Finding Your Top 10 Risk Accounts Before They Find You
Most propane marketers can name their largest customers from memory. Far fewer can quickly identify their 10 riskiest accounts. That gap is more than merely administrative. It affects driver exposure, insurance premiums, litigation risk, run-out frequency, and even routing efficiency. In an environment of tightening underwriting standards and rising claim severity, identifying high-risk accounts is no longer a compliance exercise, it’s an operational control. The companies that proactively score and manage account risk are the ones reducing preventable incidents, protecting margins, and keeping regulators and insurers out of their boardroom.
Build a Practical Risk Score, Not a Paper Exercise
Risk scoring only works if it reflects how your operation actually functions in the field.
Three factors consistently separate routine accounts from operational liabilities:
1. Access Complexity
Access is often the leading indicator of both delivery inefficiency and incident potential.
Consider these challenges:
• Narrow driveways with limited turnaround
• Steep grades or seasonal mud/frost heave issues
• Low overhead clearances
• High-traffic commercial sites
• Poorly lit rural drops
These conditions increase backing incidents, hose strain, and slip-and-fall exposure. They also increase delivery time, which gradually reduces margin. An account that adds 15 minutes per stop and requires winter chains is not operationally equivalent to a suburban driveway with a clear 180-degree turnaround.
Delivery access should be scored separately from tank location. A 500-gallon tank tucked behind a garage with a 150-foot hose pull is a fundamentally different exposure than a tank set 10 feet from a paved apron.
2. Equipment Age and Installation History
Be aware of legacy systems, as they carry disproportionate risk.
Watch out for accounts with:
• Tanks beyond 20–25 years without documented refurbishment
• Outdated regulators or missing protective covers
• Repeated regulator freeze-ups
• Non-code piping modifications
• Unverified appliance conversions
These accounts may be functioning today, but they introduce cumulative exposure. As regulators continue to refine code enforcement and documentation expectations, especially around system inspections and appliance changes, older installations become a liability multiplier.
Insurance carriers are scrutinizing loss history and system documentation more aggressively. If you cannot easily retrieve inspection and maintenance records for your oldest installations, those accounts belong on your risk list.
3. Incident and Behavior History
Some accounts generate friction long before they generate claims.
Red flags include:
• Repeated run-outs
• Multiple leak calls without documented system defects
• Refusal to authorize recommended upgrades
• Frequent emergency or after-hours service calls
• Aggressive or unsafe customer behavior toward drivers
These are not customer service annoyances; they are predictors of higher claim probability and employee exposure. From a legal standpoint, documented recommendations that were declined can mitigate liability, but only if your documentation is disciplined.
Propane market data shows how volatility in supply and price affects customer behavior seasonally. When prices spike or supply tightens, run-outs increase in poorly managed accounts. That makes historical behavior a key predictive input, not just a retrospective metric.
Quantify Exposure in Operational Terms
Once you identify risk indicators, convert them into measurable scoring inputs. Avoid vague labels like “high risk.” Instead, assign weighted points.
Example structure:
Access Complexity (0–5 points)
0 = direct, unobstructed access
5 = seasonal access limitations + extended hose pull + backing required
Equipment Age & Condition (0–5 points)
0 = installed within 10 years, full documentation
5 => 25 years, limited records, deferred upgrades
Behavior & Incident History (0–5 points)
0 = budget plan, no run-outs, cooperative
5 = repeat run-outs, declined recommendations, after-hours calls
A 12–15 score should automatically trigger management review. This scoring system becomes operationally powerful when integrated with dispatch software. High-scoring accounts can be:
• Assigned to senior drivers
• Flagged for daylight-only delivery
• Routed earlier in winter cycles
• Prioritized for tank relocation or upgrade conversations
Many state agencies publish incident summaries showing that residential delivery and equipment failures remain leading categories of propane-related events. Proactive scoring reduces the likelihood that your name will appear in the next report.
• Insurance and Regulatory Implications
• Underwriters increasingly look beyond fleet safety metrics. They want to understand:
• Loss ratios tied to delivery incidents
• Documentation practices
• Tank inspection frequency
• Training programs
The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) provides benchmarking and safety program resources that insurers recognize as best practice frameworks. Companies that can demonstrate structured risk scoring and remediation strategies often have stronger leverage during renewal negotiations.
Similarly, training and documented safety management systems supported through industry programs improve defensibility after incidents. The Propane Education & Research Council’s safety training tools help standardize inspection and delivery procedures, useful not just for training but for litigation defense when procedure adherence is questioned.
Your top 10 risk accounts are not just operational burdens; they are underwriting variables.
A Focused Plan to Address High-Risk Accounts
Once you’ve identified your top 10, act decisively. Here are four targeted steps:
1. Conduct Structured Field Audits Within 60 Days
Send a senior service technician to physically re-evaluate each account. Document tank condition, regulator age, clearances, and access constraints. Photograph conditions. Update digital records immediately.
2. Present Upgrade Proposals With Defined Timelines
For accounts with aging equipment or unsafe access, present written recommendations. Set clear deadlines and document customer responses. Avoid open-ended “suggestions.”
3. Adjust Routing and Driver Assignment
Assign experienced drivers to complex accounts and avoid peak-hour urban deliveries. If backing is unavoidable, implement a two-person policy during high-risk months.
4. Evaluate Account Profitability Against Risk
If an account scores high risk and generates below-average margin, consider restructuring terms or exiting the account. Retention should not override risk-adjusted profitability.
These steps are operational, not theoretical. They serve to reduce exposure before the next heating season compounds it.
Protecting Your Business Beyond the Tank
Your top 10 risk accounts rarely align with your top 10 revenue accounts. They are often legacy customers, below average-margin commercial sites, or rural deliveries that evolved without strategic review. Identifying them is not about pruning your book; it’s about controlling exposure in a tightening insurance and regulatory climate. Companies that formalize risk scoring turn reactive safety management into proactive asset protection. The result isn’t just fewer incidents; it’s a more defensible, insurable, and operationally disciplined propane business.
