An exciting new frontier of improved customer service and profitability is emerging in the Property and Casualty insurance industry — that of underwriting.

Where historically an underwriter's job has been viewed as one of accepting or rejecting risks and also one of creating a homogenous portfolio of risks, we are witnessing the emergence of a new breed of underwriters because the advent of new technology. This new class of underwriters is leading the change in revolutionizing the insurance business and better equipped to handle risk management.  

Technology holds the key to the shifting sands of market dynamics in the industry. We are surrounded by a combination of market forces that are moving customer expectations. There is a greater number of millennials joining the workforce, customers' preferences and expectations are being reshaped and sharpened by providers such as Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba and Seamless. Even our transportation is becoming on-demand with providers such as Uber and Lyft. Money is being increasingly digitalized. In such a stimulating and progressive environment going through a great amount of flux, the nature of risk assessment and selection must address not only internal requirements, but those of the insured and the agent.

Status quo in underwriting

In conventional underwriting, agents send in their applications to an underwriting contact within the carrier's organization.