Insly’s Head of Growth and Marketing, Hammad Mirza, and Chief Product Officer, Kestutis Naureckas, were honoured to present at this year’s Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) Conference in Amsterdam (29-30 June 2022).
The two-day event attracted over 1,300 insurance underwriting professionals from more than 50 countries worldwide.
Hammad and Kestutis’ demo thoroughly debunks the myth that manual underwriting is–– and will always be –– the best method of insurance underwriting. Many Underwriters argue that the decision-making process is too complex for automated systems to handle accurately.
Hammad opened by saying that, in Insly’s experience, an Underwriter took an average of four hours to manually process a single complex case from form submission to a bound policy. He explained that Insly believes much of that time is spent typing and retyping information, checking records, communicating with brokers, and creating and filing relevant documentation. Underwriters spend very little time working on the core task of assessing risk and formalising decisions of whether to insure or not insure.
Consequently, Insurers and MGAs can waste millions a year on resourcing admin tasks that an assistant (or rather, a Virtual Assistant) can complete.
That’s where Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant tool comes into play.
Advantages of Insurance Automation Platforms
Underwriting automation tools can perform back-office insurance tasks in seconds, allowing Underwriters to concentrate on the critical task of assessing and documenting risk.
Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant is an all-in-one insurance automation platform that eliminates manual administrative tasks and streamlines assessment of complex protection policies.
Hammad listed some of the underwriting platform’s core capabilities by outlining every step in the Underwriter’s journey. From an initial quote submission, to binding requests and sending payment information to accounts teams, Insly provides automated tools to help streamline all business processes.
Kestutis then dived into a detailed product demo, covering the following:
Step one: Looking at risk information
Delays in gathering risk information can start early, from the moment the new protection client submits an initial form for consideration. Filling and refilling in basic customer information wastes an Underwriter’s time. Single data entry, or pre-filled form software can perform this admin task automatically, whilst also minimising the likelihood of human input errors.
From the moment a quote is assigned to a suitable Underwriter, numerous data points can be pulled from sources like rating engines, industry reports, and internal documents.
Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant gathers all relevant risk information, verifies records from multiple sources, and enriches data with supplementary information –– all from one central dashboard.
One key data source Kestutis demonstrated on the Insly platform is its Companies House database integration. Using supermarket giant, Tesco, as an example, Kestutis demonstrated how Underwriters can use the Virtual Underwriting Assistant to gain instant access to Companies House data (such as Director and Officer names and details). Plus the Companies House search is linked to a live Stock Symbol ticker. Features like automatic database search ensures Underwriters get a headstart on their decision-making process, rather than clicking through multiple screens of information.
Step two: Deciding whether to insure or not
Once the Underwriter has all the risk data they need to assess a case, Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant includes further provisions to speed up the Underwriter’s final decisions-making process on whether to insure or not. The digital underwriting software can pull up notices for auto-decline, referrals, and notes from multiple rating engines.
Insly’s modular setup also allows specialist MGAs to create automated decision-making workflows tailor-made for assessing complex insurance cases. For instance, you can set parameters for risk appetite, and Insly’s risk engine will create notes to draw the Underwriter’s to certain conditions that require manual input. From there, the Underwriter can access all the information they need to finalise their best risk management strategy.
Step Three: If insurable, work out the conditions
If the Underwriter wants to go ahead and insure a case, an automated insurance underwriting tool can accurately calculate premiums, add endorsements and discounts, or allow the Underwriter to edit all of this information manually.
Regardless of the complexity of the risk, automating some calculations can speed up the process of finalising a quote.
Step Four: Sending policy documentation to Brokers
Broker communication can take up a significant amount of the Underwriter’s time in processing a single quote. Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant can streamline the process of back and forth communication.
Automated workflows can create and edit policy documents. Email templates, for example, save time in batching policies and sending them out to brokers. Cloud connectivity ensures that all critical paperwork is stored securely and accessible from anywhere.
Step Five: Binding the risk with the insurer
The last step in finalising cover requires Underwriters to gather and verify payment information with the customer and bind the policy to the company’s risk portfolio.
Insly’s Virtual Writing Assistant can bind risk, update financial records, and create additional policy documentation in seconds. It can even auto-generate reports and send them to accounting teams at the end of each accounting period. These business processes are crucial, so minimising input errors with automation as far as possible can save companies a lot of hassle.
Step Six: Complete the underwriting process in 30 minutes with Insly’s platform
Hammad concluded by explaining how Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant can take the four-hour underwriting process (in the particular case highlighted at the start) and condense it to around 50 minutes.
Automated insurance software takes seconds to complete and enhance an Underwriter’s ability to use their expertise more effectively –– while still giving them the flexibility to use manual underwriting processes when necessary. Therefore, Insly can debunk the myth that Underwriters need to rely on manual underwriting methods to assess complex risk.
Find out how Insly’s Virtual Underwriting Assistant can help your business grow
Insly’s platform enhances an Underwriter’s role in assessing complex risk. It does not undermine the work specialist MGAs and insurers do to assess and bind policies. Rather, unloading the burden of admin frees-up MGAs and insurance specialist’s time, allowing them to concentrate on revenue-generating activities that improve their business’ overall competitiveness.
If you would like to learn more about how Insly can help you initiate a customisable low-code virtual underwriting platform for your MGA or MGU, book a demo now.
