A bordereau is a periodic report of the policies or claims written under delegated authority, and it is how a carrier sees a book it did not underwrite itself.
A bordereau is a periodic report that lists the policies or claims under a delegated authority deal. An MGA or coverholder sends it to the carrier or reinsurer that holds the risk. It is how a carrier sees a book it did not underwrite itself. When that report is late or wrong, the carrier is blind to its own P&L. This entry defines the term, shows what is on it, and explains why clean bordereau data protects the loss ratio.
What is a bordereau?
A bordereau is a spreadsheet-style report of insurance activity under delegated authority. The plural is bordereaux. It lists each policy or claim as a row, with the details in columns. A managing general agent, or MGA, prepares it. The carrier or reinsurer that carries the risk receives it, usually every month or quarter. The report is the paper trail for business the carrier let someone else write. It sits at the center of any delegated underwriting authority arrangement.
| Type of bordereau | What it lists | Why the carrier needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Premium bordereau | Policies written, premium, commission, taxes | Tracks written premium and reconciles what is owed |
| Claims (loss) bordereau | Claims paid, reserved, and outstanding | Shows loss development and the true loss ratio |
Who uses bordereaux, and why?
Delegated authority runs on bordereaux. Carriers now hand a large, growing share of premium to MGAs. US MGA premium reached $89.9 billion in 2024, a fourth straight year of double-digit growth, per AM Best. Each of those programs reports back through bordereaux. The carrier owns the risk and the result, but the MGA holds the pen. The bordereau is how the carrier checks the book without underwriting each account itself.
Why are bordereaux hard to process?
Bordereaux arrive in many formats, and no two match. Every MGA uses its own template, columns, and codes. Fields get renamed, merged, or dropped between periods. A claims bordereau often lags the real loss by weeks. So the carrier must clean and normalize each file before the numbers mean anything. That work is slow by hand, and errors hide inside the rows. The same format problem shows up when carriers process a loss run.
How does clean bordereau data protect the carrier's P&L?
Clean bordereau data gives a carrier early, true sight of a delegated book. A late or garbled loss bordereau understates the loss ratio until reconciliation catches up. That delay can hide adverse development for a full quarter. By then the treaty is renewed, or the appetite is set on stale numbers. Pibit.AI extracts and normalizes bordereaux and loss runs with 99.9% contractual field-level accuracy, using AI plus managed human-in-the-loop review. That turns mismatched files into one consistent book view. Underwriting leaders then see premium leakage and loss trends while they can still act, the goal behind bordereau ingestion automation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a premium bordereau and a claims bordereau?
A premium bordereau lists policies written, premium, and commission. A claims, or loss, bordereau lists claims paid, reserved, and outstanding. Carriers use the first to reconcile premium and the second to track loss development and the true loss ratio.
Who prepares a bordereau?
A managing general agent (MGA) or coverholder that writes business under delegated authority prepares the bordereau. It is sent to the carrier or reinsurer holding the risk, usually every month or quarter.
Why is bordereau processing difficult?
Every MGA uses its own template, columns, and codes, and formats change between periods. Carriers must clean and normalize each file before the numbers are comparable, which is slow and error-prone by hand.
