---
title: "Commissions After a Carrier Appointment Ends — Lapidar"
url: https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/
description: "When a carrier appointment ends: what to check in the agency agreement, which statements to keep, and how to verify run-off commission on renewals."
last_modified: "2026-10-12"
source: getlapidar.com (HTML converted to Markdown at the edge)
---

Guide · 8 min read

# Commissions after a carrier appointment is terminated: what to check and what to keep

**Short answer.** What you are paid after a carrier appointment ends depends on your agency agreement and on state law, not on general practice. Read the termination, commission and ownership-of-expirations sections of the agreement, and any state rules that apply, before the termination takes effect. Write down what they say about notice, renewals during any run-off period, the commission rate on those renewals, chargebacks and final payment. Then keep every statement and a list of the affected policies, and check each run-off renewal against that list until the last one has renewed, moved or lapsed.

[Open an account — founding pilot](https://app.getlapidar.com/signup). Not ready? Get one email when Lapidar opens more widely.

A terminated appointment rarely ends on one date. Renewals, endorsements, chargebacks and audits keep arriving on statements for months, and each needs checking against terms nobody has opened since the appointment ended.

By Lapidar, the team building it · October 12, 2026

## TL;DR

- Read the agency agreement before the termination takes effect: notice, renewals after termination, the rate on them, ownership of expirations, chargebacks, final accounting.
- State law can set its own rules; Washington’s is one example. Ask your state insurance department or your own counsel what applies to you.
- Make a frozen list of the policies in force with that carrier on the termination date, and keep every statement.
- Check each run-off line against that list: right policy, right rate, right date, and nothing missing.

A [carrier appointment](https://getlapidar.com/glossary/carrier-appointment/) can end because the carrier terminates it, the agency does, or both agree. This guide covers property and casualty business, and the commission side only: what to look up, what to keep and how to check what is paid afterwards. It doesn’t interpret contracts or law. Whether you are owed renewal commission after termination, for how long and at what rate is set by your agency agreement and by the law of the states involved, and we can’t tell you what yours say. Lapidar is a tool that checks commission statements line by line; it is in its founding pilot.

## What changes on the statements when an appointment ends?

New business with that carrier typically stops. What happens to existing policies is the part that varies: depending on the agreement and the state, policies may keep renewing through you for a period, move to another agency, or be non-renewed. During any such period, which this guide calls **run-off**, the carrier may still send statements with renewals, endorsements, chargebacks and audit adjustments on your old book. Those lines are easy to stop looking at, because nobody is writing new business with that carrier any more.

## What should you check in the agency agreement?

Find the sections that deal with termination, commission and expirations, and note in your own words what each says. Questions worth answering from the text:

- **Notice.** How much notice does each side have to give, how, and are there grounds where no notice is required?
- **Renewals after termination.** Does the agreement provide for renewal commission after the termination date, for how long, and on which policies? Some agreements call these vested commissions; the word has no single meaning, so read the definition in yours.
- **Rate on run-off renewals.** The same schedule as before termination, a different one, or not stated?
- **Ownership of expirations.** Who owns the expirations, the records and the right to move the business? Check whether yours addresses this rather than assuming.
- **Conditions.** Is continued payment conditional on anything, such as balances owed to the carrier, licensing or premium being remitted?
- **Chargebacks and final accounting.** How are chargebacks after termination handled, and when is the account settled?
- **Amendments.** Any later schedule or addendum that changed these terms.

If the agreement is silent or unclear on any of these, that is a question for the carrier in writing, and for your own counsel if the money matters.

## Where does state law come in?

Some states regulate what happens when an insurer ends its contract with an independent producer. As one example, Washington’s RCW 48.17.591 bars an insurer from cancelling or refusing to renew a policy because its contract with the independent producer ended, whoever ended it. When the insurer terminates, it generally has to give at least 120 days’ written notice, unless the termination is for one of the reasons listed in RCW 48.17.530, and to permit renewal of the policies in the producer’s book for one year after the termination takes effect, to the extent they meet its underwriting standards and it has no other reason not to renew them, at the same commission rate as before. Different provisions apply when the producer ends the contract or both agree. The section covers only independent producers, not those obliged by contract to place business with one insurer or group, and it excludes, among others, life, disability, surety, ocean marine and title insurance and terminations caused by the insurer’s insolvency ([RCW 48.17.591](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.17.591)). Other states have different rules or none. Check the statutes of the states where the policies are written, or ask the state insurance department; don’t rely on Washington’s as a guide to yours.

## Which statements and records should you keep?

- **The agency agreement** with every schedule and amendment in force on the termination date.
- **The termination notice** and any correspondence about its terms, with the date you received them.
- **Commission statements** from that carrier, from at least the last full year before termination through the end of run-off, including any portal downloads that may disappear when access ends. Download them before portal access is switched off.
- **Producer code details**: every [agency or producer code](https://getlapidar.com/glossary/agency-code/) you had with the carrier, so run-off lines under any of them can be found.
- **The frozen policy list** described below.

## Why make a frozen list of policies?

On the termination date, export every policy in force with that carrier from your agency management system: policy number, insured, line, effective and expiration dates, premium, rate and producer. Freeze it. It is the list everything after is measured against. Without it, a renewal that is never paid simply looks like a policy that went away. For each policy, record what happens next: renewed with the carrier through you, moved to another carrier, moved to another agency, non-renewed, cancelled.

## How do you verify run-off payments?

Each month, check that carrier’s statements against the frozen list:

- **Every renewal expected in the month** either appears on the statement or has a recorded reason it doesn’t (moved, non-renewed, cancelled). One that is simply absent is the line to raise; [missing renewal commissions](https://getlapidar.com/guides/missing-renewal-commissions/) covers the monthly check.
- **The rate** on each run-off renewal matches what the agreement or the applicable law says it should be, not just whatever the carrier now pays.
- **The code.** Run-off lines can appear under a different code or a different statement after termination; look at all of them.
- **Endorsements and audits** on policies from the list are paid or charged back at the rate for their term.
- **Policies that moved** to another agency should stop appearing; a chargeback on one after it left needs explaining.

Write discrepancies as lines, not impressions: policy, statement, expected amount and why, paid amount, difference. A [commission discrepancy letter](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commission-discrepancy-letter/) holds several at once.

## What does a run-off check look like?

Run-off check, one month · EX-55914Example data

**Policies on the frozen list renewing this month**
6

**Renewed with the carrier and paid**
3

**Moved to another carrier (recorded)**
2

**Renewed with the carrier, no commission line**
1

**Renewal paid at 10% (agreement, as you read it: 14%), premium $1,800.00**
$180.00

**Short against 14%**
$72.00

Invented figures and an invented agreement. Two questions for the carrier: where the missing renewal’s commission went, and which provision it used for the 10% rate. If the agreement allows a different run-off rate, the second line may be right.

## What about chargebacks and audits after termination?

Business written before termination can still produce [chargebacks](https://getlapidar.com/glossary/commission-chargeback/) when policies cancel, and premium audits on auditable lines can arrive after the term ends, either way. These can keep appearing after renewal commission has stopped, and may be netted against a final payment. Check each against the original line and rate; [commission chargebacks explained](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commission-chargebacks-explained/) covers how. Whether the carrier can recover them, and from what, depends on the agreement and applicable state law.

## When does run-off end?

When the period the agreement or the applicable law gives has passed and every policy on the frozen list has a recorded outcome. Before closing the file, compare the carrier’s final accounting with your own total of what was due and paid during run-off, and keep the records. If you are [selling the book](https://getlapidar.com/guides/selling-an-insurance-book-of-business/) or [rolling it to another carrier](https://getlapidar.com/guides/insurance-book-roll/), the frozen list and run-off statements are part of what a buyer or the new carrier will want to see.

## Where Lapidar fits

Lapidar is built to check each statement line against the policies and rates you expect, and to flag renewals that should have been paid and weren’t. Reading the agreement, deciding what applies and talking to the carrier stay with you; Lapidar doesn’t give legal advice and won’t contact your carriers. It is in its founding pilot, it has no customers yet, and we’ll say so until that changes. If you’d like to try it, the founding pilot is open below.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I keep getting renewal commissions after a carrier terminates my appointment?

It depends on your agency agreement and the law of the state where the policies are written. Some agreements and some states provide for renewals and commission for a period after termination; others don’t. Read the termination and commission sections of your agreement, and ask the carrier or your own counsel what applies.

### Who owns the book of business after an appointment ends?

Many agency agreements have a section on ownership of expirations. We can’t tell you what yours says. Find the ownership-of-expirations section and keep a copy of the agreement in force on the termination date.

### How long should I keep statements from a terminated carrier?

At least until every policy that was in force on the termination date has renewed, moved or lapsed and the final accounting is settled, and longer if your accountant or record-keeping rules require it. Download portal statements before access is switched off.

## Sources

1. Washington State Legislature, [RCW 48.17.591, Termination of agency contract — Effect on insured — Definition — Application of section](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.17.591). Retrieved October 12, 2026.

Lapidar is [commission reconciliation software for independent insurance agencies](https://getlapidar.com/), in its founding pilot. Related: [insurance book roll](https://getlapidar.com/guides/insurance-book-roll/) · [missing renewal commissions](https://getlapidar.com/guides/missing-renewal-commissions/) · [how to download and archive commission statements](https://getlapidar.com/guides/how-to-download-and-archive-commission-statements/).

In this guide

1. [What changes](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#what-changes)
2. [What to check in the agreement](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#agreement)
3. [Where state law comes in](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#state-law)
4. [Statements and records to keep](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#keep)
5. [The frozen policy list](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#policy-list)
6. [Verifying run-off payments](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#verify)
7. [A worked example](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#worked)
8. [Chargebacks and audits](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#chargebacks)
9. [When run-off ends](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#ending)
10. [Where Lapidar fits](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#where-lapidar-fits)
11. [Frequently asked questions](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#faq)
12. [Sources](https://getlapidar.com/guides/commissions-after-carrier-appointment-termination/#sources)

See how renewals that should have been paid show up in a line-by-line report.

[See a sample report](https://getlapidar.com/sample-report/)

## Checking statements takes hours every month.

Every carrier formats its statements differently, and the lines rarely match your records on the first pass. Lapidar checks each statement line by line against your book and flags missing, underpaid and paid-twice commissions. See how renewals that should have been paid show up in a line-by-line report. [See a sample report](https://getlapidar.com/sample-report/), or read [how the founding pilot works](https://getlapidar.com/pilot/).

[Open an account — founding pilot](https://app.getlapidar.com/signup)

Not ready? Get one email when Lapidar opens more widely.