Insurance companies pose specific questions around your demographic, your geographical location and even your lifestyle, in order to determine the level of “risk” you pose, the size of your premiums, your eligibility and the extent of your coverage. For both individuals and companies, these applications are reviewed by underwriters. With the help of specialized technology and algorithms, underwriters assess a person or company’s risk profile and make important decisions on behalf of their insurance firm. In essence, we are the number-crunchers, the forecasters and the statisticians who serve as the gatekeepers of the insurance industry.
A head for numbers, a broad knowledge of the industry, and character traits like patience and empathy make for a formidable underwriter. Daily, I receive a flurry of queries, both technical and non-technical, coupled with project-based work and client-facing tasks. Working through them systematically has become second-nature to me. I sometimes like to see myself as a human quantity-surveyor (for lack of a better comparison).
My day begins with my inbox. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the volume of emails I have to sift through, I go through them one by one and prioritise them in order of importance. My first port of call is to deal with queries and requests that require an additional level of input from outside of my remit, from higher management for example. Then I can get to queries that I can deal with in my own capacity – it’s amazing how going through these “quick wins” can fill me with a sense of accomplishment as I head into the denser part of my workload.
After the administrative part of my job has been dealt with, I tackle the policies within my mandate. Some require escalation or referral while others are more straight-forward. The rest of my day involves issuing policy documents, dealing with finance queries and updating spreadsheets (because there’s nothing that makes me feel more organized than a well-managed spreadsheet).
On occasion, I’ll have an unconventional day where I am called upon to liaise with the claims department on recent and trending claims experience, either related to the risk I am assessing or to the business’s potential exposure to the risk. I rely on aspects such as loss ratio statistics and insights from our researchers to make informed, data-backed decisions.
The best part of being an underwriter is the opportunity I have every day, to see how my educational background, my experience and my industry knowledges comes together for the benefit of my colleagues and ultimately, the business. I am an important part of the inner operations of the insurance world and playing that pivotal role gives me a sense of purpose.
To aspiring underwriters, I urge you to get a mentor. Navigating the ins and outs of the underwriting sector can be intimidating, so it helps to have expert guidance, advice and someone to bounce ideas off. My support structure has been an important foundation for my career. If this is a field that sparks your interest, talk to people in the industry about the inner workings of the job and what it entails.
I believe that in South Africa in particular, there are many opportunities to be seized within the industry. With the advent of big data and other digital innovations, underwriting as a career has evolved, and for the better.
Zach Rannyadi
Underwriter, Professional Indemnity
