What is less obvious are the changes that occur gradually over time. The operational decisions that make perfect business sense but quietly alter a company's risk profile without anyone necessarily recognising it.

A business begins travelling interstate more frequently to service a growing client base. A handful of employees start spending more time on the road. A company engages additional contractors to manage increasing demand. A team expands into new regions. An organisation starts sending staff overseas a few times a year because opportunities have emerged in new markets.

Individually, none of these decisions feel particularly significant.

Collectively, they can fundamentally change a business's exposure.

That's often the challenge with Accident & Health insurance. Unlike a new building or a new piece of machinery, workforce exposures don't arrive all at once. They evolve alongside the business. Because the change is gradual, it can be easy for both clients and advisers to focus on the more visible parts of growth while overlooking the way people are working, travelling and engaging with the business.

The irony is that for many organisations, their people are their most important asset. Yet conversations around workforce protection are often left until later because there is always something else demanding attention. A property renewal. A liability review. A cyber discussion. Before long, another year has passed and the workforce looks very different to the one that existed when the policy was originally arranged.

We've seen businesses double their headcount in a relatively short period of time. We've seen travel activity increase significantly as organisations pursue new opportunities. We've seen contractor utilisation change as labour markets tighten and operating models evolve. None of these developments are unusual. In fact, they are often signs of a healthy and growing business.

The question is whether the insurance programme has evolved alongside them.

For brokers, this creates an opportunity to have a different type of conversation during renewal discussions. Not simply whether limits remain adequate or premiums remain competitive, but whether the business itself still looks the same as it did twelve months ago.

• Have travel patterns changed?

• Are employees working in different locations?

• Has the contractor footprint expanded?

• Have key people taken on greater responsibilities or increased travel commitments?

• Has the workforce grown, shifted or diversified?

Often the answers reveal exposures that nobody intentionally overlooked. They simply changed gradually enough that they never became the centre of a conversation.

The reality is that businesses are constantly evolving. The challenge is ensuring insurance arrangements evolve with them.

Sometimes the most important risks aren't the ones clients forget to insure.

They're the ones they forget to mention.