WAYS TO IMPROVE UNDERWRITING WORKFLOW

And increase your underwriting efficiency

TOP

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© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.2

Due to processing inefficiencies, underwriters spend more

time on tasks unrelated to underwriting

than on actually evaluating and pricing risks.

Significant amounts of business may never get processed,

leading to lost deals, dissatisfied producers and unhappy

policyholders.

In an industry where there’s no time to lose, how can

insurers adapt and innovate to close the efficiency

gap and optimize underwriting workflows?

(Source: Underwriting Efficiency Survey)

The majority of underwriters

spend less than 50%of their time

actually underwriting

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.3

01 Submission Optimization

Appetite AlertsReceive automatic alerts when incoming business does not

meet your appetite profile.

PrequalificationStreamline eligible submissions with automatic

pre-qualification requirements.

Auto-DeclinationAutomatically decline submissions not meeting

designated criteria, and notify producers in real time

via configurable letter templates.

ClearanceAutomate the search for possible matching submissions and set

status to clear or flag for action. Notify producers of the status.

Goal

Expedite qualified risks to

underwriting, weed out

ineligible submissions,

and maintain timely

communication with

producers.

Strategy

Save time by refining

submissions in their earliest

stages.

AssignmentExecute automatic assignment of submissions.

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.4

Submission Triage02

Apply underwriting consistency across the organization

by centralizing all supporting documentation and

risk evaluations in an electronic file.

Identify “next action” tasks and enable prompts to

take action.

Implement consistent and automated rules-based

risk analysis.

To support the underwriting analysis, direct the

underwriter and provide access to both internal and

external data sources.

Goal

Enable underwriters to make

the best decisions in the least

amount of time.

Strategy

By effectively prioritizing and

assigning submissions, you can

scale your underwriting

capacity to write more, better

quality business without

additional underwriting

resources.

4 Productive approaches for your triage model:

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.5

03 Enhance Collaboration and Communication

Communication Tools

Collaborate within your underwriting teams, with peers, and

with producers to expedite information exchange and speed

decision‐making using email, live chat screen sharing,

attachment sharing, and agent/broker portals.

Agent/Broker Portals

Provide a portal so your producers can expedite the submission

process with easier upload and/or entry, appetite alerts,

pre‐clearance, online receipt, review of quotes and binders,

and visibility into their books of business.

Insurer Perspective

Collaboration tools we use are underwriting system-

based email capabilities that automatically get recorded

and attached to files, real time online chat with agents,

and private or shared notes. These system-based tools streamline our

process and significantly improve our communication with agents.”

- Senior Underwriter, Commercial Insurance Company

Goal

Enable enhanced

communication channels

between underwriters and

internal/external parties.

Strategy

Improve both profitability and

operational efficiencies by

promoting collaboration

between underwriters and

producers, as well as for

underwriters and their

internal team.

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.6

04 Leverage Real-Time Data and Analytics

Goal

Quickly and easily validate

information, support decision

making, and increase accuracy

and consistency.

Strategy

Fully utilize analytics to gain

new and timely insights on

producer efficiency, products,

risk evaluation consistency,

and underwriting operations.

Streamline data collection with:

› Preloaded data

› Prebuilt connectors to third‐party data services

› Integrated pricing, analytics, and catastrophe modeling tools

Insurer Perspective

Not incorporating data in the area of risk

evaluation is truly a competitive disadvantage.

That’s because you can be much more accurate

when you are using data sources, compared to the past when

underwriters relied on instinct. We want to apply more science

to the art of underwriting so we are much more accurate in our

risk evaluation results.”

- Senior Vice President of Workers' Compensation,

A Leading National Insurance Carrier

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.7

05 Increase Book of Business Visibility

Goal

Enable your underwriters to

view portfolio performance

and their work queue.

Strategy

Visibility helps underwriters

manage their time so they

can focus on the highest

priority risks -- with the

highest target profit margin

-- to maximize hit ratios.

Increase underwriter visibility by:

› Using risk attributes and scoring to prioritize submissions

› Clearly defining submission status

› Tracking other products written for the same account

Increased transparency provides underwriters the ability

to see book performance within the context of accounts

and workload, to make sure prioritization and efforts are

on track with company goals.

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.8

Referral Management

06

Automate the underwriters’ letter of authority to

ensure compliance.

Enable referral of electronic submission files to

other users at any point in the workflow.

Enable on-line review of referrals.

Automate referrals to designated individuals

based on the risk characteristics.

Record referral and approval/rejection commentary for

file documentation.

Goal

Streamline referral

processing based on

multiple levels of

underwriting authorities

and lines of business.

Strategy

Manage underwriting

referrals at any point in

the workflow with full

visibility into the file

documentation.

5 Dynamic approaches for your referral strategy

Referral Management

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.9

07 Automate!

Goal

Reverse the trend of expenses impacting profits due to

valuable time lost on evaluating ineligible or low

margin risks.

Strategy

Responsive technology can help manage those costly

risks with straight-through-processing, freeing up

underwriters to focus on the risks with the highest

target profit margins.

Straight-through-processing provides the ability for

automated, rules-driven clearance, quoting, binding,

declination, referral and more.

According to Strategy Meets

Action, commercial insurers

need to embrace underwriting

automation:

Carriers are

realizing more and

more how to use

automation to make it easier

for underwriters to assess

risk, facilitate information

gathering, and make the

decision process more

accurate and consistent.”

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.10

08 Invest in Underwriting Technology

The modern underwriting workstation is

a critical and essential component of

insurers’ business and technology

environments. The primary uses are risk

analysis/pricing capabilities, documentation

trails, advanced underwriting rules, straight-

through processing for submission management,

quick quotes, and automated underwriting

workflows, as well as bringing in new sources of

data, models, and analytics.”

- Source: The New Age of Underwriting, Strategy Meets Action

Goal

Transform your underwriting

workflows and achieve new

levels of profitability and

growth.

Strategy

Implement a modern

underwriting workstation --

designed to fully leverage

your risk appetite and the

talents of your underwriters.

Evaluate state-of-the-art

underwriting technology to

improve the full risk analysis

process, all from one system.

© 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.

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