Underwriting

Underwriting is becoming much more sophisticated. It's a transformation opening up opportunities like never before. It's also encountering challenges like never before, and as we saw with price walking, the impact can be immense. These posts give you an independent perspective on such developments.

165 posts

Has Telematics Really Changed Insurance? Lessons from Italy

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Underwriting • 7 min read

Has Telematics Really Changed Insurance? Lessons from Italy

Italian motor insurers were early adopters of telematics. So what lessons can we draw from their experience? Recent research delivers some interesting findings about the pace of change and their use of data.…

Duncan Minty • 03 May 2023

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Personalisation • 6 min read

The Insurance Complex: A Bleak Future?

Insurance is becoming a performance market. For insurers to compete, consumers must perform, at first for a competitive premium, progressively for enough cover and eventually for access to the market. What emerges then is ‘an insurance complex’ that defines relations with consumers and society.…

Duncan Minty • 26 Apr 2023

Warning - don't let Fees turn into Expense Optimisation

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Underwriting • 8 min read

Warning - don't let Fees turn into Expense Optimisation

Retail insurers and brokers now charge all sorts of fees across the policy lifecycle. Innocuous on the outside, they raise distinct ethical questions when examined more closely. They also prepare the way for more pernicious practices like expense optimisation.…

Duncan Minty • 21 Apr 2023

Discriminatory Pricing – the Storm Clouds Move Nearer

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Discrimination • 8 min read

Discriminatory Pricing – the Storm Clouds Move Nearer

Further research into discriminatory pricing in UK motor insurance is keeping up pressure on insurers and the regulator to tackle the issue. And with signs that the challenge is evolving, insurers are in danger of failing to see how this issue will grow and impact the heart of their businesses.…

Duncan Minty • 10 Apr 2023

Insurers have a window to improve decisions around mental health

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Underwriting • 4 min read

Insurers have a window to improve decisions around mental health

The second strand of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’s campaign about travel insurance has emerged. Their best practice guide makes sense and insurers should welcome it. At the same time, it is likely to be a step towards a third strand, which will be much more impactful.…

Duncan Minty • 31 Mar 2023

The Poverty Premium could drive more Commission Transparency

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Fairness • 4 min read

The Poverty Premium could drive more Commission Transparency

People on low incomes pay a poverty premium for their insurance. It comes in two forms – the premium for their policy and the finance for paying premiums monthly. The annual figures are £300 and £160 respectively. So why does premium finance add on over a half more?…

Duncan Minty • 28 Mar 2023

Have EU insurers been Let Off the Hook on Pricing Practices

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Underwriting • 5 min read

Have EU insurers been Let Off the Hook on Pricing Practices

The EU insurance regulator has issued a supervisory statement on differential pricing practices. It illustrates just how much expectation and tension is still present around how personal and SME policies are priced. Their message is naturally high level, so what sort of impact will it have?…

Duncan Minty • 22 Mar 2023

Regulatory guidance on discrimination for Australian insurers

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Discrimination • 7 min read

Regulatory guidance on discrimination for Australian insurers

The Australian Human Rights Commission issued guidance last month about discrimination in insurance pricing and underwriting. Its strength lies in the ‘lines of thinking’ that it encourages insurers to follow, yet there are some curious interpretations that raise concerns.…

Duncan Minty • 11 Jan 2023

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Underwriting • 4 min read

Are Politicians Ready for Wind Re?

The development by insurers of individualised flood underwriting capabilities lead to negotiations with UK politicians and civil society for a fairer arrangement. The result was Flood Re. Now insurers are developing similar underwriting capabilities for wind risk. What does this point to?…

Duncan Minty • 12 Dec 2022