Loan Terms & Underwriting Requests

Last updated: April 10, 2025

This is a guide that will teach you:

  • Default premium financing terms offered by Ascend

  • Options you have for adjusting the premium financing terms

  • How to use Ascend's "Adjust Loan Terms" feature to interact with our underwriting team

  • How to ensure the quickest turnaround on your underwriting requests

Default loan terms

On a standard one-year term, Ascend typically offers 20% down and 10 monthly payments.

For policies less than a year, the default terms are 45% down and 3 monthly payments

Loan terms are displayed once you finish creating a program:

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  • Clicking on "Draft premium finance document" will allow you to download a PDF of the premium finance agreement.

  • Clicking on "Loan terms per policy" will allow you to download a PDF that breaks out the amount of down payment and amount financed on a per-policy basis. As a reminder, you can attach up to 25 policies to a single program in Ascend.

Your insured will digitally sign the premium finance agreement using the payment link. You should not collect a signature on the document outside of Ascend.

Adjusting Loan Terms (Underwriting)

Premium finance agreements in Ascend can be modified / loan terms can be negotiated. Custom terms can be requested by clicking the "Adjust loan terms" button:

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The loan terms that are able to be adjusted include:

Changing the Number of Installments

The following options are available for the number of installments for a one-year policy term:

  • 10 payments

  • 9 payments

  • 8 payments

  • 6 payments

  • 4 payments (quarterly)

  • 2 payments (semi-annual)

Terms that are less than one year will have fewer payment schedule options.

APR and downpayment will increase as a result of choosing a lower number of installments.

Changing the Interest Rate

The interest rate on a finance agreement can at times be adjusted within 2 percent of the program's base rate.

If your agency has a take rate added to the financing option, the take rate will be removed first when lowering the interest rate. This means your company may not receive take rate, or will receive lower take rate, if the interest rate is reduced on a program.

For more information about the difference between APR and interest rate, check out the article here.

Changing the Down Payment

The down payment can be both increased and decreased on a program. Outside of a few coverage types, our standard downpayment is 20% of premium + unearned fees.

Lowering the downpayment on a program will always require review by our Underwriting Team.

Reviews are typically completed within 1 business day, unless additional information is required to complete the review.

Is my program eligible for modified loan terms?

To request reduced downpayment, the program must have at least $10,000 in gross premium. Programs lower the this amount will not be eligible for modification.

How-to Guide

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. From the program page, click the Request loan terms button under the Payment options section

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  1. Make the desired updates on the fields you want to change, upload any required quote documents, and click "Update"

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  1. This creates the underwriting request in our system, notifies our team, and triggers and email to you confirming that we are reviewing the request, and displays the following blue banner on the program that allows you to view the terms you requested:

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  2. As our team reviews your request, we may reach out to ask for additional documentation.

  3. Once we reach a decision you will receive one of three emails

    1. Request approved: the terms you requested were approved. The terms are available and the finance agreement and payment link are automatically updated.

    2. Counteroffer approved: we did not approve your original request but approved a partial adjustment that aligns closer to what you proposed. The approved terms are available and the finance agreement and payment link are automatically updated.

    3. Request denied: we did not approve your request and terms are not updated.

In order to speed up our review, you should always attach all documentation you have available - quote, binder, and/or invoice.

Special Situations

Programs greater than $500,000

Programs greater than $500,000 trigger an automatic underwriting request. Financing cannot be offered until our team reviews and approves. To ensure a quick turnaround, ensure quote documents that list minimum earned premium are attached to the program.

Risk retention groups

Financing may not be available for policies placed through an RRG. Please reach out at [email protected] if you'd like to request an exemption.

Coverage types

Some coverage types, like flood or wind, are not financeable.

Assigned Risk

For more information on financing assigned risk policies, see here

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for an Underwriting Request to be reviewed for lowered downpayment?

  • Requests are typically processed within 1 business day.

Can I change the payment schedule for an Active Program?

  • If the insured has already purchased their program, the monthly payment schedule cannot be changed. The payment schedule can only be changed before the customer purchases the policies.

Why does changing the number of payments increase downpayment?

  • For quarterly and semiannual payment plans, the downpayment will be increased to 35% and 45% respectively to meet underwriting requirements. Due to the longer periods of time in between receiving payment from the insured, the risk on the loan is increased, which requires higher downpayment.

Contact Us

Need more help? Contact us at [email protected] for more help.