The Perfect Submission: Elevating Your Underwriting Game

What does the perfect underwriting submission look like?

How can brokers get their risks to the top of an underwriter’s inbox?

What information will help secure the best terms and most competitive premiums?

How can brokers improve relationships with underwriters, to drive even better outcomes for clients in the future?

We recently put these questions to a panel of industry experts:

• Jason Chambers, Director of Innovation at Aviva
• David Jones, Director of Underwriting at QBE
• Andrew Whitley, Head of Data and Insight at Brokers Insights

Here’s what we learned.

Five top tips to make submissions stand out and help brokers get better results, faster

1. Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy

I cannot stress enough just how vital this is for both brokers and underwriters.

95% of underwriters identify the quality and accuracy of data in underwriting submissions as a key issue.

Small mistakes can have huge consequences in terms of securing the best terms for clients. Something as simple as getting the location of the client wrong, or presenting out of date firmographic data, can mean exposures are incorrectly evaluated, sums insured inaccurately, and the client not getting the outcomes they deserve.  

45% of wages, turnover, and asset data held by brokers has not been updated for three years or more. This is a real problem. But one that can be overcome easily.

Brokers with access to up to date, validated client intelligence – address verification, key financial information, accurate business descriptions, details of directors and shareholders, legal information, corporate family tree, shareholdings, and so on, can deliver consistently accurate and sharper submissions. Thereby giving underwriters what they need to assess risks quickly.

2. Business descriptions must fully reflect risk profile

Clients are operating in uncertain, yet dynamic, environments. Companies are constantly pivoting and diversifying their activities in response to a wide range of challenges and opportunities, such as embracing new technologies, alternative sources of energy, tough trade landscapes, and supply chain disruption.

SIC codes are no longer enough. Brokers need to scratch a little deeper and present more detailed business descriptions - not simply a snapshot in time, but rather a real-time, whole client view. For example, Real-Time Industrial Classifications (RTICs) can provide a deeper understanding of business activities.

Underwriters need brokers to deliver rich, contextualised company information and business descriptions that are comprehensive, up-to-date, and reliable to assess risks more accurately and return policies that are responsive to individual needs and outcomes.

3. There’s no such thing as too much information

It is certainly not a case of “less is more” when it comes to preparing the perfect submission.  

Underwriters say stand-out presentations are ones that are a pleasure to read, and they’ll never criticise a broker for including too much information. Underwriters want submissions that are comprehensive in terms of breadth of data, quality of data, and presentation of data.

This helps ensure underwriters match clients with products that are fully representative of the risks they face, especially if clients operate in multiple sectors or have complex activities. Brokers that build depth, richness, and intimacy into the client insight they provide will access the right products at the right time, with the best terms and most competitive premiums.  

To give one quick example – ESG data is becoming an increasingly valuable measure of client risk. Utilising ESG data within submissions can enhance risk assessments, improve loss ratios, product and wording innovation, and reduce carrier exposures.

4. Reducing errors and omissions drives improved efficiency for both broker and underwriter

This is a quick but impactful win. Eliminating double keying and human error helps everyone. After all - brokers and underwriters are both time poor.

Brokers need to reduce errors and omissions with validated and verified company data, to achieve the 100% submission accuracy underwriters desire.  

Technology that pre-populates submissions can save hours of re-keying, by automating customer data collection from validated and verified sources like mainstream CRA’s, Companies House and HMRC.

5. Don’t underestimate the ROI of investment in technology when it comes elevating submissions

Not going to lie, this was music to my ears.

The ultimate goal for underwriters is to write the right risks and deliver better outcomes for brokers and their clients, as well as for carrier partners.

Data is vital, but so too is the ability to turn this data into commercially valuable intelligence.

Integrating a real-time single view of client risk visibility, data-driven workflows, and predictive analytics into the submission process not only strips out cost, friction, and risk of data inconsistency. It also helps underwriters triage presentations faster and respond in a more agile way to customers that meet their appetite.

For both brokers and underwriters alike, technology and data are also vital to personalisation, customer lifecycle management (ensuring both are constantly alert to changes in exposure), and ensuring the market adapts faster to emerging risks.  

Ready to elevate your underwriting game?

Schedule a demo of FullCircl SmartBroker to learn why 150+ national and regional insurance businesses trust us for more effective data-driven decisioning.