Insurance metrics & KPIs

What are insurance KPIs?

Insurance KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are metrics insurance companies use to measure their performance and success. They help teams track progress toward goals and spot problems before they become expensive ones.

Common insurance KPIs include Loss Ratio, Policy Renewal Rate, Claims Settlement Ratio, and Combined Ratio. Each one tells you something specific about where your business stands and what to do next.

Managing risk and reward with a data-driven culture

The most successful insurance organizations balance short-term risks against long-term rewards. That balance depends on offering the right product, having the right people selling it, and understanding the financial exposure that comes with every policy written.

Without reliable numbers, that balance is guesswork. With the right KPIs in place, you know where you're profitable, where you're exposed, and where to act. The metrics below give you that clarity without having to dig through spreadsheets or wait for someone to pull a report.

Top insurance KPIs based on our experience

The six metrics below cover the core of insurance performance: revenue, cost, profitability, and retention. Together they give you a complete picture of how your business is running and where attention is needed.

Explore practical examples and templates for each in our KPI Examples & Templates library.

• Gross Written Premium (GWP): The total value of premiums written before deducting reinsurance costs and commissions. GWP tells you how much revenue the business is generating at the top of the funnel, before costs come out.

• Loss Ratio: The percentage of earned premiums paid out as claims. A rising Loss Ratio is an early warning sign that your pricing, underwriting, or claims management needs attention.

• Expense Ratio: The share of premiums used to cover operating expenses such as commissions, marketing, and administration. Keeping this ratio in check is what separates a lean operation from one that bleeds margin quietly.

• Combined Ratio: The sum of the Loss Ratio and Expense Ratio. A Combined Ratio below 100% means the business is profitable on underwriting alone. Above 100%, you're paying out more than you're bringing in from premiums.

• Policy Renewal Rate: The percentage of policyholders who renew at the end of their term. High renewal rates signal customer trust and reduce the cost of growth, since retaining a customer is almost always cheaper than acquiring one.

• Claims Settlement Ratio: The proportion of claims settled against total claims received. A low ratio can point to operational bottlenecks or customer experience problems that will show up in renewal rates eventually.

Putting insurance KPIs to work

Tracking these metrics is only useful when the numbers are consistent, current, and visible to the people who need to act on them. Pasting figures into a spreadsheet or explaining your business context to a generic AI tool every time you want an answer isn't a sustainable system.

The better approach is a single source of truth that stays current automatically and surfaces what matters without you having to go looking. When your team sees the same numbers, decisions get faster and more consistent.