Paid and Claims bordereaux. Lloyd's signs off each data set for tax, regulatory and finance use.

The standards matter beyond Lloyd's. Because they define what a well-formed bordereau contains, they are a useful model even for business written on Australian insurers' capacity. Lloyd's also publishes standard operating procedures for how its Delegated Data Manager processes premium and claims bordereaux submissions.

For an agency, the practical lesson is to capture the fields the standards require at the point a policy is bound or a claim is lodged. Adding them later, at month end, is where most errors start. Check the current version on the Lloyd's website before building to it.

Why are bordereaux hard to get right?

Bordereaux are hard because they summarise records that were often never captured consistently. Handlers type data differently, claims are tracked in spreadsheets and email, and several insurers want several formats. Together they turn a monthly report into a monthly reconstruction. Reconciliation then finds the gaps, late.

Three problems recur. First, the underlying data is incomplete, so fields are filled in by hand at month end. Second, the agency's numbers and the insurer's numbers do not match, so reconciliation becomes a negotiation. Third, each insurer wants its own layout, so the same data is reshaped several times a month.

The fix starts upstream. Suppose every claim is recorded in one system, with the same fields from first notice to close. Then the claims bordereau becomes an extract rather than a project. Claims platforms such as ClaimsGateway (claimsgateway.com) hold that claim record from first notice of loss to close. The claims software list for agencies compares the systems agencies use for it.

Frequently asked questions

What is a claims bordereau?

A claims bordereau is a regular report, usually monthly, that an underwriting agency or claims administrator sends to the insurer behind it. It lists the claims handled under the insurer's authority, with each claim's dates, status, reserves, payments and recoveries, and flags claims referred to the insurer because they exceed the agency's limits.

How often are bordereaux sent?

Bordereaux are most commonly sent monthly, though the binder or delegated authority agreement sets the actual frequency. Some insurers ask for quarterly reporting on smaller schemes, and some want more frequent claims reporting on large or volatile classes. The agreement also sets the format and the deadline after each period ends.

What is the Lloyd's Coverholder Reporting Standard?

It is Lloyd's standard core data set for coverholders and delegated claims administrators reporting risk, premium and claims data. Version 5.2 splits reporting into three bordereaux: Risk Written, Premium Paid and Claims. Because the standard defines a well-formed bordereau, it is also a useful model for business written on Australian insurers' capacity.

What is bordereaux reconciliation?

Bordereaux reconciliation is checking that the figures in an agency's bordereaux match the insurer's own records and the money actually paid. Premiums, claims payments, reserves and recoveries are compared line by line. Differences are investigated and corrected, which is easiest when the agency's underlying records were captured consistently in the first place.

What is the plural of bordereau?

The plural of bordereau is bordereaux, following the French spelling the word comes from. In practice the insurance industry uses both forms loosely, and "bordereaux" is often used for the reporting process as a whole, as in "bordereaux reporting", even when only one schedule is meant.

About the author

ClaimsGateway builds cloud claims management software for insurers, underwriting agencies, brokers, TPAs and self-insured organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Every regulator figure in this article links to its source, and every vendor fact was checked on the vendor's own site on the date shown.