Role of Underwriter in Age of Insurtech
The age of insurtech has brought a wave of new digital experiences and automation in insurance. From websites that instantaneously compare auto insurance quotes to mobile apps that allow us to submit claims directly by snapping a picture of a damaged window, we continue to benefit from significant improvements to the insured experience.
These improvements in distribution and claims are part of an industry-wide appetite for increased accuracy and efficiency, including in underwriting. Personal lines carriers have already made good strides, and carriers see a similar opportunity to improve loss and expense ratios in commercial lines.
For small business policies that involve a high volume of submissions and lower premiums, the challenge is to enable an efficient, high-throughput underwriting process that complies with exacting standards for quality. In the mid-market, the stakes are even higher for underwriters. They must be diligent about selecting high-quality risk against a backdrop of declining capacity and a tsunami of submissions from brokers who remarket risks in search of better rates.
