When it comes to insurers' attitudes toward underwriting automation, it shouldn't be a matter of "if and when" but rather "what and how," says Deb Smallwood.
"A full 88 percent of insurers in our research are investing in underwriting projects or initiatives," says Smallwood, founder of research-and-consultative-services firm Strategy Meets Action. "Insurers need to establish clarity around what solutions are available and how they can best be used to achieve their underwriting-automation goals."
Providing that clarity was the objective of a session titled "Underwriting: Challenges, Creativity and Myths" at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, held May 15-17 in Orlando. Smallwood was joined on the panel by Charity McGill, product manager at Accenture, and Justin Manley, CIO at specialty-insurer Torus.
"Underwriting automation is not just about achieving straight-through processing," says McGill. "Instead, it is about using technology to assist the underwriter and streamline the underwriting process."
A Study in Automation
During the panel discussion, Manley highlighted Torus' experience with implementing Accenture's Duck Creek Policy Administration platform. The system, branded internally as "Escape," supports three different external-facing Web portals for the Casualty/Umbrella, Errors & Omissions and Health Care lines of business, respectively.
"We were finding a lot of our underwriters wanted to go after larger accounts but were buried by their volume of small and medium accounts," Manley explained. "A lot of those small accounts were perfect candidates for automation."
After starting its U.S. business just three years ago, Torus has been able to grow to over $1 billion in written premium—an achievement that Manley said couldn't have been reached without increased efficiency.
Manley noted that if there is one message he would like to instill it is that underwriting automation doesn't equate to underwriter replacement: "We've continued to grow and hire because we've used automation to help expand our business. Underwriting automation doesn't have to lead to job elimination."
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