Insurance Underwriters Want to Say Yes

Try not to laugh, but have you ever had an underwriter say no to your insurance submission?  This leads me to what I believe is the biggest underwriting misconception…the idea that an underwriter likes to say no and decline to quote a submission.  Trust me, underwriters want to write business, they just want to make sure that the submission data helps support their decision. 

During my prior 20-year underwriting career, I saw far less underwriters get terminated for not writing business than I did for those that took risks and wrote accounts that lost the insurance carrier money.  On the flipside, those risk takers with growing books of business were overwhelmingly the ones being promoted.  The secret is to tell your story.  The best way to tell your story is for an underwriter to hear it directly from you.

In the middle market space, underwriters see hundreds and sometimes thousands of submissions each year. Having your submission stand out is key. 

One way to have your submission stand out is to meet with the underwriter.  In my prior underwriting experience, I always put a prospective client that I met with on the top of my submission pile.  This meeting could be in person or on a video call.  It is one thing for an underwriter to review a statement of values and multiple submission attachments and spreadsheets.  It is an entirely different experience for an underwriter to hear an insured’s passion for their own business. 

A second way to have your submission stand out is to include a one-page cover letter summarizing the submission material, description of operations, explain your current insurance program pain points, what you are looking to accomplish with the marketing of the line(s) of coverage, and most importantly what the opportunity is to write your business.  This submission summary should include exposures by asset class, a 5-year loss summary with historical exposures, a detailed large loss summary, and a clear quote need by date.

Finally, make your submission stand out by providing a summary of the safety initiatives that you have recently put in place and those that are in the hopper to be rolled out across your organization in the coming policy term.  This will help an underwriter visualize how you value a safe environment for your workers and guests and why they should say yes to quoting your insurance submission.

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