Underwriting

Underwriting is becoming much more sophisticated. It's a transformation opening up opportunities like never before. It's also encountering challenges like never before, and as we saw with price walking, the impact can be immense. These posts give you an independent perspective on such developments.
159 posts
Underwriting
What Claims Acceptance Rates Tell Us public
Claims 5 min read

What Claims Acceptance Rates Tell Us

If you bought a type of policy that on average had one third of all claims rejected, and one in seven claimants complained, what would you think? And if you’re selling it, what would you think? I often hear insurers say that they ‘want to pay claims’. So why are so many claims being rejected?…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
Pricing is in the Spotlight Again public
Underwriting 4 min read

Pricing is in the Spotlight Again

Research by the University of Bristol into the reasons why low income families pay more for motor cover applies further pressure on insurers in four already sensitive areas. It represents an interweaving of related issues towards one big push, oven ready for political intervention.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
Risk Variables Are On Their Way Out public
Underwriting 3 min read

Risk Variables Are On Their Way Out

Underwriters have relied on risk variables for a very long time. After all, how would insurance work without them! Yet is their unique status on its way out? When motor insurers use 1000+ rating factors, what does this say about how insurance is now priced? More than just on risk, clearly.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
The Tectonic Plates of Insurance Have Just Moved public
Discrimination 3 min read

The Tectonic Plates of Insurance Have Just Moved

A US federal court has ruled on a long standing and hugely important case for property insurers. It pushed back insurers’ treasured ‘right to underwrite’ and the status of ‘objective actuarial data’. As I predicted 2 years ago, the tectonic plates for what is fair in insurance have just been moved.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
Why Secondary Data Could Turn Toxic for Insurers public
Discrimination 4 min read

Why Secondary Data Could Turn Toxic for Insurers

Digital innovations are helping the sector break new ground in how policies are underwritten. The problem is that some practices could be landing insurers outside of the law. This is not bias in data or analytics. This is ill advised decisions around the strategic use of secondary data.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
More Political Scrutiny of Insurance Pricing public
Underwriting 3 min read

More Political Scrutiny of Insurance Pricing

The Treasury Committee’s session yesterday on insurance saw consumer groups, insurers and the regulator have their say on pricing in motor and home markets. Nothing revealing emerged, but what was clear was that pressure on the sector to be more transparent is about to rise again.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
Invisible Insurance - The Next Big Thing? public
Marketing 4 min read

Invisible Insurance - The Next Big Thing?

Embedded insurance comes in three forms: soft, hard and invisible. Each comes with ethical implications, but none more so than invisible embedded. What does it mean to provide consumers with invisible insurance? Is it the future of distribution, or a disaster in the making? I explore it here.…
Duncan Minty
Duncan Minty
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