If Your Renewals Are Unpredictable
It’s a Structural Problem
The Problem
Why Most Benefits Plans Break Down
Most companies use a one-size-fits-all plan.
It’s built to keep costs low today, not to keep them stable over time.
A 30-year-old and a 60-year-old need completely different things, but get the same coverage.
That mismatch means you’re paying for things employees don’t use, while the claims that actually drive costs aren’t controlled.
When that happens, claims become unpredictable. And when claims are unpredictable, renewals jump with them.
If your costs feel out of control, it’s usually not random. It’s structural.
The Fix
A Better Structure Changes Everything
Switching carriers doesn’t fix the problem. It just resets the clock.
The fix is changing how the plan is built.
Instead of one uniform design, coverage is structured around how different groups of employees actually use benefits.
That means the coverage lines up with the real usage, so the plan works the way it’s supposed to, instead of producing random spikes in claims.
When the structure changes, claims become more predictable.
And when claims are predictable, renewals follow.
How We Approach Benefits
Our 6 Step Approach To Diagnosing Problems
Review Plan Design
Compare your current coverage to companies your size and identify mismatches, where you’re overinsured in some areas and undercovered in others.
Analyze Claims Drivers
Break down your claims history and renewal to identify which areas are specifically driving your costs.
Connect Design to Usage
Compare the benefits being offered to real usage patterns to identify structural inefficiencies.
Evaluate Pricing vs Loss Ratios
Assess whether the plan is over or underpriced based on how claims are performing relative to target loss ratios.
Align Structure for Stability
Identify where coverage, usage, and cost are misaligned, then restructure the plan to improve stability, either by fixing the current plan or moving to a better-fit structure.
Monitor and Adjust at Renewal
Review performance at each renewal to ensure the structure continues to align with usage, costs remain controlled, and adjustments are made as needed.
Client Outcomes
Fire & Security Contractor
21 employees, Ontario
Result: premium reduced from $6,900 → $5,700/month($14,000 annual savings), eliminated $11,000 in projected overpayment at renewal.
Health and dental loss ratios were averaging 62%, significantly below the 75% target.
Used claims data to challenge a proposed 27% renewal increase.
Repositioned the plan structure to reflect actual claims behaviour better, increasing coverage where needed and decreasing unused coverages.
Construction Company
35 employees, Ontario
Result: next renewal came in at just 8%, avoiding the projected 20-25% increase and saving $50,000 over the following 2 years.
Claims had been rising year-over-year, health and dental loss ratios were over 115%, resulting in a 32% renewal increase.
Claims analysis showed the renewal was still underpriced by 15%, projecting a 20-25% renewal increase the following year.
Moved the company from an experience-rated plan to a pooled structure to stabilize costs and reduce volatility. The transition required a further 4% increase on top of their renewal rates.
Welding & Fabrication Company
18 Employees, Alberta
Result: Significantly increased coverage for the same cost, and a stable pooled structure with no renewal volatility tied to high usage.
Annual benefits spend was roughly $75,000 under an HSA-based structure.
Despite that spend, top-level employees were capped at just $4,000 per year in HSA allocation.
Replaced the HSA with a fully pooled benefits plan at $6,000/month.
The new plan provided materially stronger coverage, including $10,000 in drug coverage, $1,500 in dental coverage, and roughly $5,000 in paramedical coverage.
Where Our Approach Works
This works well if:
Your renewals have been jumping year to year, and the only solution you’re given is to shop for a new carrier.
You’re given a number at renewal, but no clear explanation for what’s actually driving it.
Your plan gives everyone the same coverage, regardless of age or how they use their benefits.
You want better coverage for your employees without every renewal feeling unpredictable.
You have under 50 employees, where plan structure has the biggest impact on cost and renewal stability.
This isn’t the right approach if:
Your main priority right now is finding the lowest premium.
You’re comfortable switching carriers each year to manage costs.
Most business decisions balance cost and long-term value. Benefits are no different.
Plans designed to be the lowest price today often end up being the most expensive later.
In many cases, a better structure can immediately reduce costs. In others, a small adjustment now prevents much larger increases later.
A 5% adjustment now can prevent a 15% spike at renewal.
We build plans for long-term stability, not just the lowest quote this year.
If your renewals have been unpredictable, there's a reason
On a short call, we’ll look at:
What’s driving your costs,
How your current structure is behaving,
And what a more stable setup would look like