Survey Reveals Underwriting Concerns

Lexington, Mass. – A recent survey finds that carriers are seeking underwriting automation and to ease their interactions with agents.

Lexington, Mass.-based underwriting management system provider FirstBest Systems Inc. commissioned Sunnyvale, Calif.-based independent research firm, The Phelon Group, to survey 300 insurance carriers ranging from $200 million to $1 billion in premiums written. More than half the respondents were C-level executives, while the remaining represented underwriting management.

The survey found the foremost concern for P&C carriers is how to get profitable business on the books in a softening market. The top underwriting issues are improving the ease of doing business with agents, cited by 33% of respondents as most important, along with automating their underwriting operations, ranked most important by 30% of respondents.

While carriers believe their underwriting processes are inefficient and weighing down their organizations, they are not willing to "rip and replace" their homegrown legacy systems. Rather, they need a solution that will leverage the systems and infrastructure they already have in place.

The respondents cited increased automation (including both straight-through and exception-based underwriting), and the ability to capture and share underwriters' knowledge and experience as priorities. Real-time collaboration for underwriters and agents and management visibility into the underwriting process also were top concerns.

“We welcome the results of this survey as the latest milestone in our ongoing mission to deliver advanced underwriting management systems that enable underwriters to foster greater collaboration with agents, leverage the intellectual capital of their most seasoned underwriters and position their companies for profitable growth without sacrificing their existing investments in homegrown and legacy systems," says John Belizaire, CEO of FirstBest Systems.

Source: FirstBest Systems Inc.