Compare Commercial Insurance Policy Terms Against Coverage Specifications

---
name: compare-commercial-insurance-coverage-specifications
task_id: insurance/compare-commercial-insurance-policy-terms-against-coverage-specifications
description: Agents producing a gap analysis memo against coverage specifications should identify shortfalls, explain the business exposure each shortfall can create, and present findings in a severity-prioritized structure without assuming any particular fact pattern.
activates_for: [planner, solver, checker]
---

# Skill: Compare Commercial Insurance Policy Terms Against Coverage Specifications — Gap Analysis Memorandum

## 1. Subject-matter triage

- Treat the coverage specifications as the benchmark and each issued policy or transmittal as a source of possible deviation.
- First enumerate the policies, endorsements, and transmittal materials in scope, then compare each item against the specifications one by one.
- If multiple policies or coverage layers are involved, keep the comparison separate by form, insurer, and coverage line so cross-policy gaps do not get flattened into a single conclusion.

## 2. Failure modes the skill is correcting

- Coverage shortfalls are listed without explaining the operational or financial exposure each gap can create for the insured's business activities.
- Recently acquired entities or assets are not checked against any automatic coverage extensions or scheduled-entity requirements described in the policy.
- The memo lacks a prioritized summary structure that allows decision-makers to triage remediation actions.
- The analysis states that coverage is missing or narrower without tying that statement to the governing policy language, any interfacing endorsement, and the practical consequence for the insured.
- Clauses that depend on timing, notice, thresholds, or scheduling are treated as static provisions instead of conditional mechanics.
- Separate policies, layers, or forms are compared inconsistently, causing apparent coverage to be overstated or gaps to be missed.

## 3. Legal frameworks / domain conventions that apply

- Read the insuring agreement, declarations, endorsements, exclusions, conditions, definitions, schedules, and broker transmittal together as a single coverage package.
- Compare the specification requirement to the exact policy mechanic: covered peril, covered entity, covered location, reporting trigger, notice condition, sublimit, retention, defense-cost treatment, and follow-form language.
- For claims-made forms, identify the reporting trigger and any extended reporting option, then assess whether the specification expects broader reporting protection.
- For acquisition-related coverage, identify whether coverage is automatic, time-limited, notice-based, or subject to a scheduling requirement; then evaluate whether the stated business change falls inside that mechanic.
- For defense-cost provisions, determine whether defense expenses reduce limits or are paid outside limits, and state the practical effect on indemnity capacity.
- For product, service, location, or operations exclusions, identify the exclusion and the resulting uninsured exposure in business terms.
- For umbrella or excess layers, determine whether the layer follows form over the relevant underlying coverage or leaves a coverage seam.
- Use industry conventions when describing gaps: scope gap, timing gap, limit gap, structure gap, notice gap, and exclusion gap.
- Cite the controlling policy text as the source authority for each coverage proposition; do not state a conclusion without identifying the relevant provision or endorsement that supports it.

## 4. Analytical scaffolds

1. Build a policy-by-policy inventory of the operative coverage grant, limit structure, sublimits, exclusions, conditions, endorsements, and any schedule or declaration references.
2. Build a requirement-by-requirement inventory of the coverage specifications, preserving the business objective of each requested coverage feature.
3. For each requirement, match it to the closest policy provision and identify whether the match is complete, partial, conditional, or absent.
4. If the policy uses a trigger, threshold, notice deadline, waiting period, or schedule, state that mechanic and test the relevant facts against it.
5. If the policy covers newly acquired entities, assets, or locations, determine whether the acquisition falls within the automatic extension and whether any notice or scheduling step remains.
6. If the policy includes a sublimit, compare the sublimit to the exposed category of loss in qualitative terms and, where a source figure exists, state whether the sublimit appears materially constraining.
7. If defense costs erode limits, explain how that changes the remaining capacity for indemnity after a claim defense begins.
8. If recall, withdrawal, or similar crisis-response coverage is absent, explain the uninsured operational and contractual consequences if such an event occurs.
9. If an exclusion narrows the expected coverage, identify the business activity or asset affected and the resulting gap in protection.
10. For every issue, close the analysis with the coverage mechanic, the interacting document or clause, and the downstream consequence for the insured.

## 5. Vertical / structural / temporal relationships

- Compare parent coverage and any follow-form excess or umbrella layer to confirm whether the higher layer inherits the relevant underlying grant, exclusion, and condition structure.
- Compare newly acquired property, location, or entity coverage against the effective date, acquisition date, notice date, and any automatic extension window.
- Compare claims-made reporting rights against policy inception, expiration, and any extended reporting period to determine whether a claim can be reported when needed.
- Compare any conditional coverage extension against the applicable threshold, deadline, or scheduling requirement before treating it as available.
- If multiple policies overlap, identify whether one policy fills another’s gap or whether both leave the same exposure unaddressed.

## 6. Output structure conventions

- Open with a concise executive summary that states the overall coverage posture and the most material gaps.
- Include a prioritized issue table near the top with a uniform ordinal severity scale defined once in the memo and applied to every gap.
- For each issue, provide: the specification requirement, the operative policy language or transmittal point, the shortfall, the exposure created, and the remediation needed.
- Each issue entry should be self-contained and should make clear how the gap is measured, what document or clause controls, and why the shortfall matters operationally or financially.
- Use one issue section per distinct gap; do not merge separate timing, scope, limit, and exclusion problems into a single blended point.
- End with a Recommended Actions section that lists concrete next steps in imperative form, assigns the responsible role from the source materials where possible, and ties each step to a practical timing anchor.
- Keep the memo written for business decision-makers: precise, comparative, and remediation-oriented rather than narrative.