Shanique Jina | A winning customer experience starts at underwriting stage

We live in a world where the customer is king. Every life insurer and financial adviser is working on ways to deliver a smooth, frictionless customer experience. Those that deliver the best customer experience will win - and it all starts with an underwriting process that’s as automated and simple as possible.

While technology has a major role to play in improving our underwriting practices and client experiences, it’s important to get the balance right between digital and human interaction. There’s no doubt that the world has moved online, especially since Covid-19, but customers are still looking to financial advisers to guide their insurance decisions and smooth the claims process.

So, how do we make the customer underwriting journey easier and more efficient?

Know what your customers like

To deliver a great customer journey, you have to know your customer’s preferences. What do they need? What are their expectations? What channels do they prefer to use? An Accenture survey shows nearly half (48%) of customers prefer taking out a new policy on their computer, while one in three (34%) prefer using an app. The bottom line is that filling out forms and providing personal information remains a huge bugbear for clients, and we’re increasingly seeing that they’ll go to the insurer that offers them the best digital experience.

That’s why it’s critical to obtain all the relevant occupational, avocational and medical information required for the risk assessment of the policy upfront. This avoids an unnecessary back and forth for required information and reduces the risk of non-disclosure and misrepresentation. 

Streamline, streamline, streamline

By streamlining underwriting processes, insurers and advisers can provide a more efficient and convenient customer experience. For example, when you’re identifying conditions that may require further details, it’s better to complete the additional questionnaires with the application upfront. This avoids further information being requested at the time of the underwriting process. 

It’s also important to ensure the client is quoted under the correct nominated occupation type and industry, as well as the correct occupational duty percentage split. This avoids alterations that may apply at the time of the underwriting process which may alter the client’s occupation class rating and total premium. Additionally, it is important to identify the type of occupations to qualify for the certain waiting periods. 

While tele interviewing is common in the industry, Bidvest Life takes it one step further with tele underwriting. This allows the applicant to share important medical information and helps the underwriter ask targeted questions about different conditions. This avoids missing critical details in the assessment, while creating efficiency in the process.

Give and get information effectively

Clients today expect information at their fingertips. That means having the ability to give them real-time information about their policies, claims, and billing. They want transparency about their policies, and regular updates about the status of those policies. To be able to offer this, it’s critical to get information from them first.

When it comes to business assurance applications and large sums assured, for example, we encourage submission of all available supporting financial documentation with the application forms upfront. This enables underwriting to give a financial indication upfront. 

The same applies to applications for older lives. If submission of reasons for insurable interest and pensionable earnings are submitted upfront, this enables underwriting to make a holistic assessment and communicate next steps as soon as possible. 

Ultimately, an insurer’s sales force is the first point of contact in the underwriting journey for every application form. Because this includes not only business developers but often financial advisers too, it’s essential that they are empowered with the knowledge of what key factors to look out for in an application. To achieve this, the sales force needs a direct line of communication with the underwriting team. Our underwriting team will call advisers when faced with complex substandard policies. This creates an understanding of the risk assessment which empowers the sales force to discuss decisions with their clients.

By encouraging complete disclosure upfront, they’re creating greater transparency, making underwriting easier, and ensuring favourable outcomes at that most critical of client touchpoints: claim time.

*Shanique Jina is Underwriting Manager at Bidvest Life.