2023 Underwriters of the Year | Kathy Bartolitius, Commercial Lines Underwriter, Peace Hills Insurance

Kathy Bartolitius’s insurance career began in 1986 with Western Canada-based Peace Hills Insurance, and she has been with the company ever since. She started as a data processor, right out of high school, and worked her way up, holding various roles, including personal lines underwriter and farm underwriter before taking on her current role. She prefers commercial lines due to the ever-evolving nature of the commercial market and the opportunity it allows her to work alongside brokers to underwrite challenging risks. 

Bartolitius says she was “pleasantly surprised and feels extremely thankful for the recognition” by Nation West Insurance, the Canadian Broker Network member that nominated her for the award. 

Q: What makes for a great working relationship between underwriter and broker?  

“Having assigned brokers has allowed me to build a trusting and working relationship with all my brokers. I find it nice to have that relationship, and it makes doing business a lot easier when you know the person behind the name in the email. I like that part of my job. It also helps that I’m working for a company that focuses on relationships and recognizes that it is one of the key factors to doing business.” 

Q: What is the biggest challenge for underwriters today, and how can the industry overcome this? 

“For me, currently, service is a huge challenge due to the high volume of emails and requests coming in daily. Communicating effectively with my brokers as to what we can and can’t accept is helpful in reducing some of this volume. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the volume, but it really does save time when you slow down just a bit to address it correctly. What I strive for daily is a win-win for all — and that means understanding, as an underwriter, that getting not only the correct answer but also the answer back to the broker quickly may result in providing the best service to the insured through the broker.” 

Q: What is one opportunity underwriters should focus more on? 

“Thinking outside the box, looking at a risk as a whole, and not limiting assessment of the risk based on one aspect. It also lies in working with the broker and coming to an agreement that will benefit both the broker and the insurer. We have to remember that there is give and take in an underwriter-broker relationship.”