Insurance Underwriter Duties & Responsibilities

The role and function of an Insurance Underwriter includes the following duties and responsibilities:

• Keeping detailed and accurate records of policies underwritten and decisions made.
• Studying various insurance proposals;
• Visiting brokers or potential customers and preparing quotes;
• Liaising with specialists, such as surveyors or doctors, for risk assessment;
• Calculating possible risk and deciding how much individuals or organisations should pay for insurance (the premium);
• Negotiating with brokers and drawing up contracts;
• Writing policies;
• Gathering and assessing background information in order to effectively assess the risk involved;
• Specifying conditions to be imposed on different types of policies, for example, asking that a property owner install a security alarm;
• Deciding whether the risk should be shared with a reinsurer;
• Computing results for appropriate premiums using actuarial information, other statistics and own judgement;
• Gathering information and various types of reports (e.g. medical records) from specialists;
• Negotiating terms with policyholders or their brokers;
• Ensuring that premiums are competitive;

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of Insurance Underwriter duties and responsibilities. Job functions for specific Insurance Underwriter roles may vary, depending on the industry and type of employer.