Dynamics 365 Record Cloning: How a Marine Insurer Reduced Renewal Rework! - Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Tips and Tricks

Most marine insurance policies renew year after year on largely unchanged data. Yet in many underwriting teams, every renewal still starts with a blank form. For one London-based marine insurer, that used to mean underwriters retyping the same risk, vessel, and account details every cycle. Using Inogic’s Click2Clone for Dynamics 365 record cloning, their team automated complex policy duplication and reduced renewal rework with a single click.

Key Takeaways

Renewal-heavy businesses lose time rebuilding records whose data barely changes.
Cloning an opportunity into the next renewal lets underwriters update only what changed.
Cloning an opportunity into a policy schedule removes re-keying at the policy stage.
Around 1,466 records had been cloned at the time of review, with a higher yearly figure expected.
The setup supports a growing pipeline without adding manual work.

The Customer: Renewals at Scale

The insurer offers P&I, charterers’ liability, trade disruption and related marine cover through four brands. Following a merger with a larger international group, it now operates across 17 countries. Opportunities, policies and renewal documents all live in Microsoft Dynamics 365, while SharePoint Security Sync by Inogic ensures secure, structured SharePoint document access across global underwriting teams.

The Challenge: Same Data, New Form

Underwriting here is renewal-heavy. A policy written last year usually returns this year with the same vessel, the same account and much of the same risk detail. Yet rebuilding each renewal opportunity from scratch meant retyping all of it. A second bottleneck sat later in the process: there was no efficient way to carry an opportunity through to a policy schedule, the record used to issue policy documentation.

Four core pain points stood out:

Redundant renewal creation: Underwriters had to recreate renewal opportunities from scratch despite largely unchanged data.
Disconnected policy handoffs: There was no streamlined path from an opportunity to a policy schedule.
High-volume manual entry: Teams faced repetitive data entry across hundreds of complex marine records
Post-merger pipeline growth: Expanding operations across 17 countries increased renewal volume without adding administrative capacity.

This is a familiar pattern across enterprise CRMs – Dynamics 365 teams frequently lose 20% to 30% of productive hours to repetitive data entry.

The Solution: Two Cloning Processes

The team configured two processes in Click2Clone and put them to work inside Dynamics 365.

Opportunity to Policy Schedule

Once an opportunity is ready, underwriters clone it straight into a policy schedule. That schedule then drives the policy documentation. Nobody re-enters opportunity data at the policy stage.

Opportunity to Opportunity (Renewals)

For renewals, underwriters clone the existing opportunity into a new one. Risk and account information carries over. They then update only what has changed, such as dates or terms, instead of starting from zero each year.

The Results: Less Retyping, More Underwriting

At the time of review, roughly 1,466 cloned records were logged, and the yearly figure was expected to be higher. The team can now:

Move opportunities into policy schedules without re-keying data
Clone renewal opportunities instead of recreating them each year
Reduce manual duplication across a high volume of quotes and policies
Support a growing opportunity pipeline after the merger

What You Can Borrow from This Story

You do not need to be an insurer to use this playbook.

Spot your repeat records. Renewals, reorders and recurring cases are the best candidates.
Map the handoffs. Where does one record become another, such as opportunity to policy schedule, or quote to invoice?
Clone, then edit. Copy the stable data and change only the fields that moved.

Ready to Stop Recreating Records?

See how Click2Clone can fit your renewals, orders or case workflows in Dynamics 365.

Try it out by downloading the 15-day free trial from our Website or Microsoft Marketplace.

Write to us at crm@inogic.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I renew an opportunity in Dynamics 365 without re-entering data?

Clone the existing opportunity into a new one with Click2Clone. Risk and account details carry over, and you update only the fields that changed.

Can I clone an opportunity into a policy schedule in Dynamics 365?

Yes. Click2Clone supports cross-entity cloning with field-mapping templates, so an opportunity can become a policy schedule, or an Opportunity can become an Order, without re-keying data.

How can insurers reduce repetitive data entry in Dynamics 365 CRM?

Clone repeat records such as renewals instead of rebuilding them, and map records through each stage of the workflow. Inogic reports that Dynamics 365 teams lose 20-30% of productive hours to repetitive data entry.

Can I update field values while cloning records in Dynamics 365?

Yes. Lookups, dates, option sets and owners can be updated during the clone, so copied records arrive correctly configured.