HawkSoft: stop renewals slipping with suspenses and notes

Here’s how renewals slip in a HawkSoft agency. The carrier download comes in overnight, the policy updates, and nobody reads the log note. Say the premium went up 22%. The client finds out from their bank statement. HawkSoft can turn that download into a suspense, or a task in the cloud version, assigned to a real person with a priority and a category. Add a log note template so the person closing it records the same facts every time, and renewals stop disappearing into the log. This guide sets that up.

Which HawkSoft are you on? Most of the setup detail below comes from HawkSoft’s own help documentation for the legacy local-server version (HawkSoft 5), which HawkSoft still publishes. In HawkSoft’s cloud version, HawkSoft says the Task Center has replaced the Suspense list. Tasks work much like suspenses but don’t have to be attached to a log note. The download-rule logic is the same idea in both. If a menu name doesn’t match your screen, check HawkSoft’s in-app help or ask support.

What you need

Admin permissions. The legacy help lists Setup > Download Configuration to change download rules and Setup > General Configuration for default suspenses. That’s typically the owner or office manager.
Carrier downloads turned on for the carriers you want covered. Policies without downloads need the expiration-report method in step 6.
Agent of Record and CSR filled in on every client. The rules assign work by role, so blanks mean nobody gets the suspense.
A short list of categories and templates, agreed with the team before you set them up.

HawkSoft doesn’t publish pricing, and I found no separate cost for these features.

Step by step

1. Create a “Renewal” suspense category

Categories are how a CSR sorts the day. Suspenses are grouped by category on the Start Page and can be filtered on the Suspense list.

Legacy path: Settings (cog) > Customize Lists > Suspense Categories > Edit > New. Add:

Renewal - Review
Renewal - Uprate
Renewal - Client Reply Needed

The HawkSoft User Group suggests asterisks for urgent categories, like ***URGENT Follow Up***. Use that on one or two at most.

2. Create a renewal review log note template

Templates make the note useful. Legacy path: Settings > Customize Lists > Suspense/Log templates > Edit > New. Put the template name in Description and the body text below it.

Example template, named Renewal review:

RENEWAL REVIEW
Prior premium:
Renewal premium:
Change %:
Coverage changes on dec page (Y/N, what):
Client contacted (date, how):
Client response:
Producer reviewed (name, date):
Next step / date:

The “Producer reviewed” line is your E&O control. Any message that explains a coverage change or recommends a different option gets a licensed producer’s sign-off first, and the note records who.

3. Turn renewal downloads into suspenses

Legacy path: Settings > Download Configuration > Download Rules tab. If you run separate personal and commercial rules, you’ll see two Download Rules tabs, so do both.

Under Renewals, the help lists these options:

Update Policy: updates the policy from the download and writes a log note.
Do not update renewals/endorsements until their effective date: holds the update. The policy shows Renewal (Pending) until the effective date.
Assign Document for Review: sends the download to a user’s Documents for Review list.
Suspend Log: suspends the download’s log note to the user you pick.

Check Suspend Log and set:

Assign To: a role, such as Agent of Record or Client CSR, rather than a named person
Suspend date, or leave it blank for an Open Transaction, which puts it on the Suspense list immediately
Priority
Category: Renewal - Review

Repeat for Renewal Quotes. Those are the ones you most need to see, because the client hasn’t committed yet.

A note on timing. A renewal download only arrives once the carrier has issued the renewal, and that can be close to the effective date. Treat it as a safety net, not your first touch. Your first touch is the expiration-report batch in step 6.

4. Add an uprate alert

This is the rule that catches the 22% increase. Under the same Download Rules, Uprate Alerts for Renewals compares the policy’s current rate with the renewal premium in the download. If the difference is above your threshold, the download creates a suspense, a Documents for Review item, or both.

Set Premium Uprate Of to something like 10% for personal lines. Assign it to the Agent of Record, priority high, category Renewal - Uprate.

Two limits from HawkSoft’s help: it only fires on Renewal and Renewal Quote downloads (not endorsements), and it doesn’t fire if there’s no previous download to compare against. Afterwards you can review triggered alerts in Reports > Download Report by filtering on “Uprate Rule Triggered is True.”

5. Write the client message, and log it

When the CSR works a Renewal - Uprate suspense, they contact the client before the renewal takes effect. An email they can adapt:

Subject: Your [carrier] renewal on [date]

Hi [first name], your [policy type] renews on [date] at [new premium], up from [prior premium]. [One line on why, if the carrier gave a reason.] I’d like to make sure you’re comfortable with this before it takes effect. Can I call you this week, or would you like me to look at other options?

That email is about price and possibly coverage, so it goes past the producer first. Log it with the Renewal review template, and link it to the original download log so the history stays in one thread.

If you text the client instead, only do it when they’ve given consent to texts. Keep it short and informational (“Your renewal details are in your email”). Under the TCPA, a “stop” reply has to be honored.

6. Batch suspenses from the expiration report

Downloads don’t cover everything. For direct-bill carriers without downloads, and for an early 90-day touch on every account, use the expiration report. HawkSoft’s blog notes that expiration reports are built as Advanced Reports.

A workflow published by Agency Performance Partners, a HawkSoft-focused consultancy (not HawkSoft itself), goes like this:

Run your expiration report in Advanced Reports for policies expiring 90 to 97 days out.
Choose File > Create Batch Log.
Check Suspend Transaction (Tickler), set the date, Assign To (Agent of Record or Client CSR), Priority, and the category.

Run it every Monday with a 7-day window so nothing falls between runs.

7. Set two suspense rules and enforce them

From the HawkSoft User Group’s guidance:

Don’t use Re-Suspend. Use Close Suspense, add your notes, and set the new date. That keeps the suspense near the top of the list and records what happened.
Never close a suspense without a new note.

In legacy HawkSoft you can enforce the second one. Force Log on Close of Suspense in General Configuration makes users create a log entry when they close a suspense. Also turn on Show Logs for All Policies in each user’s preferences (click your name > User Preferences), so nobody misses a note logged on the wrong policy.

8. Check the overdue list weekly

The Suspense Report filters by date, user, company, state and category, and can show overdue items across the agency. Every Friday, run it for category Renewal*, overdue. Anything more than 5 days late gets a conversation.

In HawkSoft’s cloud version, the same review happens in Activities > My Tasks. Admins get an Agency Tasks tab for reassigning work in bulk. Task templates can set due dates relative to policy dates, and carrier download rules can create tasks automatically.

Common mistakes

Assigning suspenses to a named user instead of a role. When that person leaves, renewals quietly go nowhere.
Relying on downloads alone. They arrive late and not every carrier sends them.
Too many categories. Three renewal categories is plenty. Fifteen means nobody filters.
Re-suspending without notes. The suspense lives on, but nobody knows why.
Letting a CSR explain a coverage change without producer review. The template line exists for a reason.

When it’s worth getting help

Everything above is built into HawkSoft and takes an afternoon to configure. What HawkSoft doesn’t do on its own is send a timed email series off renewal dates. HawkSoft points to marketing-automation partners for that. If you want help choosing one and setting it up without double-messaging clients, see my HawkSoft page. The cost calculator puts a rough number on the time involved.